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Scientists, Mine Safety Officials Discuss Black Lung Protections
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Officials with the Mine Safety and Health Administration met for the first time with miners’ health researchers Wednesday in a new partnership designed to discuss ways to better protect coal miners from… Read More
CEO Ousted at Kentucky Aluminum Company Amid Questions About Controversial Funding
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A controversial economic development project in Ashland, Kentucky, hit a snag last week as aluminum company Braidy Industries ousted CEO and board chairman Craig Bouchard. In a statement, Braidy Industries’… Read More
Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Still Racking Up Environmental Violations, Officials Warn
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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An attorney for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet told a federal judge Wednesday that the bankrupt coal company Blackjewel has accrued nearly 300 environmental violations since it entered bankruptcy… Read More
Grocers in Rural Coal Country Struggle to Stay in Business
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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There’s a picture frame on the wall next to the customer service desk in the IGA in Inez, Kentucky. Inside the frame is a scrap of beige meat-counter paper, on… Read More
More Unpaid Appalachian Miners Stage a Coal Train Blockade
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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For the second time since summer, eastern Kentucky coal miners are blockading a railroad track to protest unpaid wages. The new blockade, which was started Monday afternoon by Quest Energy… Read More
Study Shows Surface Coal Miners are Exposed to Toxic Dust that Causes Black Lung
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Appalachian surface coal miners are consistently overexposed to toxic silica dust, according to new research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and surface mine dust contains more silica… Read More
Mountain Air: Youth Help Identify Causes of Ohio Valley’s High Lung Disease Rates
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Isabella Back, 18, pulls her jacket tight around herself as she crosses the gravel driveway. “So we’re going about 10 feet from my house to my dad’s workshop,” she says,… Read More
MSHA Comment Period Shows Divide on Measures to Protect Miners Health
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The comment period has closed for the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s proposed rule on respirable silica, a major contributor to skyrocketing rates of lung disease among coal miners. The… Read More
Black Lung Trust Fund Likely Burdened by Murray Bankruptcy
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The recent bankruptcy of Murray Energy is likely to significantly increase the debt of a struggling federal trust fund that supports disabled miners’ health care expenses. According to court filings, Murray… Read More
Blackjewel Miners Get More of Their Pay as Labor Dept. Acts Against Bankrupt Company
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
Murray Energy CEO Lashes Out at “Feckless” Federal Officials Over Coal Subsidy Plan
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
Federal Agency to Hear Comment on Silica Dust as Black Lung Epidemic Rages
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
New Kentucky Memorial Honors Miners Who Died Of Black Lung
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
Report: Water Unaffordable for Nearly Half of Martin Co., Kentucky
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
Former Blackjewel Miners End Railroad Blockade In Kentucky
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
SOAR At Six: Group’s Lofty Goals For Coal Country Meet Challenges
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
Mines That Change Owners Have Worse Safety Record, Audit Finds
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
“Bloody Harlan” Revisited: Blackjewel Miners Draw On Labor History While Facing Uncertain Future
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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,… Read More
As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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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… Read More
“Death Spiral.” How A Carbon Tax Could End Some Coal Towns … Or Fund A New Future
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Declining coal tax revenues place coal-reliant counties in Appalachia at risk of fiscal collapse, according to new research from the centrist Brookings Institution and Columbia University. Policies designed to prevent… Read More
My Cold Kentucky Home: Coal Country Turning To Solar As Heating And Housing Costs Climb
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Joe Oliver and Tony Brown peered into the dark crawl space beneath a Letcher County, Kentucky, home. Already, they could see problems. The crawl space had been blocked off with… Read More
As Calls For Action On Black Lung Disease Grow, Regulators Show Little Indication Of Change
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Harold Sturgill was disabled by black lung disease when he was 58 years old. Now he advocates for disabled miners. “When it comes to the mining companies, and it comes… Read More
Congressional Leaders Seek Investigation Into Russian Investment In KY Aluminum Mill
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A group of Congressional leaders asked the Trump administration to review a Russian company’s investment in a new Kentucky aluminum mill. The request comes from eight prominent Democratic lawmakers with… Read More
From Russia, With Loot: KY Aluminum Company’s New Russian Partner Raises Concerns
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A large whiteboard in an Ashland, Kentucky, unemployment office is covered with a list of companies that are currently hiring. Senior career counselor Melissa Sloas said that just a few… Read More
For Earth Day Nature Conservancy Preserves 100,000 Acres Of Appalachian Forest And Streams
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A conservation group chose Earth Day, April 22, to announce the purchase of a massive property in Appalachian forest to protect habitat and help wildlife adapt to the challenges of… Read More