AEP'S Central Ohio Coal Co. Awards Contract to Dismantle Big Muskie

Jan. 13, 1999•News Release

CUMBERLAND, Ohio (Jan. 13, 1999) -- American Electric Power's Central Ohio Coal Co. announced today it has awarded a contract for the dismantling and disposal of the mining company's Big Muskie dragline. Mayer Pollock Steel Corp. of Pottstown, Pa., will do the demolition, and work is expected to get under way this month. The dismantling work is expected to take approximately 15 months. This will be followed by final reclamation of the area by Central Ohio Coal as required by state and federal regulations. AEP, a global energy company, is one of the United States' largest investor-owned utilities, providing energy to 3 million customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. AEP has holdings in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. Wholly owned subsidiaries provide power engineering, energy consulting and energy management services around the world. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio. On Dec. 22, 1997, AEP announced a definitive merger agreement for a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction with Central and South West Corp., a public utility holding company based in Dallas. The following is a brief synopsis of Big Muskie's history during its operation at Central Ohio Coal Co. BIG MUSKIE FACTS Central Ohio Coal Co. operated Big Muskie at its Muskingum Mine in southeastern Ohio from 1969 to 1991. Big Muskie -- the world's largest walking dragline -- was sidelined by more efficient mining methods and technology, changing environmental regulations and less demand for Ohio coal. Construction of Big Muskie began in 1967 at a site just southwest of Cumberland, Ohio, and the machine was formally dedicated on May 22, 1969. Big Muskie was used to remine areas that previously had been mined by smaller draglines and power shovels. Big Muskie allowed Central Ohio Coal Co. to remove coal that had been left behind because of the limitations of smaller machines. * Big Muskie took nearly two years to build on-site. * Big Muskie weighs 27 million pounds, as much as 13,500 cars. * Big Muskie is 151 feet wide, as wide as an eight-lane highway. * Muskie's 220-cubic-yard bucket could move 325 tons of dirt in a single bite, the equivalent of a two-story house. * Big Muskie could move 39-million pounds of material per hour or about one bucket bite per minute. * Big Muskie "walked" from site to site on four hydraulic-driven size "20-by-65 foot" shoes. * Big Muskie was powered by electricity delivered by a 13,000-volt "extension cord," or enough power to serve 27,500 homes. * During its operating years, Big Muskie moved more than 4.8 million cubic yards of earth -- nearly twice that moved to create the 40-mile Panama Canal. * Nearly 10,000 acres of land mined by Big Muskie were donated to the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals in 1986 to create the Wilds, north America's largest open-range preserve for threatened and endangered species. * Central Ohio Coal has received 23 awards for land reclamation and environmental projects since 1978 including the United States Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining's 1991 Director's Award for Excellence in Reclamation and four Ohio Mining and Reclamation Association Greening of the Lands awards for reclamation at the Wilds.

For More Information, Contact: Vikki Michalski American Electric Power 740/687-3026

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