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Central Illinois mine closure means loss of 350 jobs

Posted November 30, 2007 10:00 pm

Debra Landis

The Monterey No. 1 coal mine is expected to close at the end of the year, resulting in about 350 central Illinoisans losing their jobs.

"It appears the sale has fallen through, and the mine will be shut down Dec. 31," Phil Smith, spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, said Friday.

The 350 employees include both miners and non-union employees. Smith said 60 workers have already been laid off.

In early November, Monterey owner ExxonMobil said it expected a sale to be completed by the end of the year. However, spokeswoman Margaret Ross also said at the time the company "reserves the right to consider alternative disposition of the property should the ongoing sale negotiations fail to reach closure."

A representative of ExxonMobil, based in Irving, Texas, didn't return a message left after business hours Friday. A man answering the phone at the coal company declined to comment.

Monterey miners were formally notified earlier this month under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that requires employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of covered plant closings and mass layoffs. It also applies to sales expected to result in closings or layoffs.

ExxonMobil had the 35-year-old mine on the market for more than a year. Ross wouldn't say who was negotiating to buy it.

While declining to discuss what might have caused the potential sale to collapse, Smith said the UMWA met with parties involved in the negotiations to say the union "would do whatever it could" to help with the transition from ExxonMobil to the new owner.

Smith said he would prefer not to think of the mine closing as permanent.

"There is still plenty of coal there left to mine," he said.

Nevertheless, state Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville, described the mood in Macoupin County as very somber.

"As word has gotten out today through press releases and radio, everyone is thinking about the economic impact of not having Monterey be here," she said. "They are our friends, our neighbors and are part of our community."

Demuzio said the economic impact of the closing will be felt all across Macoupin County. Retail businesses could see fewer customers, and there will be fewer tax dollars.

"This will put a huge strain on the county budget," Demuzio said.

The Monterey mine closing would mark the second Macoupin County mine to close since late summer. In August, nearly 200 employees of the Crown II mine near Girard were laid off after the sale of the Freeman United Coal Mining Co.

The new owner, Springfield Coal Co., said at the time the market for coal didn't warrant keeping the mine open.

General Dynamics owned the former Freeman company.

John Reynolds of GateHouse News Service contributed to this report.

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