The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a construction permit for a coal-to-liquids facility in Mason County, according to a release from Domestic Synthetic Fuels, the company pursuing the project.
The facility will turn coal and natural gas into "ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, aviation fuel, gasoline and other value-added products," the company said Sept. 13. It expects to break ground this fall and begin hiring during the second quarter of 2020.
The project is expected to create 130 on-site jobs, 130 new coal mining jobs to supply the facility and require thousands of workers for its construction, according to the release. The company will combine 2,500 tons of coal under heat and pressure with a catalyst and hydrogen from natural gas to produce more than 10,000 barrels of fuel daily in addition to other value-added products to sell.
Kevin Whited, Domestic Synthetic Fuels' lead developer, said in the release the project aims to revive the state's coal industry.
"You can look around and see the decimation that's gone on in the coal industry," he said. "We can't go back and change the past, but we can make the future better."
