Coal miner Alpha Natural Resources Inc. on Friday said it plans to lay off 439 miners at a mine in south-central West Virginia. Murray Energy Corp., another big Appalachian miner, is planning to lay off around 1,800 workers, mostly in Ohio and West Virginia, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Like Murray, Bristol, Va.-based Alpha is reeling from competition from the natural gas industry and its less expensive energy for power plants, and from a global coal glut and tougher environmental regulations in the U.S. The layoffs will affect workers at the Camp Creek underground coal mine and processing plant in Camp Creek, W.Va. In addition, the company said it had downsized its workforce at three other Alpha-affiliated mines in Kentucky and Virginia, affecting 71 workers. Alpha Chairman and Chief Executive Kevin Crutchfield called current market conditions “an unprecedented time in the coal industry.” His […]