Energy & Environment Archives - Ohio Valley ReSource

May 27

Energy & Environment

Coal Executives Face Fines, Possible Jail Time, Over Failure to Pay

Executives with Indiana-based coal company American Resources Corporation will face daily fines of $2,500 if they continue to flout court orders, according to filings in the bankruptcy case of Cambrian Coal. The order comes after ARC failed to pay electric utility bills, employee back pay and benefits, and other liabilities it purchased from Cambrian last […]

By Sydney Boles

May 27

Energy & Environment

Coal Executives Face Fines, Possible Jail Time, Over Failure to Pay

By Sydney Boles

May 4

Energy & Environment

Coal and COVID-19: Lung Impairment Makes Miners Especially Vulnerable To Coronavirus

Underground coal miners start their shifts getting changed in closely packed changing rooms. They ride rail cars to their worksite, shoulder-to-shoulder, sometimes for more than an hour. And once they’re underground, ventilation designed to tamp down coal dust blows air through the mine. All that makes a coal mine the kind of place where the […]

By Sydney Boles

May 4

Energy & Environment

Coal and COVID-19: Lung Impairment Makes Miners Especially Vulnerable To Coronavirus

Sydney Boles

Apr 14

Energy & Environment

W.Va.’s Longview Power Declares Bankruptcy Citing Low Energy Prices, Coronavirus

A West Virginia-based coal plant operator has announced that it’s filing for bankruptcy due to weak demand for electricity. Longview Power LLC, which operates one of the newest and most efficient coal-fired power plants in the U.S. hailed by the Trump administration as a model for coal’s future, announced in a Tuesday press release that […]

By Brittany Patterson

Apr 14

Energy & Environment

W.Va.’s Longview Power Declares Bankruptcy Citing Low Energy Prices, Coronavirus

Brittany Patterson

Apr 3

Energy & Environment

Coal Country: Can A Play About A Mine Disaster Help Bridge A National Divide?

The actors deliver their lines from a sparse stage — just a few benches around them and 29 modest lights above. For the most part they speak directly to the audience, sharing memories of the lives of husbands, sons, fathers and nephews, some of the 29 men who died on April 5, 2010, when an […]

By Jeff Young

Apr 3

Energy & Environment

Coal Country: Can A Play About A Mine Disaster Help Bridge A National Divide?

Jeff Young

Apr 1

Energy & Environment

Justice Coal Companies Agree To Settle $5 Million In Delinquent Mine Safety Debts

Coal companies owned by the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice have agreed to pay more than $5 million in overdue mine health and safety fines and fees. According to a press release released Wednesday, a total of 24 coal companies owned by the Justice family agreed to settle millions of dollars in unpaid […]

By Brittany Patterson

Apr 1

Energy & Environment

Justice Coal Companies Agree To Settle $5 Million In Delinquent Mine Safety Debts

Brittany Patterson

Mar 27

Energy & Environment

‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country

On a blistering August afternoon in Cumberland, Kentucky, David Pratt, Jr. stood in the middle of a two-lane highway, holding a sign that read “COAL MINERS AND TRUCKERS AGAINST CORPORATE AMERICA.” A few yards away, his father, David Pratt Sr., who is graying but still muscular, leaned back in a lawn chair perched precariously on […]

By Sydney Boles

Mar 27

Energy & Environment

‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country

Sydney Boles

Mar 26

Energy & Environment

UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections For Coal Miners

The United Mine Workers of America is asking federal regulators to set uniform, enforceable guidelines to help protect coal miners from contracting COVID-19. In a letter dated Tuesday, March 24, UMWA President Cecil Roberts wrote to the Mine Safety and Health Administration requesting the agency issue a “safeguard” or “emergency standard” that would require coal […]

By Brittany Patterson

Mar 26

Energy & Environment

UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections For Coal Miners

Brittany Patterson

Mar 23

Energy & Environment

Ohio Valley Coal Industry Braces As COVID-19 Impacts Electricity Demand, International Exports

As states across the Ohio Valley order the closure of non-essential businesses to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, coal mines will remain open. But as with many industries, the global pandemic is straining the coal sector, and some experts say the already struggling industry could face intense challenges in the months ahead as […]

By Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles

Mar 23

Energy & Environment

Ohio Valley Coal Industry Braces As COVID-19 Impacts Electricity Demand, International Exports

Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles

Mar 19

Energy & Environment

Coronavirus And Slumping Prices Hit Ohio Valley’s Oil & Gas Sector

Energy producers, utilities and energy sector workers across the Ohio Valley are adjusting operations and bracing for continued economic impacts as the fast-moving coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. Efforts to limit the spread of the virus include shuttering schools and businesses and limiting travel, all of which reduce demand for energy. The federal government is […]

By Brittany Patterson

Mar 19

Energy & Environment

Coronavirus And Slumping Prices Hit Ohio Valley’s Oil & Gas Sector

Brittany Patterson

Mar 6

Energy & Environment

Glidepath To Recovery: Flying Squirrels And Spruce Forests Share Common Fate

U.S. Forest Service district biologist Shane Jones stands on an overlook high up on West Virginia’s Cheat Mountain. Behind him lush, red spruce trees stand like sentinels on this frozen landscape. As he looks out, small patches of green dot what is largely a view of the barren, brown trunks of leafless hardwoods. More than […]

By Brittany Patterson

Mar 6

Energy & Environment

Glidepath To Recovery: Flying Squirrels And Spruce Forests Share Common Fate

Brittany Patterson