{Varney, West Virginia}...Friday, officials in Mingo County will celebrate the official opening of the new Mingo Air Transportation Park. The event, which begins at 11:00 A.M., will be held at the new airport site, located at Oldfield Branch, near Varney, also known as Mystery Mountain Road. Congressman Nick Joe Rahall, D-W.Va., will be the keynote speaker. The newly constructed Air Transportation Park is the result of a public/private partnership among the Mingo County Airport Authority, Alpha Natural Resources, the Federal Aviation Administration, the West Virginia Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Commission, and the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority. Alpha Natural Resources constructed the nearly 975-acre site as part of its post mine land use designation. In April 2008, Alpha transferred the site to Mingo County at zero cost to the taxpayers.
