EDITOR’S NOTE: Through Thursday, The Times Leader presents Eastern Ohio’s Top 10 news stories of 2020, as voted on by the editorial staff.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Longtime Murray Energy Corp. President and CEO Robert E. Murray died in October 2020, but not before seeing the energy giant he founded emerge from bankruptcy to be reorganized as American Consolidated Natural Resource Holdings Inc.

The Bethesda native ended his 63-year career in the coal industry at 80 years of age, retiring as chairman of the board of directors of ACNR less than a week before he succumbed to a lung condition he had battled for several years. During his time at the helm of the former Murray Energy, he grew the company from a single underground mine to become the largest privately owned coal producer in the nation.

About a year prior to his death, Murray Energy entered the bankruptcy process, citing billions in debt, decreased demand for thermal coal to produce electricity, environmental regulations and competition from domestic natural gas as reasons for its financial struggles. Murray Energy in March asked the federal government to take over health care payments to its retirees.

At that point, Murray Energy reportedly had about $6 million in available cash. The relief from the health care payments was expected to save the company about $200,000 per day. Without that relief, a court motion stated, the company would have been forced into “value-destructive enterprise-wide liquidation” that would leave “no business to restructure and no go-forward employment opportunities for thousands.”

As the year progressed and the COVID-19 pandemic spread, Murray Energy announced in May that more than 1,500 workers at its West Virginia mines could be laid off, although the union representing the company’s miners didn’t anticipate any job losses.

According to a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed in late May, 1,522 workers at four Murray Energy locations in Ohio and Marshall counties faced possible termination as of June 17. But Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, said the WARN notice was due to ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

“This is a procedural formality for the bankruptcy process,” he said.

Later in June, Consol Energy withdrew its motion to change Murray Energy’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to Chapter 7, which would have led to immediate liquidation of Murra’s assets. Canonsburg, Pa.-based Consol had sold five West Virginia coal mines to Murray 2013, enabling Consol to participate in the bankruptcy proceedings.

UMWA officials condemned Consol’s actions, saying the filing could cost 2,000 miners their jobs in the midst of the pandemic. Consol responded with a statement regarding its withdrawal of the motion:

“Our goal was never to put West Virginia coal miners at risk. To the contrary, it was to protect our own coal miners, their families, and our business in a time of great uncertainty. Now, more than ever, we need a strong, united coal industry as we work to bring jobs back and help the economy recover.”

Following additional court proceedings, Murray Energy Corp. emerged from bankruptcy in September, becoming American Consolidated Natural Resources Inc. All active union employees who worked for Murray were hired by ACNR.

The restructuring eliminated more than $8 billion of the St. Clairsville-based company’s debt and legacy liabilities to allow ACNR to access new financing and provide ACNR with enhanced financial flexibility. ACNR stated it would continue Murray’s business in the normal course of owning and operating nine mines in six states. ACNR now manages and operates the Foresight Energy mines and the Murray Metallurgical mines through two separate management services agreements.