Facility Description

Dominion Terminal Associates LLP world class coal shipping and ground storage facility is located on the east coast of the United States in the port of Hampton Roads at Newport News, Virginia. DTA's emphasis on efficiency, quality and reliability, together with its state-of-the-art sampling and blending systems, combine to provide outstanding service to customers worldwide. DTA also handles compatible bulk products, such as pet coke.

Location: Port of Hampton Roads on the East Bank of the James River in Newport News, Virginia.

Organization: Virginia General Partnership owned by subsidiaries of:


Alpha Natural Resources LLC.	Arch Coal, Inc.	Peabody Energy

DTA is managed and operated by an on-site team of employees.

Railroad Service: CSX Transportation delivers unit trains from Eastern coal mines. Highly efficient transit times from the mines to the terminal, combined with ground storage capacity of 1.7 million tons combine to minimize total time in port for vessels.

Vessels Accommodated: Seagoing and coastal barges and colliers of up to 177,000 DWT. Pier length is 1162 feet with berths for loading on either side. Both berths are dredged to a mean low water depth of 50 feet to match the harbor channel. The pier will support future dredging to 55 feet on both sides.

Ground Storage: 1.7 million net tons capacity depending on the number of piles. Coal is segregated in storage areas by coal type and shipper.

Plant Description:

Thirteen miles of track

A three-railcar thaw shed eliminates the need for freeze proofing.

	Tandem rotary dumper and railcar positioner capable of dumping up to 5,200 tons per hour.
	Two stacker/reclaimer units and one reclaimer unit with travel, luff and slew capabilities have booms 200 feet long, each capable of stacking 5,900 tons per hour or reclaiming 6,800 tons per hour. Coal is reclaimed through a grate to remove contaminants.

One traveling ship loader with travel, luff and slew, telescoping chute, rotating spoon and 143 feet long boom with 79 feet of air draft capable of loading 6,500 tons per hour.

Nineteen belt conveyors varying in length from 79 to 1,713 feet with over four miles of belting.

Twin 4,000-ton silos and variable speed vibrating feeders permit precise blending from multiple coal piles. Coal can be stacked into piles according to a blending scheme, and further blending can be accomplished through layering coal into the vessel. DTA will work with customers to adjust to their specific blending needs.

Inbound and outbound belt scales, metal detectors, mechanical samplers, reclaim grates, magnetic separators, an emphasis on pile separation and good housekeeping assure product quality.

	Programmable Logic Controllers communicate with DTA’s proprietary production database (DTAbase) to confirm that the stacker/reclaimers are in the correct position before stacking or reclaiming to assure that coal is being transferred to/from the proper storage location.
	Mechanical samplers, inbound and outbound are operated by a third party independent sampling company.
	An impervious surface of storage areas, a system of runoff ditches, chemically balanced holding ponds and a computerized storage area water spray dust suppression system combine to make DTA an environmentally safe, state-of-the-art facility.

Dumper Operator

Rotary Car Dumper

The Dumper operator in the Dumper cab controls the movement of the rotary car dumper.

Surge Silo

Stacker/Reclaimers

The coal proceeds through the surge silo, where inbound coal is sampled and out to two Stacker/Reclaimers to the storage piles.

The coal then is reclaimed and sent through the twin surge silos, where outbound coal is sampled as it is sent out to the ship loader.