Abandoned Mine Land Story Archives - Page 2 of 3 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Portal 31: How A Closed Mine Opened New Prospects For One Coal Town

Devin Mefford is sitting in the squat metal buggy of a modified mantrip, the train-like shuttle coal miners use to travel underground. Mefford is dressed for work, in a hardhat and a navy shirt and pants with lime green reflective stripes.

It’s a uniform his father and grandfather — both Kentucky coal miners — would be familiar with.

Mefford does go into a mine every day, but not for the coal. He’s the tour guide at Portal 31, a train ride through a once-operational coal mine in Harlan County.

“People are amazed,” the 21-year-old says, gesturing to the dark mine entrance behind him.

Portal 31 first opened in 1917. A subsidiary of U.S. Steel operated the mine and built the nearby community of Lynch, which was at the time the world’s largest coal camp. At its height, 10,000 people lived in the community, including a diverse immigrant population from more than 30 countries.

When it closed its doors in 1963, Portal 31 had produced more than 120 million tons of coal. More than 40 years later, in 2009, the mine reopened — this time to tourists.

For 35 minutes visitors ride the rail cars, often in pitch darkness, on a journey not just through the mine, but back in time. The drawling voice of an actor playing a miner named Mike Mackenzie, or Mac, narrates.

“We’re going to visit the miners and see how it’s changed over the years,” he says. “First stop, 1919.”

An animatronic miner materializes out of the darkness. Another actor gives voice to an Italian immigrant named Joseph, who recounts what it was like for the thousands of people who came to work in the mines in the early 1900s. Next to his lifelike form is a robotic mule and chirping canary.

“The mine she’s cool and safe,” he says. “You will see to that won’t you cantante. As long as I can hear your song I know I’m safe.”

Visitors hear what it was like to mine for coal before and after mechanization. They also learn about Harlan County’s bloody conflicts over union organizing.

“This is a story that never needs to die. It’s a story that needs to be told,” Nick Sturgill, director of Portal 31 said. “People need to understand what these guys went through, but they also need to understand how prosperous a place this was at one time — what coal not only did for this city, but for this region, for this country, for this entire world.”

He said about 5,000 visitors from around the world take the ride under Black Mountain each year. It’s a bright spot for Lynch, which today is home to just a few hundred residents.

Like many former mining communities, in recent years Lynch and neighboring towns have turned their sights on attracting tourists. It’s often a costly endeavor, but in recent years the federal government has expanded its support for repurposing old mine lands as new economic engines, including to draw new visitors.

Federal Role

Portal 31 was part of that effort. In 2018, the attraction was awarded a $2.55 million Abandoned Mine Land Pilot grant. The funding will be used to update the ride as well as nearby historic buildings for use as retail and office space. Some of the money is slated to go to a new parking lot and scenic overlook at nearby Black Mountain.

A sign for Portal 31 in Lynch, Kentucky.

“The main outlook on the AML grant is to really just be a shot in the arm for all of Lynch as well as Harlan County,” Sturgill said.

Central Appalachia has thousands of acres of abandoned mine sites that can threaten local economies and people’s health and safety. In 1977, Congress created the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program to clean them up. The funds come from fees paid by active coal mine operators on each ton of coal mined. The fee and authorization of the AML Program is set to expire in 2021 without Congressional action.

The AML Program chiefly provides funding for reclamation. In the last five years, federal support has grown for a slightly different approach — going beyond merely sealing mine portals and treating polluted water to supporting projects that could grow local economies.

The Appalachian Regional Commission in 2015 began investing in coal-impacted communities through Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, or POWER Initiative. Congress appropriated money from the U.S. Treasury to create the AML Pilot program in 2016, aimed at not only boosting reclamation work in the highest-need Appalachian states, but promoting projects that spur economic development and growth on abandoned mine lands.

“There’s significant economic benefits that communities can get from embracing mine reclamation,” said Joey James, with the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition, which advocates for sustainable reclamation investment. “There’s also opportunities to repower some of these sites that were once the lifeblood of these communities.”

