A West Virginia coal company plans to relocate the remains of 22 people buried in a family cemetery in Monongalia County that dates to the 1800s.

Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker recently approved Patriot Mining Co.'s request to move the remains in Lawlis Cemetery to Bethel Cemetery near Osage.

Patriot says it plans to mine the site after relocating the graves sometime "in the near future."

Cassville United Methodist Church acquired the cemetery in 1903 from Matilda Lawlis, one of the people buried there.

Descendant Clarence Lawlis, the only one of 12 living descendants to contest the move, said he was disappointed with the judge's decision, though he wasn't surprised by it.