Case KRH Doc 3967 Filed 09/06/17 Entered 09/06/17 15:24:18 Desc Main Document Page 1 of 6

Transcription

1 Document Page 1 of 6 Ronald A. Page, Jr. Stephen L. Thompson Virginia State Bar #71343 WV State Bar #3751 (pro hac vice pending) Ronald Page, PLC Barth & Thompson P. O. Box P. O. Box 129 Richmond, Virginia Charleston, West Virginia Ph: (804) Ph: (304) Counsel for Homer A. Hopkins IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Richmond Division ) IN RE: ) ) ALPHA NATURAL RESOURCES, INC., et al. ) Chapter 11 ) Case No KRH Debtors. ) (Jointly Administrated) ) RESPONSE OF HOMER A. HOPKINS TO THE REORGANIZED DEBTORS FORTY FIRST OMNIBUS OBJECTION TO CERTAIN CLAIMS (DUPLICATE CLAIMS, INSUFFICIENT DOCUMENTATION CLAIMS, LATE-FILED CLAIMS, SATISFIED CLAIMS AND AMENDED AND SUPERSEDED CLAIMS Homer A. Hopkins ( Hopkins ), a creditor in the Riverside Energy Company, LLC bankruptcy case, by his undersigned counsel hereby responds to the Debtors Objection [Doc. No. 3959] as follows: 1. Counsel for Hopkins filed a timely Proof of Claim in the amount of $156, in the proceedings of Riverside Energy Company, LLC ( Riverside ) Bankruptcy Case No which was assigned claim number 7515 (the Claim ). 2. The Reorganized Debtors filed their Objection to the Claim on the ground that the Reorganized Debtors do not believe the Debtors estates have any liability on account of the No Liability Claims, which classification includes Claim 7515.

2 Document Page 2 of 6 3. This Claim is based on unpaid overriding royalties due to Hopkins pursuant to that certain Agreement, dated January 2, 1990, between Hopkins and Westwood Mining Co., Inc. The Debtor Riverside is the successor in interest of Westwood Mining Co., Inc. ( Westwood. ) A copy of the Agreement is attached as an exhibit to Claim # On March 4, 2014, Hopkins filed suit in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia styled Homer A. Hopkins v. Westwood Mining Co., Inc., and Riverside Energy Company, LLC, Case No. 14-C-671. A copy of the Complaint is attached as an exhibit to Claim # By Agreed Order entered on July 28, 2014, venue of the action was transferred to the Circuit Court of Raleigh County, West Virginia and assigned Civil Action No. 14-C The Civil Action pending in the Circuit Court of Raleigh County, West Virginia has been stayed since the Debtors filed for bankruptcy protection. 7. The Agreement provides that Westwood will pay Homer A. Hopkins Fifty Cents (.50) for each ton of two thousand (2,000) pounds of coal mined, removed, and sold from the premises in an arms length transaction and to pay the same to Homer A. Hopkins on the twentieth (20 th ) day of each calendar month for all coal mined and sold during the preceding calendar month. 8. The civil action sought an accounting and other relief, including a money payment, because of the breach of the Agreement and the failure to pay Hopkins the overriding royalty with respect to coal mined and sold from the property located in McDowell County, West Virginia, referenced in the Agreement.

3 Document Page 3 of 6 9. The Premises is described in the Agreement as a portion of the Pocahontas No. 3 Coal Seam as depicted in red on the map entitled USX/GCS Sublease attached hereto as Exhibit A. A copy of the map is also attached as an exhibit to Claim # On January 16, 1992, the Agreement was recorded in the County Clerk s Office of McDowell County, West Virginia. 11. The Agreement created an interest in the coal in the nature of an overriding royalty interest within the Premises in favor of Hopkins. 12. At the time Westwood entered the Agreement, Westwood owned the working interest in the coal within the Premises through one or more leases or subleases. 13. Riverside is the successor to Westwood with respect to the working interest in the coal within the Premises. 14. From and after May 11, 2000, Riverside has been actively mining coal from the Premises through what is known as the Cherokee Mine, West Virginia Permit No. U The coal mined by Riverside from the Premises was burdened by the interest created in favor of Hopkins pursuant to the Agreement. 16. Riverside had actual and constructive notice of the interest which burdened the coal mined from the Premises, by the recording of the Agreement. 17. Riverside is liable to Hopkins for amounts due and owing under the Agreement and the interest created thereby with respect to the coal mined by Riverside from the Premises. 18. By the Agreement and the matters set forth in the Claimant s State Court Complaint, the Debtor has liability to the Claimant.