James, who is a senior strategist at West Virginia-based Downstream Strategies, said projects with federal backing can attract other investors looking to make an impact.

“While these federal programs are really, really important, and we need to have them, I think what the AML Pilot program does is it offers an opportunity to develop enterprises on former mine sites that might pull private capital and create models for redeveloping and reusing mine sites that won’t rely entirely on federal funding,” he said.

Another federal proposal, the RECLAIM Act, would accelerate reclamation of abandoned mine land by dispersing $1 billion of Abandoned Mine Land funds over a 5-year period with an eye toward economic development. That bill has not been passed by Congress despite bipartisan support.

Critics argue the millions poured into these programs have failed to produce the desired outcomes. Some efforts planting lavender or apple trees on old strip mines have floundered. James said it’s important to objectively assess the effectiveness of projects receiving federal funding.

“If states are investing in projects that aren’t providing that opportunity in the future, we need to think of how we can be better,” he said.

Growing Pride

Back inside Portal 31, the mantrip snakes its way back toward daylight.

A group of visitors from South Carolina is milling around in the small gift shop. They’re visiting the area on a mission trip. A gaggle of middle school-aged kids excitedly share what they learned.

“We learned how difficult it was and how dangerous it is for them,” one says. Another adds his amazement that Portal 31 holds the record for most coal mined in a single day — a record set in 1923.

Mefford, the guide, takes questions at the end of the tour. He says the most common one he’s asked is if coal is coming back.

“In all honesty, coal mining is a thing of the past, and it’s sad to say that for small towns like mine,” he says.

But he adds that makes Portal 31, and federal investment into both preserving and showcasing Kentucky’s coal heritage, even more important.

“Every person in this community deserves to have something to be proud of, and that’s what we do here,” he said.

Meet The Coal Town Betting Big On Outdoor Recreation

Standing on the breezy outlook at Flag Rock Recreation Area, Norton City Manager Fred Ramey is taking in the panoramic view of downtown Norton, Virginia. The brick building-lined streets are framed by the verdant, rolling Appalachian mountains. Jagged, brown scars from mountaintop mining operations can be seen in the distance, reminders of the region’s history of coal production.

“It’s a great overlook of the city, and people really are surprised when they get up here at the view,” he says. “It’s truly beautiful, and it’s unique. It’s something that we have that not everyone else has.”

This view — and Norton’s abundance of nature and outdoor recreation opportunities — are what Ramey and others here are hoping will be the next chapter in the region’s history.

The first chapter was coal.

Norton was named in the 1890s after the president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The community of about 4,000 sits in Wise County, which borders eastern Kentucky. Coal has been mined in these mountains for more than 140 years.

But since 2008, coal production has fallen by about 50 percent in Virginia. The trends look similar across the Ohio Valley. Over the last decade, coal production decreased more than 65 percent in Kentucky and Ohio, and decreased roughly 40 percent in West Virginia.

“In a certain way, our community has found itself at another intersection due to the loss of coal,” Ramey said. “And that’s when we had to really start thinking differently.”

Norton, like many regional communities, began looking at how to diversify its coal-based economy. One resource it has in abundance is nature.

Recreation Opportunities

The city is located near Jefferson National Forest and Stone Mountain. Its peak, High Knob, is the wettest area in Virginia and the area is rich in biodiversity. For example, more than 20 species of salamander are known to live in the region.

In the 1970s, Norton began developing the Flag Rock Recreation Area, a 1,000-acre park a few miles from downtown. Norton ramped up those efforts more recently and the park is a central piece of the city’s plan to reorient its economy to outdoor recreation. New campgrounds and hiking trails have been built. A visitor’s center that will be easily accessible from downtown is in the works.

The city has also built eight miles of mountain bike trails, with more in development.

“When you have mountain bikers come to your to your town, they’re going to come out of the woods and come down and frequent your restaurants,” Shayne Fields said. He’s trail coordinator for Norton. “If we get enough trails here then they’re going to come and stay multiple days. So, you’ll have patronage at your restaurants, your hotels, any little shops you have in town.”

