Our commitment to environmental stewardship is driven by our dedication to Running Right and extends across all facets of our mining operations. The Alpha Running Right Environmental Program includes setting compliance goals, performing environmental audits at various operating levels to determine effectiveness, and conducting environmental training throughout the company.
Our highly trained team of environmental professionals perpetually measures the company’s environmental compliance. We take pride in environmental awareness and repeatedly operate at a higher level of compliance than other mining companies in the Appalachian region.
Alpha also has a zero tolerance for blackwater discharges and has established a release prevention program that exceeds regulatory requirements. All of our coal preparation plants and slurry handling and disposal facilities are required to utilize Best Management Practices that help us to prevent accidental discharges of coal slurry that could adversely impact the environment.
We actively participate with conservation groups and have developed a strong working relationship with The Nature Conservancy. We are currently helping TNC and the Virginia Division of Mined Land Reclamation fund a study to prioritize potential Abandoned Mined Land features that might be contributing to sediment problems in the Clinch River in southwestern Virginia, home to one of the most diverse assemblages of freshwater mussels in the world.
We are very proud of our outstanding mined land restoration program and have won numerous state and national recognitions, including the Greenlands award, West Virginia’s top award for environmental excellence in reclamation. We also take pride in our successful efforts to restore impacted streams, using the most currently recognized natural stream restoration methods.
Also:
- In 2007, Alpha created a carbon committee consisting of company managers from various positions and backgrounds to help monitor climate change legislation and its potential impacts and opportunities.
- A Safety, Health and Environmental Committee at the Board of Directors level meets quarterly to discuss current environmental issues that are pertinent to our business.
- Alpha's founder, Mike Quillen, has been an active participant on the Virginia Climate Change Commission.
- At the employee level, we encourage recycling at all our our offices and mines. In fact, our recycling habit led to the creation of a recycling center at the business park where our headquarters and a community college are located.
- We also continuously explore the use and potential production of alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol, and have added several hybrid vehicles to our fleet. In addition, we encourage the use of environmentally friendly or "green" process chemicals in our coal preparation plants wherever feasible.