PRESTONSBURG – A Floyd County coal company now operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laid off 85 workers Tuesday, saying a weak demand for coal and permit-related concerns were the reasons.

Miller Brothers Coal, with main offices located along Watergap Road in Prestonsburg, laid off 85 coal miners and kept some 200 across Floyd, Knott and Magoffin counties. The company is now reducing production at several sites.

Miners and other workers for the company who remained, however, were asked to drop the number of hours they work each week. There were no details from the company how long this cutback in hours might last.

According to reports, several of the 85 miners have already sought unemployment benefits, some saying they were not surprised but adding this made the layoffs no easier to deal with.

Miller Brothers was just this week congratulated on its recent award of excellence from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. The letter was sent by the Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security.

That recognition was for the company’s reclamation efforts for post land use on Evans Fork and Nats Creek following surface mining jobs at those locations.

“Your work to ensure that the post land use ... would be pastureland did not go unnoticed by our organization,” wrote Phil Osborne, the organization’s executive director.

Many supporters of mountaintop mining say new proposed regulations for that process can be pointed to as at least part of the reason operations are making cuts or going under completely.