Front Porch Blog
Updates from Appalachia
Peabody Energy joins coal bankruptcy club
While the company no longer operates in Central Appalachia, the story of Peabody Energy’s downfall is similar to those of major producers in the region, where coal mining communities have plenty of first-hand experience with what happens next.
Another step toward clean water in Southwest Virginia
Through a settlement with Penn Virginia Operating Company, a large landholding company, and A&G Coal Corp., a Jim Justice-owned company, several sources of the toxic pollutant selenium in Wise County, Va., will be cleaned up.
Homeowners near mine struggle with blasting damage
From The Appalachian Voice: Karen and Jerry Kirk live in a home that they believe was damaged during blasting for a nearby surface coal mine. Despite years of frustration, they have been unable to get compensation for the damage to their property.
What happened on Pine Creek?
A lot of folks have had questions about last month’s mine blowout on Pine Creek, in Letcher County, Ky. So we’ve put together an explainer that runs through the facts, the science and the regulatory protocols behind spills like this — and offers tips on what you can do about them.
Don Blankenship sentence “historic,” but not enough
The coverage of Blankenship’s sentence should shift the public’s focus to the leniency and lacking enforcement of our mine safety laws. Since few observers outside of Blankenship’s defense team and the “Dark Lord of Coal Country” himself would argue the punishment fits his crime, the question then becomes: what punishment would?