New bike and hiking trails at Flag Rock Recreation Area in Norton, Va.

Fields would know. An avid cyclist himself, he and his friends have traveled around the country in search of good mountain biking.

“Normally, when we go someplace, we come out of the woods hungry,” he said. “And the first thing you want to do is go find some really good fatty food and a craft beer somewhere.”

Fields grew up in Norton. He can remember the heyday of coal and has seen the impact its decline has had on the region. Wise County is losing population. About 23 percent of its residents live under the poverty line and the region is often considered ground zero for the opioid epidemic.

Recreation isn’t a silver bullet, Fields said, but it could be a key part of the solution.

“If we want to get an industry here — something other than the coal industry, you know, since it’s probably not coming back — we’re going to have to provide some kind of environment here that’s going to make those young working people want to stay here,” he said. “If we’ve got a good recreational economy-based setup here, we’ll have venues for people to come and play.”

Transition Challenges

Researchers who study economic transitions in coal-dependent communities say diversification is not easy. Many of these communities are located in rural areas, isolated from cities and lacking their amenities. In some cases, political leaders cling to the idea of coal comeback, which stalls action.

“The biggest problem is the loss of employment, particularly of high wage jobs,” said Mark Haggerty, with the Bozeman, Montana-based nonprofit research group Headwaters Economics. “And just as important is the loss of revenue that supports schools and libraries and local services that keep these communities vibrant and attractive places.”

Haggerty has been studying coal community transitions for a decade and said several communities have had success making the transition from mining to outdoor recreation. He pointed to Gallup, New Mexico, a former hard rock mining community, which has now designated itself “The Adventure Capital of New Mexico.” Due to its proximity to the New River Gorge and world class river rafting, Fayetteville, West Virginia, has boomed in recent years.

Norton, Virginia has launched a “Get Outside” campaign showcasing its natural resources.

Recreation can be a tool, and a powerful one for coal-dependent communities seeking to diversify their economies, but shouldn’t be the end goal, Haggerty said.

“Recreation is really a means to an end,” he said. “So what a recreation strategy does for you is it makes your community more attractive, and it has to be set within a broader economic development strategy that includes making sure you have broadband connectivity, making sure you have good schools and healthcare in place and other kinds of cultural amenities.”

The cost of doing business in coal-dependent communities can also be higher due to the legacy costs left by the coal industry, said Chelsea Barnes, the new economy program manager for the environmental group, Appalachian Voices.

“There are safety hazards or health hazards, or they’re lands that are just not ready for a new business to come and build,” she said. “And we have to make sure that the land that people are visiting is safe, and the water they’re drinking is safe, before you invite large crowds of people to come and visit.”

Federal Role

Norton City Manager Ramey said the city is clear-eyed about the limitations of its budding outdoor recreation industry. In addition to questions about mine cleanup, some have expressed concerns over the wages of tourism-related jobs — selling hiking gear or serving beer often pays less than the mining jobs of the past.

“We’re not saying that tourism is going to be our answer, but we believe it can be part of the solution,” he said. “For a small community to have this kind of asset, you know, is a phenomenal opportunity for us, and it has to play into the discussion as we discuss our community’s future.”

On the other side of town, Norton is engaged in another economic diversification effort. With a federal Abandoned Mine Land Pilot Program grant, the city is converting a 200-acre, vacant surface coal mine into an industrial park. Ramey said they hope the space will attract manufacturing and technology companies. University of Virginia’s College at Wise is nearby, providing an educated workforce. Once completed, the project is expected to create 63 jobs.

Without federal investment, Ramey said, the city’s efforts to diversify would be greatly hampered.

“Without those types of opportunities, the hole we would be digging ourselves out of would become so much deeper,” he said. “It acts as a lifeline to a certain extent having resources, not just the financial resources, but the people resources that these agencies provide, to come in and help.”

