Arch Coal Inc., the second-largest U.S. coal producer, asked a bankruptcy judge to put aside $75 million to backstop future cleanup costs — far less than the roughly $450 million that regulators foresee needing, Reuters reported yesterday. Arch made the proposal to a Missouri court after filing for bankruptcy protection yesterday, seeking to shed $4.5 billion in debt in the face of weak demand for coal and increasing pressure from creditors. Arch has used cash, bonds and other financing to assure mine cleanup. But Arch's use of a federal program called self-bonding to cover a large share of cleanup costs raises the possibility that taxpayers be saddled with much of the bill. Securities filings show that Arch Coal has not qualified for self-bonding since 2012. In those years Arch Coal accessed self-bonding through a subsidiary, Arch Western Resources, according to regulatory paperwork.
