Posts Tagged ‘Coal mining’
Coal Labor History Sets Stage for Community
Residents and local leaders in Pound, Virginia, have been working hard to bring new life to the town’s historic downtown. Last year, Pound received funding from Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia to create a labor-oriented monument downtown.
Read MoreCoal community groups urge Congress to reject proposed raid of abandoned coal mine clean-up fund
Today, the House Appropriations Committee released an updated “minibus” appropriations bill with bipartisan support that includes a proposal to withdraw $500 million from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s Abandoned Mine Land funds allocated as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Read MoreCoal miners, advocates rally in Washington, D.C. to protest attacks on black lung and miner protections
Today, more than 80 coal miners, members of Black Lung Associations, and other supporters rallied outside of the Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C., to protest the delay in implementing long-awaited silica dust protections for coal miners, along with funding and staffing cuts to mine safety and research.
Read MoreMiners and supporters will rally to demand safeguards from black lung disease on Oct. 14
On Oct. 14, coal miners, members of the Black Lung Association and their supporters will rally in front of the Department of Labor’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., in opposition to the department’s delayed enforcement of silica dust protections for miners.
Read MoreCoal hauling through the Monongahela National Forest has ceased… for now.
Our collective efforts to defend the Monongahela National Forest and the Cherry River from the abuses of South Fork Coal Company are having an impact.
Read MoreMore coal miner lives in jeopardy as silica safeguard delayed yet again
Measures that prevent deadly silica dust exposure among coal miners are indefinitely delayed, as coal industry lawyers and the Trump Administration’s Mine Safety and Health Administration reportedly continue to negotiate a settlement to the industry’s case to block safeguards that were initially scheduled to come into effect on April 14.
Read MoreSouth Fork Coal says it will liquidate rather than restructure in bankruptcy filing
White Forest Resources, the parent company of South Fork Coal Company, announced that its bankruptcy would end in liquidation rather than restructuring. South Fork Coal has a history of more than 140 environmental violations at its mining complex near Richwood, West Virginia.
Read MoreMapping the decline of coal production
The decline of coal production in Appalachia has been ongoing for decades. We thought it would be useful to develop a way to visualize these trends across the region.
Read MoreThe state of coal community protections 48 years after landmark mining law
On Aug. 3, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act into law. This anniversary presents a good opportunity to discuss SMCRA’s intent, where it’s fallen short over the years and how the Trump administration is undermining SMCRA’s protections.
Read MoreResearch On Larry Gibson Dedicated To The West Virginia & Regional History Center
Marybeth Lorbiecki compiled 1,283 pages of research to produce a biography on Larry Gibson that was officially transferred in March to the West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University. Her research chronicles Gibson’s rise from an unknown working-class man into the international star he’d become for environmental activists.
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