There is enough outstanding reclamation liability on coal mines owned by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and/or his adult children to employ 220 to 460 workers for five years, according to our report. Nearly 34,000 acres of Justice-family mines across five states are in need of some degree of environmental cleanup.
CONTACT: Matt Hepler, Appalachian Voices Central Appalachian Environmental Scientist, (540) 871-1564, matt@appvoices.org Molly Moore, Appalachian Voices Communications, (847) 401-3633, molly@appvoices.org The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act President Biden is expected to sign into law today includes the nation’s largest-ever investment…
Congress has passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes the reauthorization of the Abandoned Mine Land Program and the largest-ever investment in abandoned coal mine cleanup! Now they must pass the Build Back Better Act to invest in workers, families and clean energy.
Amanda Pitzer with Friends of the Cheat discusses the specific impacts of acid mine drainage on the Cheat River, analyzes abandoned mine lands funding pending before Congress and charts a path for future success in collaboration with state and federal decision-makers.
CONTACT: Willie Dodson, Central Appalachian Field Coordinator willie@appvoices.org 276-870-5843 A new report by Appalachian Voices estimates that there is enough outstanding reclamation liability on coal mines owned by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and/or his adult children to employ 220…
In this conversation, Marissa Lautzenheiser of Rural Action lays out the basics of the acid mine drainage challenge, discusses the unique funding needs for AMD clean-up, and talks about some of the innovative work Rural Action is doing to tackle this problem.
Insufficient bonding systems and decades of poor enforcement of mine reclamation law have led to a severe backlog in abandoned mines — and a new wave of coal bankruptcies is exacerbating the problem.
Heavy rains caused debris from an inactive coal mine to block portions of VA State Route 632 in late August — an event that might become all too common with climate change-fueled rainfall likely to intensify.
Experts say that coal workers will need wage replacement and retraining to successfully transition to a clean energy economy.