The Woodbooger Effect

Norton has also held help from an unlikely source. In 2011, Animal Planet filmed an episode of its program “Finding Bigfoot” in southwest Virginia.

A local legend about a bigfoot-style creature, dubbed the “Woodbooger,” got national exposure.

“No one even knew they had been here,” Ramey said. Soon, tourists in search of the “Woodbooger” were flocking to the area. Norton leaned in. In 2014, the city declared Flag Rock Recreation Area a “Woodbooger Sanctuary.” Local businesses pitched in to buy a larger-than-life Woodbooger statue. The local hardware store downtown does a steady business selling t-shirts with the hairy creature’s likeness.

The Woodbooger statue in the Flag Rock Recreation Area in Norton, Va.

A Woodbooger Festival in October draws hundreds of visitors.

It’s hard to measure if the region’s nascent efforts to boost tourism are working yet. But Ramey points to lots of anecdotal evidence, including multiple trail races that have sprung up in recent years.

On a recent visit to top of the High Knob Observation Tower, Ramey turns in a slow circle pointing to Virginia’s neighbors. Four states are visible on a clear day from this perch, 4,200 feet in elevation.

“West Virginia would be that way,” he says. “Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, is that way. Tennessee and North Carolina is that direction And of course Kentucky over there.”

Down in the parking lot, Ramey smiles.

“Interesting fact, at Flag Rock, we had two cars there from North Carolina, and at the tower, we have two vehicles here from Florida,” he says. “So, I would say that’s a sign that the tourism efforts are paying off.”

Power Plant: How Grass Might Generate Fuel, Help Fix Damaged Mine Lands

Down bumpy back roads deep in central West Virginia, a flat, bright green pasture opens up among the rolling hills of coffee-colored trees.

Wildflowers and butterflies dot the pasture, but West Virginia University Professor Jeff Skousen is here for something else that stands above the rest of the Appalachian scenery – literally.

Thick stalks of green-yellowish grass reach up 10 feet into the air like a beanstalk out of a fairy tale, and Skousen is dwarfed by it.

“These plots I kind of know like my children,” he said. “But you see, you can’t hardly walk through this stuff – it’s worse than a jungle.”

Skousen and a team of graduate students have grown giant miscanthus for close to a decade here near Alton, West Virginia, a place that wasn’t always a pasture.

The site is one of numerous old surface coal mines across the Ohio Valley that was reclaimed, replacing the once barren ground with a layer of rocky topsoil.

The cumulative size of land impacted by strip mines across central Appalachia is roughly the size of the state of Delaware – roughly 1.5 million acres – according to a 2018 Duke University study.

This animation shows the expansion of surface mining’s footprint (displayed in yellow) from 1985 to 2015 for a 31,000 square kilometer sub-region of the study area in West Virginia and Kentucky, and has county boundaries visible.

After land is reclaimed, it remains an open question how to use these degraded lands, from faltering lavender farms to golf courses. But Skousen, also a land reclamation specialist at WVU, believes a potential answer might be in this towering grass.

While other agricultural crops struggle with the poor soil quality here from past mining, giant miscanthus thrives.

“We’ve never fertilized them. We’ve never done anything to them other than let them grow,” Skousen said. “Which demonstrates their ability to grow on marginal mine land areas at this kind of rate, every year.”

And that rate is rapid: for every two tons of grassy material a regular pasture produces, Skousen estimates miscanthus grows 10 to 12 tons. That grassy material is what is called biomass, which can be turned into value-added products like heating pellets, biofuels like ethanol, and more.

A patch of miscanthus towers above other grasses on the former mine site

“We could grow a crop like this and sell it to an ethanol producer or some other heating agent, and suddenly we have a sort of economy develop for an agricultural community,” Skousen said.

Skousen and other researchers see potential in giant miscanthus not only to create economic opportunity in Appalachia but to revitalize reclaimed strip mines and help reduce the emissions that cause climate change. Yet the commercial market for this “power plant” has yet to bloom, and some wonder whether it’s ultimately the best path for reclaimed mine land.

