This West Virginia town is a Superfund site. The booming outdoor industry doesn’t want to talk about it.
Minden residents are still searching for answers about PCB contamination while a new outdoor recreation economy is being built around them.
Blackjewel left coal miners without pay. Now it might leave Appalachia thousands of acres of land to clean up.
The bankruptcy could signal a new environmental and economic crisis in central Appalachia, where many coal companies have failed to reclaim former mine sites.
‘They’re cutting everything’: As coal disappears, Appalachians lose access to basic services
Sharp drops in coal severance tax revenue have led to a massive funding gap for education, infrastructure, and law enforcement.