Spike TV announced Friday that the 10-episode, one-hour documentary/reality series will center round miners’ lives and work at Cobalt Coal’s Westchester operation in McDowell County, West Virginia.
The show will be shown through the eyes of mine co-owners Mike Crowder and Tom Roberts, and will feature the operation’s management and workers.
Spike said every aspect of the underground mining environment would be shown.
"Coal mining is an integral part of the American economy and the lifeblood of communities across the US and the world," network executive vice-president Sharon Levy said.
"This series is going to shine a light on the brave men and women and their families who endure the rigors of this arduous profession."
However, the idea of the show just six months after the Upper Big Branch mine explosion and amid a year with an alarming number of coal mining fatalities has regulators, union officials and the state’s governor concerned.
While the US Mine Safety and Health Administration and the United Mine Workers of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment, UMWA spokesperson Phil Smith did tell the Associated Press that the show could not be representative of coal production, as most mines average 150-300 workers rather than the two dozen employed by Cobalt.
West Virginia governor Joe Manchin responded to the news as well, telling the news service that the show would be “just too dangerous”
“That’s not the place to do it,” he said.
State mining officials for the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training said the agency found out about the new series via news clips.
“Obviously we have to know a whole lot more about this project before we can allow it to take place,” agency director Ron Wooten told ILN Monday.
He said other film crews had worked underground successfully in the past, having received proper training and supervision, and the same would apply to this situation at Westchester.
“Safety standards will be met or this will not take place in West Virginia,” he said.
Cobalt president Thomas Roberts told the media that the project, which will allow film crews underground once they have successfully completed 80 hours of safety training, will be taken on with great care.
“Mining is a very regimented type of environment and highly regulated, and we’re going to operate in a safe, productive manner,” he said.
Calgary-based Cobalt Coal announced in late May it had recommenced coal production at the room-and-pillar Winchester operation.
The southern West Virginia mine was initially operational from the final quarter of 2008 through the second quarter of 2009, but was idled as a result of the global recession that resulted in a significant fall in metallurgical demand.
Since receiving a new purchase order in the first quarter of this year, Cobalt has been working to bring Westchester back into production.
“Having demonstrated our ability to bring coal projects into production, there are now additional opportunities for expansion at Westchester and elsewhere,” Cobalt president David Lewis said.
“The market for metallurgical coal remains very robust, and with coal production at Westchester managed by our first-class operations team, we are very excited about the future of Cobalt.”
Cobalt owns a 60% after-payout interest in Westchester and operates the mine through wholly owned subsidiary Westchester Coal.
Created two years ago, Cobalt is concentrating on developing an asset base in the Appalachian region but intends to later look at international ventures.
