Energy & Environment Archives - Ohio Valley ReSource

Oct 13

Energy & Environment

New Kentucky Memorial Honors Miners Who Died Of Black Lung

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 […]

By Sydney Boles

Oct 13

Energy & Environment

New Kentucky Memorial Honors Miners Who Died Of Black Lung

By Sydney Boles

Oct 4

Energy & Environment

Rethinking Retraining: Why Worker Training Programs Alone Won’t Save Coal Country

Bobby Bowman mined coal in West Virginia for 12 years before his employer shut down. “I don’t think that mine will ever open again,” he said. Bowman lives in Welch, in the south of the state, where he worked at the Pinnacle Mine, which shut down almost exactly one year ago, putting him and about […]

By Becca Schimmel

Oct 4

Energy & Environment

Rethinking Retraining: Why Worker Training Programs Alone Won’t Save Coal Country

Becca Schimmel

Oct 3

Energy & Environment

Blackjewel Miners Likely to Receive Pay in DOL Deal

The Department of Labor and a company associated with Blackjewel agreed this week to put nearly $5.75 million toward coal miners left unpaid in the company’s chaotic bankruptcy. The July 1 bankruptcy of one of the nation’s largest coal companies left 1,100 coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia out of work and without […]

By Sydney Boles

Oct 3

Energy & Environment

Blackjewel Miners Likely to Receive Pay in DOL Deal

Sydney Boles

Sep 27

Energy & Environment

Ohio To Test For Toxic PFAS Chemicals In Drinking Water

Ohio will begin testing some public and private water systems for the presence of toxic nonstick, fluorinated chemicals, broadly called PFAS. In a press release issued Friday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state’s environmental and public health agencies will analyze drinking water systems located near places with known contamination. That includes near firefighting training […]

By Brittany Patterson

Sep 27

Energy & Environment

Ohio To Test For Toxic PFAS Chemicals In Drinking Water

Brittany Patterson

Sep 27

Energy & Environment

Meet The Coal Town Betting Big On Outdoor Recreation

Standing on the breezy outlook at Flag Rock Recreation Area, Norton City Manager Fred Ramey is taking in the panoramic view of downtown Norton, Virginia. The brick building-lined streets are framed by the verdant, rolling Appalachian mountains. Jagged, brown scars from mountaintop mining operations can be seen in the distance, reminders of the region’s history […]

By Brittany Patterson

Sep 27

Energy & Environment

Meet The Coal Town Betting Big On Outdoor Recreation

Brittany Patterson

Sep 26

Energy & Environment

Former Blackjewel Miners End Railroad Blockade In Kentucky

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, […]

By Sydney Boles

Sep 26

Energy & Environment

Former Blackjewel Miners End Railroad Blockade In Kentucky

Sydney Boles

Sep 23

Energy & Environment

Settlement Reached Over Proposed Ohio Cracker Plant Air Permit

Environmental groups have reached a settlement agreement with a petrochemical company in Ohio to beef up air pollution controls at a proposed petrochemical plant along the Ohio River. Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical America and South Korea-based Daelim Industrial Co. have proposed building a multi-billion dollar ethylene cracker plant on a 500-acre tract of land in […]

By Brittany Patterson

Sep 23

Energy & Environment

Settlement Reached Over Proposed Ohio Cracker Plant Air Permit

Brittany Patterson

Sep 18

Energy & Environment

Paychecks Cut For W.Va. Blackjewel Miners; KY And VA Miners Still Waiting

West Virginia employees of coal operator Blackjewel LLC have received their final paychecks more than two months after the company declared bankruptcy on July 1. In an agreement reached last week between the Department of Labor and the company, Blackjewel cut paper checks for all owed wages to a few dozen employees working at the […]

By Brittany Patterson

Sep 18

Energy & Environment

Paychecks Cut For W.Va. Blackjewel Miners; KY And VA Miners Still Waiting

Brittany Patterson

Sep 11

Energy & Environment

Congress Hears Testimony From Chemical Company Executives On PFAS Contamination

Executives from three major chemical companies — DuPont de Nemours, Inc., The Chemours Company and The 3M Company — testified for the first time to Congress about widespread contamination from the group of nonstick, fluorinated chemicals broadly called PFAS. The so-called “forever chemicals” persist in the environment, are linked to ill health effects, and have […]

By Brittany Patterson

Sep 11

Energy & Environment

Congress Hears Testimony From Chemical Company Executives On PFAS Contamination

Brittany Patterson

Sep 4

Energy & Environment

While “Zombie” Mines Idle, Cleanup And Workers Remain In Limbo

The sound of metal banging against metal broke the calm on the high mesa separating Colorado’s Paradox and Big Gypsum valleys. An old rusted headframe marked the entrance to an abandoned uranium mine that, from a distance, looked as if its workers were simply off on a lunch break. Jennifer Thurston, a local environmentalist, paused […]

By Mark Olalde and Joe Yerardi

Sep 4

Energy & Environment

While “Zombie” Mines Idle, Cleanup And Workers Remain In Limbo

Mark Olalde and Joe Yerardi