Peabody Energy Corp., owner of the Twentymile Mine in Routt County, is asking a bankruptcy judge to let it pay up to $12 million in bonuses to the coal-mining company’s top executives.

Peabody president and CEO Glenn Kellow and five other executives are in line for the bonuses, which depend upon the company’s financial performance as well as its achievement of safety, environmental and restructuring goals.

Peabody, which is asking Judge Barry Schermer to approve the payments, says the bonuses are warranted in light of the fact that the success of its restructuring requires “extraordinary efforts” from its leaders.

“The debtors believe that incentives for the [executives] to successfully implement the debtors’ restructuring and enhance value at this critical time will help maximize the value of the debtors’ estates for the benefit of all of the debtors’ stakeholders,” Peabody said in court papers filed Wednesday.