Ohio Valley Coal Co., a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp. said it has laid off 29 hourly workers at its Powhatan No. 6 Mine in Belmont County, OH.
In a statement the company said the layoffs were necessary because of “the excessive and unnecessary regulatory actions of the Obama administration.”

The layoffs will leave Ohio Valley Coal with about 680 employees, the company said in a news release. Murray Energy has nearly 3,400 employees nationwide.

Ronald Koontz, general manager of Ohio Valley Coal, said regulatory actions from Washington “have disrupted our mining operations and taken away much of the market for our coal. Since his election, Mr. Obama and his appointees have waged a well-chronicled ‘war on coal’ seeking to destroy the coal industry. … The failed energy policies of the Obama administration and the ‘war on coal’ that the president and his Democrat supporters have unleashed are the direct cause of this layoff.”

Mr. Koontz then added, “Unfortunately, for us, this is just the beginning of the work force reductions,” but he did not elaborate.

In an email, Robert Edward Murray, vice president of business development and external affairs at Murray Energy, said the company would have no comment beyond its statement.