— Beckley-based Greenfields Coal Co. has developed a patent-pending technology it believes will change the future of the coal industry.

What sets Greenfields apart is that they have designed a process to bind and briquette coal fines (the waste product from coal slurry), enabling recovery of hundreds of millions of tons of otherwise discarded coal processing waste product and converting it into high quality, cleaner burning coal.

Rory J. Cutaia, CEO, explained the process.

“We have a proprietary binder that allows us to make briquettes that are unlike anything that has been made in the past.” Cutaia said. “What separates our briquettes from any previously made is that ours actually work.

“They use a binder formula of all-natural ingredients. So safe it could be ingested. That has never happened before,” he added. “Once our binders have been made into briquettes, they can be left out in the weather, so they can be stored.

“If they get wet or are left out in the rain or snow, they don’t fall apart, which is completely unique. And because of a significant moisture reduction, which occurs when the briquettes are burned, they burn cleaner and at a higher BTU (British Thermal Unit) level because of the moisture reduction,” Cutaia said.

Preparation of the waste used is also done in an unconventional manner — without water.

“We also have a waterless preparation plant,” Cutaia noted. “Traditionally, coal that comes from the ground will need to be washed, but when you do that, you produce a tremendous amount of waste and use a lot of water. Our technology washes that coal and doesn’t produce any waste and does not use water.”

What excites Cutaia the most is that the company intends to mix bio-mass in with the briquettes, which will allow for even cleaner burning coal.

Henry M. Kasindorf, president, says Greenfields will revolutionize the clean-up of old mine sites and impoundments.

“There are billions of tons of waste coal and impoundments all over the world and a good percentage of them are in West Virginia and the Appalachia region,” he said. “Impoundments are environmental hazards.

“We are able to go in, clean up the sites, turn it into usable land, and at the same time, we are creating jobs.

“In Washington, these are referred to as ‘green jobs.’ Most of the sites are located in some of the most depressed counties in the state, if not the country, and we’re creating good jobs.

“We pay miners’ wages, but these are all above-ground jobs,” Kasindorf noted.

Greg McGraw, vice president of North American Operations for Greenfields, says the company does not believe active operations pollute and contaminate streams, due to the DEP regulations. He says they are focusing their attention on pre-law sites.

“I think it shows that people in the coal industry are much more interested in protecting and preserving the environment than perhaps the coal producers of the past,” McGraw said. “We are pleased to play a part in that.”

Cutaia said Greenfields is focusing its attention in many locations where mines have been shut down and unemployment is higher.

“We’re working in towns that, for the most part, mining operations have been discontinued, packed up and moved out — leaving people out of work,” he said.

“We are employing those people. We’re taking them off public assistance, giving them jobs and are utilizing the same skill set these people used before.

“So we’re using the existing skill sets, we’re putting people immediately back to work and are restoring, to the extent we can, their dignity.”

“That’s one of the things we’re really most proud of,” Cutaia said.

The company, which was co-founded in 2007, currently employs close to 50 people with sites in Gary, Pageton and Capels.

— E-mail: kvanpelt@register-herald.com