RockingChair

Front Porch Blog

Updates from Appalachia

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Online tool helps track status of mine ownership in aftermath of Blackjewel bankruptcy

The fate of thousands of acres of mines requiring tens of millions of dollars of reclamation was thrown into doubt when Blackjewel, Revelation Energy and affiliated mining operations filed for bankruptcy in July 2019.

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Building community awareness to solve acid mine drainage: A conversation with DJ Coker

DJ Coker of Duff, Tennessee found acid mine drainage at a nearby pond that used to be part of a coal mining operation. Now, he’s made it his mission to get the site cleaned up and demand accountability from those responsible. Watch DJ’s story.

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Black man with gray beard wearing a "Black Lung Kills" t-shirt speaks into a microphone, tears on his face

Black Lung Association asks Sen. Capito to support 10-year extension of black lung excise tax

Members of the Black Lung Association are asking U.S. Sen. Shelly Moore Capito to support a 10-year extension of the Black Lung Excise Tax to shore up funding for black lung benefits.

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Chatham residents and others to speak against Lambert Compressor Station at air board hearing

On Friday, Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board will rule on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s hotly contested plan to place a polluting compressor station in a majority Black district already burdened with air pollution from two other compressors.

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Cleaning up mines owned by Gov. Justice and his family would create hundreds of jobs

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.

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