A bankruptcy judge said Patriot Coal Corp. must make its top executives available for questioning by West Virginia environmental regulators who are concerned about the coal miner’s upcoming sale, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Phillips at a hearing yesterday denied Patriot’s request to quash the subpoenas brought by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection against Chief Executive Robert Bennett and Chief Operating Officer Michael Day. Through questioning, the environmental agency’s lawyer said that it hopes to address whether Patriot’s plan to sell its mines to new owners and related creditor-payment plan is feasible. Of particular concern is whether one proposed buyer, the nonprofit Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund, will be a successful owner and operator of Patriot’s Federal mining complex and related assets. In fighting the subpoena, Stephen C. Hackney, a Patriot bankruptcy attorney, had argued the executives are “too important” to the company’s continued operations and sale efforts to spare for time-consuming depositions.
