You are viewing the "Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource" Archives
Blackjewel Miners Get More of Their Pay as Labor Dept. Acts Against Bankrupt Company
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
Coal miners who went without pay when mining company Blackjewel declared bankruptcy this June are one step closer to receiving lost wages. The checks come weeks after some of the miners ended a long-running protest, and months after the federal Department of Labor first intervened to allege the company violated labor laws in the month… Read More
Murray Energy CEO Lashes Out at “Feckless” Federal Officials Over Coal Subsidy Plan
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
Coal executive Bob Murray clashed Monday with federal energy regulators at a Lexington, Kentucky, energy forum over what Murray called a failure by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to sufficiently support the struggling coal industry. “The word that I’ve been using to describe FERC is feckless,” Murray told the audience, including FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee…. Read More
Federal Agency to Hear Comment on Silica Dust as Black Lung Epidemic Rages
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
The Mine Safety and Health Administration will host a public meeting Thursday as it considers action on regulating respirable silica, one of the major contributors to Appalachia’s skyrocketing rates of black lung disease. MSHA issued a request for information in response to calls for increased regulation after a 2018 investigation from NPR and PBS Frontline. That… Read More
New Kentucky Memorial Honors Miners Who Died Of Black Lung
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
Coal miners and family members of miners who have died from black lung disease gathered Sunday in Whitesburg, Kentucky, to dedicate a new memorial to miners who perished from the workplace disease. While Appalachian coal country has several memorials to mining disasters, this is believed to be the first memorial to remember the thousands of… Read More
Report: Water Unaffordable for Nearly Half of Martin Co., Kentucky
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
A new report finds nearly half the residents of Martin County, Kentucky, cannot afford water service. Local activists with the Martin County Concerned Citizens are ringing alarm bells about water affordability as the beleaguered county faces another likely water rate increase in the coming months. Since the ReSource first reported on its water crisis two years ago,… Read More
Former Blackjewel Miners End Railroad Blockade In Kentucky
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
The nearly two-month blockade of a Kentucky railroad track is coming to an end as unpaid coal miners end their protest in order to take new jobs, start classes, or move away from their coal-dependent communities. When coal company Blackjewel abruptly declared bankruptcy in July, it left some 1100 Appalachian coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia without pay…. Read More
SOAR At Six: Group’s Lofty Goals For Coal Country Meet Challenges
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
In a conference hall in Pikeville, Kentucky, this September, Gov. Matt Bevin led an eager audience in a countdown. When the audience reached “One!,” a map on the screen behind the governor lit up with the promise of a high-tech future. After years of delay and scandal, major portions of the commonwealth’s “middle mile” of… Read More
Mines That Change Owners Have Worse Safety Record, Audit Finds
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
A new federal government report shows that mines that changed ownership had worse safety records than mines where ownership did not change. According to an audit from the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General, mines that changed ownership during a 17-year period were nearly twice as likely to have safety violations, and five times as likely to report severe accidents… Read More
“Bloody Harlan” Revisited: Blackjewel Miners Draw On Labor History While Facing Uncertain Future
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
Curtis Cress sat in the gravel beside a railroad track in Harlan County, Kentucky. Tall and thin with a long, black beard, Cress is every bit a coal miner, or, he was until a month ago. “It’s part of my heritage, you know? My dad and papaws had always done it,” he said. “And I’m… Read More
As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
Posted on:
Democratic members of Congress introduced legislation Tuesday to provide additional funding for coal miners suffering from black lung. The bills came as a contingent of Appalachian miners afflicted with the disease lobbied lawmakers for more support. “It doesn’t only take your health. It takes your identity,” Barry Johnson said of the disease. Johnson is a… Read More