West Virginia's financial struggle with abandoned coal mine cleanup
West Virginia faces a severe financial burden due to its ineffective fund for cleaning up abandoned coal mines, potentially leaving taxpayers with massive costs.
Ken Ward Jr. reports for Mountain State Spotlight and ProPublica.
In short:
- West Virginia grapples with a profoundly under-resourced fund dedicated to remediating abandoned coal mines.
- This financial inadequacy threatens to foist substantial cleanup expenses upon state taxpayers.
- There is a conspicuous lack of decisive measures to mitigate this escalating fiscal crisis.
Key quote:
"The system never fully worked. It limped along for a while, but it is completely broken today."
— Peter Morgan, Sierra Club Lawyer.
Why this matters:
West Virginia's predicament highlights a broader challenge around mine reclamation in coal states as the industry decline continues in the wake of the energy transition. The problem doesn't result only from recent coal industry bankruptcies, however: The investigation by ProPublica and Mountain State Spotlight indicates decades of failure to adequately fund state mine remediation. Meanwhile, cleanup costs grow as old mines continue releasing toxic contaminants into soil and waterways.
How do you think mine reclamation costs should be met?
Learn more: Lessons from environmental and economic restoration efforts in Germany could help usher Appalachia into a new era.