Root of the Matter

Ohio State University Professor Rattan Lal’s study of soil has spanned five decades and several countries.

“The health of soil, plants, animals and people is one and indivisible,” Lal said. “We need to reclaim these mine lands in one way or the other because they’re an important resource in terms of land area.”

He led a team of researchers in a recent three-year study to grow plots of miscanthus on a former strip mine near Zanesville, Ohio, and he also saw similar biomass growth. Yet the plant’s root system also intrigues Lal.

“At the same time, it sequesters carbon in the soil,” Lal said.

Carbon sequestration is the process of trapping and storing carbon emissions from the air to mitigate the effects of climate change. Lal said giant miscanthus is especially good at doing just that through sucking carbon through leaves and storing the carbon in roots.

“[Miscanthus] could become a sink for greenhouse gases … while at the same time produce biofuel, which is a substitute for fossil fuel,” Lal said. “Once it’s established, I think it should be a carbon-negative technology.”

Not only is there a potential benefit in combating climate change, but Lal said the soil quality could improve after several years, too, as microorganisms eat the extra stored carbon.

“The soil may be improved well enough that it could be used for other things such as corn or soybeans,” Lal said. “Coal mining was the source of emission gases. And now [miscanthus is] a solution. So that is to me, as an environmental researcher, even more critical than the money part.”

Aerial view of mountaintop removal in West Virginia. The “lake” in the center is a coal sludge waste impoundment.

Efforts to make a profit from miscanthus in the Ohio Valley also date back a decade, but not all theses efforts were successful.

Unsteady Markets

Jeff Lowe believed he was at the cutting edge of a new industry when he launched his east Kentucky company Midwestern Biofuels LLC in 2009.

“What’s only being talked about in other places is being done right here,” Lowe told the Associated Press at the time, alongside former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and other state officials.

His company had planned to recruit local farmers to grow hundreds of acres of miscanthus to be turned into pellets, which would then be mixed into coal-fired electricity plants in the Ohio Valley.

This machine at the defunct Midwestern Biofuels LLC created fuel pellets, out of miscanthus and other biomass, that could be burned for electricity.

He said several utility companies were interested, including Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp.

First Energy announced in 2009 the utility planned to transition the coal-fired R.E. Burger Power Station in Shadyside, Ohio, to burn exclusively biomass to cut costs and meet state renewable energy regulations. Lowe said a contract was in the works to burn his miscanthus pellets there, but it ultimately fell through.

The company a year later changed directions and decided to retire the plant instead, citing falling electricity prices and falling demand from the 2008 recession. Lowe closed Midwestern Biofuels LLC in 2013.

“We had no sales. We go from having complete capacity from one of the plants to nothing, overnight,” Lowe said. “If you’re not required to do it, then you generally don’t do it.”

The relative lack of commercial appeal for miscanthus is a challenge that entrepreneurs and researchers alike are still trying to tackle.

One company in Ashtabula County, in northeast Ohio, Aloterra Energy, stopped making biofuels from miscanthus because it was too costly.

“You can’t store our stuff outside in pellets because it’ll take water on, and coal is often outside in the elements,” Aloterra Energy Co-founder Jon Griswold said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we looked at everything.”

Despite those initial market challenges, Aloterra Energy is now using miscanthus to make products including recyclable food packaging and industrial absorbents.

“This is a growth industry. It just takes so long for people to figure out what you’re doing and why they need to be involved,” Griswold said.

Burning Questions

Yet some environmental activists are skeptical regarding the biofuel potential of miscanthus.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a statewide progressive advocacy group, published a report in 2017 detailing how Kentucky could meet and go beyond the energy regulations put forth by the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which was repealed and replaced last month.

The plan specifically excluded burning biomass as a viable energy option, because the organization didn’t generally consider biomass a carbon-neutral resource.

KFTC member Cassia Herron said while she isn’t completely against the idea of miscanthus as a biofuel, how these emissions are potentially regulated is key.

“The devil’s in the details in how you regulate such activity,” Herron said. “What does burning anything do to our community? And then how are regulatory agencies set up on a level to minimize those impacts?”