4 Document Page 4 of The Claimant is filing as a companion pleading a Motion for relief for modification of the automatic stay to allow the State Court Action to go forward, to liquidate the amounts actually due under the Claim. Wherefore, Homer A. Hopkins respectfully requests that upon a full hearing of this Response, that the Court deny the Debtors Objection to Claim #7515, and that he have such other relief as is appropriate. Dated: September 6, 2017 Respectfully Submitted, HOMER A. HOPKINS By /s/ Ronald A. Page, Jr. Counsel Ronald A. Page, Jr., Esq. Virginia State Bar #71343 Ronald Page, PLC P.O. Box Richmond, Virginia Ph: (804) Fax: (804) rpage@rpagelaw.com Web Site: www. rpagelaw.com and Stephen L. Thompson, Esq. West Virginia State Bar #3751 Barth & Thompson P. O. Box 129 Charleston, West Virginia Ph: (304) Fax: (304) sthompson@barth-thompson.com Counsel for Homer A. Hopkins

5 Document Page 5 of 6 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on September 6, 2017, a true and accurate copy of the foregoing was served via First Class U.S. Mail on the below listed, via or via ECF in accordance with the Court s Order Establishing Certain Notice, Case Management and Administrative Procedures entered on August 5, 2015 (Doc. 111) and the Service List maintained by Kurtzman Carson Consultants. Service included the following persons: Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. Attn: Richard H. Verheij, Esq.* Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary One Alpha Place P.O. Box Bristol, Virginia rverheij@alphanr.com [Debtors] David G. Heiman, Esq.* Carl E. Black, Esq.* Thomas A. Wilson, Esq.* Jones Day North Point, 901 Lakeside Avenue Cleveland, Ohio Telephone: (216) Facsimile: (216) dgheiman@jonesday.com ceblack@jonesday.com tawilson@jonesday.com [Counsel to the Debtors] Tyler P. Brown, Esq.* J.R. Smith, Esq.* Henry P. (Toby) Long, III, Esq.* Justin F. Paget, Esq.* Hunton & Williams LLP Riverfront Plaza, East Tower 951 East Byrd Street Richmond, Virginia Telephone: (804) Facsimile: (804) tpbrown@hunton.com jrsmith@hunton.com hlong@hunton.com jpaget@hunton.com [Local Counsel to Debtors] Robert B. Van Arsdale, Esq.* Office of the United States Trustee, Eastern District of Virginia 701 East Broad Street, Suite 4304 Richmond, Virginia Telephone: (804) Facsimile: (804) USTPRegion04.RH.ECF@usdoj.gov [Office of United States Trustee] Hugh M. Bernstein, Esq.* Office of the United States Trustee, District of Maryland 101 West Lombard Street, Suite 2625 Baltimore, Maryland Telephone: (410) Facsimile: (410) Hugh.M.Bernstein@usdoj.gov [Office of United States Trustee] Stephen E. Hessler, Esq.* Brian Schartz, Esq.* Kirkland & Ellis LLP 601 Lexington Avenue New York, New York Telephone: (212) Facsimile: (212) stephen.hessler@kirkland.com brian.schartz@kirkland.com [Counsel to the Second Lien Noteholder Group] Dion W. Hayes, Esq.* Sarah B. Boehm, Esq.* K. Elizabeth Sieg, Esq.* McGuireWoods LLP Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street Richmond, Virginia Telephone: (804) Facsimile: (804) dhayes@mcguirewoods.com sboehm@mcguirewoods.com bsieg@mcguirewoods.com [Co-counsel to Citibank, N.A., as Administrative and Collateral Agent under the Proposed Postpetition Credit Facility, and Citicorp North America, Inc., as Administrative and Collateral Agent under the Debtors Prepetition Secured Credit Facility] Damian S. Schaible, Esq.* Damon P. Meyer, Esq.* Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 450 Lexington Avenue

6 Document Page 6 of 6 New York, New York Telephone: (212) Facsimile: (212) damian.schaible@davispolk.com damon.meyer@davispolk.com [Co-counsel to Citibank, N.A., as Administrative and Collateral Agent under the Proposed Postpetition Credit Facility, and Citicorp North America, Inc., as Administrative and Collateral Agent under the Debtors Prepetition Secured Credit Facility] Gregory F. Pesce, Esq.* Kirkland & Ellis LLP 300 North LaSalle Chicago, Illinois Telephone: (312) Facsimile: (312) gregory.pesce@kirkland.com [Counsel to the Second Lien Noteholder Group] Harold L. Kaplan, Esq.* Mark F. Hebbeln, Esq.* Foley & Lardner LLP 321 North Clark Street, Suite 2800 Chicago, Illinois Telephone: (312) Facsimile: (312) hkaplan@foley.com mhebbeln@foley.com [Counsel to the Indenture Trustees for the Debtors Secured and Unsecured Notes] Debra A. Dandeneau, Esq.* John J. Dedyo, Esq.* Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP 767 Fifth Avenue New York, New York Telephone: (212) Facsimile: (212) debra.dandeneau@weil.com john.dedyo@weil.com [Counsel to General Electric Credit Corporation] Grant Crandall, Esq.* United Mine Workers of America Quantico Gateway Drive, Suite 200 Triangle, Virginia Telephone: (703) [United Mine Workers of America] Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC Attn: Joe Morrow* 2335 Alaska Avenue El Segundo, California Telephone: (310) Facsimile: (310) AlphaNRinfo@kccllc.com [Claims and Noticing Agent] By /s/ Ronald A. Page, Jr. Counsel