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

Appalachian Voices Front Porch Blog by Erin Savage, December 15, 2023. Excerpt: Regulators are ignoring a growing crisis unfolding in modern mine reclamation. Coal companies are often failing to complete timely reclamation, and safeguards to ensure mine cleanup are failing.

Article by Ken Ward Jr. for Mountain State Spotlight and ProPublica, December 1, 2023. Excerpt: The state’s program for reclaiming abandoned coal mines has long been plagued with problems, but state and federal officials have done little to prepare for this reckoning.

Article by Zack Budryk for The Hill, October 20, 2023. Excerpt: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and seven House Democrats asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review potential environmental damages caused by idled coal mines.

Press Advisory, October 19, 2023. As congressional leaders urge GAO to act, coal-impacted communities demand full accounting of impacts of industry’s failure to clean up Mines

Article by Dan Radmacher for The Appalachian Voice, August 3, 2023. Excerpt: Since Blackjewel LLC and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in July 2019, there has not been a coal company bankruptcy of similar magnitude. But that doesn’t mean the coal industry is recovering. Energy Information Administration anticipates steeper declines for Appalachian coal production in 2023 and 2024 than the national average.