A Scripps News investigation found as many as 1,300 of these coal mining facilities across Appalachia shuttered for at least a decade without operators finishing cleanup.

For some who live in Claiborne County, Tennessee, talking about coal is like talking about politics or religion. You just don’t do it. Generations made a decent living from it. America was built using it. But whether it’s coming back — and most of all, whether it should — is a matter of opinion.

A report released yesterday through a state records request shows that funds available to clean up coal mines in Tennessee fall tens of millions of dollars short of the amount necessary to complete the work.
The annual report by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is the first required by state law to determine if there is sufficient funding to address actual and potential liabilities at coal mines, and to determine whether the coal mining industry is fiscally self-sufficient enough to support the state taking over the permitting program from the federal government.

Abandoned zombie coal mines are former mining sites that were not properly shut down and now contaminate water and destroy natural habitats. In this week’s Stay Tuned, we’ll catch up with local environmentalists who are on a mission to stop this destruction.

Over a week in July 2022, more than a foot of rainfall came down on Eastern Kentucky bringing a deluge of flood waters that displaced thousands of people and killed more than 40. A recent study published by Kentucky’s former top geologist suggests environmental damage from surface coal mining worsened the deadly disaster, perhaps significantly. Excerpt from Kentucky Lantern Article by Liam Niemeyer

New legislation in Congress would hold coal producers accountable for cleaning up the mine sites they have abandoned, including tens of thousands of acres in Illinois.

West Virginia and other Appalachian states are littered with hundreds of "zombie mines," abandoned mines neither producing coal nor undergoing reclamation.

Research shows idle mines can trigger landslides, pollute groundwater and cause economic harm to communities.

Though the coal industry has been in decline for over a decade, the industry continues to have an outsized impact in coal-bearing regions around the country. The communities within Appalachia value their region’s culture — including a long history of coal mining — and they also value the environment and beauty that the mountains provide. But the mining industry has put a severe financial and environmental burden on the people of Appalachia and their home.

In late summer of 2022, Appalachian Voices discovered selenium, a common pollutant associated with coal mining, in high concentrations in certain streams in the Big Sandy River watershed in Pike County, Kentucky. These waterways receive runoff from the S-1 Hunts Branch Surface Mine, a nearly 2,000-acre mountaintop removal coal mine operated by Lexington Coal Company.

On April 11, Pennsylvania Congressman Matt Cartwright introduced two bills in the U.S. House to assuage issues associated with “zombie mines,” coal mines that no longer produce coal but haven’t been cleaned up by the operator. If passed, these bills could better deter mine operators from leaving legacy pollution in Pennsylvania’s precious waterways, which suffer from over 100 years of damages from mining activity.

Press Release: Community groups praise Beyer bill to ensure timely coal mine cleanup. Beyer’s Stream Protection and Vegetation Restoration Act would strengthen requirements to prevent zombie mines and ensure that stream health is restored.

Cartwright’s Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act and Bond Improvement and Reclamation Assurance Act will restore accountability and safeguard communities

Excerpt: Chase Hays and more than 50 neighbors are suing Blackhawk Mining after a silt retention pond burst and killed 43 people.
Article by Kate Morgan for The Guardian.

Press Release: As Congress advances a government funding bill that slashes millions in funding for the agency charged with supporting critical mine reclamation projects and enforcing mine reclamation standards, more than a dozen local, regional and national organizations released a letter urging Congress to restore this funding and bolster the work Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in 2025 spending bills.

Modern-era mines that have not been cleaned up cause environmental, health issues as they sit idled, advocates say. Article by Kristi Eaton for the Daily Yonder

Interview with Chelsea Barnes, director of government affairs and strategy for Appalachian Voices, conducted by Melinda Tuhus for Between the Lines

Article by Nadia Ramlagan for Public News Service. Excerpt: Advocates from coal-mining communities are proposing a roadmap to help address and prevent so-called "zombie mines," - abandoned mine lands on hold indefinitely. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Ohio and other Appalachian states are littered with hundreds of zombie mines, allowing companies to avoid paying for environmental cleanup.

Today, advocates from across coal-mining communities released a new federal policy platform that serves as a road map to address and prevent unreclaimed “zombie mines” — idled modern-era mines that have not been cleaned up by the responsible coal companies. The platform has already been endorsed by 52 community and national organizations. It includes an array of new recommended solutions to thwart the continued zombie mine crisis.

Article by The Cheyenne Post. Excerpt: As GAO Prepares Investigation of Zombie Mine Crisis, Platform Offers Policymakers with Solutions