KFTC in its reasoning against biomass cited research from Partnership for Policy Integrity, an environmental nonprofit that specializes in biomass policy.

PFPI President Mary Booth said the added fossil fuel costs could be significant in transporting miscanthus from remote reclaimed mine sites and turning it into biofuel or biomass pellets.

“It really does eat into the net carbon emissions. It can really increase the carbon footprint of a pellet made from miscanthus,” Booth said.

West Virginia University professor Jeff Skousen among giant miscanthus on an old mine site.

Jeff Skousen is well aware that biomass energy has carbon emissions, but he believes the benefits of miscanthus outweigh the potential negatives. And past research has shown the potential for miscanthus being at least carbon neutral — meaning the grass absorbs enough carbon dioxide into the soil to make up for carbon emissions when it’s burned.

Skousen has seen the decline of the coal industry the past decade and various efforts to use the land that’s left behind. Ultimately, he wants to see the potential of that land fulfilled.

“Land is a permanent resource. And it’s always here. Even if it wasn’t reclaimed exactly the way we want it for that post-mining land use, we can change it,” Skousen said. “I just wish we could use these lands in a little bit more productive way.”

ReSource reporter Brittany Patterson contributed to this story.

W.Va. DEP Accepting Applications for Abandoned Mine Land Grants

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation is accepting applications for grant funding to redevelop abandoned mine lands through July 1, 2019.

The agency says $25 million in grant funding is available through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement for economic development projects on abandoned mine lands across the state.

Projects must be located on or adjacent to mine sites that ceased operations prior to August 1977.

According to a press release, since 2016, 28 projects in 13 West Virginia counties have received $80 million in grant funding.

The grant application and more information can be found online on the WVDEP’s website.

‘Innovative’ Reclamation Could Spur Economic Development — Report

From solar farms in Virginia to a green energy subdivision in Kentucky, anew report by a group of regional advocacy organizations highlights 20 ready-made projects across the Ohio Valley that could give abandoned mining operations that were never cleaned up a second life, and create new economic opportunity across the region.

In the report, released Tuesday, the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition, which advocates for high-impact mine reclamation projects throughout Central Appalachia, says innovative mine reclamation “could be Appalachia’s new Deal.”

“This report marks an important step as Appalachia citizens continue to re-imagine and work toward a future of sustainable and healthy local economies, where young people can find meaningful work and stay to raise their own families,” Adam Wells, regional director of community and economic Development with Appalachian Voices, said in a statement.

Virginia-based Appalachian Voices is one of the members of the coalition. Other organizations include Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center in Kentucky, Coalfield Development Corporation in West Virginia, Rural Action in Ohio, and Downstream Strategies in West Virginia.

Projects highlighted in the report run the gamut and include proposals to use acid mine drainage in Perry County, Ohio to create paint and a proposal by a West Virginia wholesaler to build a livestock processing facility in Kanawha County.

The region has struggled to cleanup and repurpose thousands of abandoned coal sites since the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) fund was created in 1976. State and local governments have sometimes struggled with how to repurpose abandoned coal mine sites, and some high-profile projects have fizzled.

In the report, the authors argue well-thought out reclamation projects can spur economic development, but offer best practices for how they should be proposed. They include selecting appropriate locations near infrastructure and ensuring redevelopment projects are environmentally sustainable and financially viable over the long term.

In recent years, Congress has boosted resources available for that effort. Beginning in 2017, more than $100 million was appropriated for the Abandoned Mine Land Pilot Program. Many of the projects highlighted in the report have applied for funding through the AML Pilot Program.

But another federal effort, the Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More” Act, or RECLAIM Act, which would accelerate reclamation of abandoned mine land by dispersing $1 billion of Abandoned Mine Land funds over a 5-year period with an eye toward economic development, has not been passed by Congress.

Combined, the report’s authors say the 20 projects would require about $38 million of investment and bring $83.5 million in economic activity as well about 540 jobs to the region.

W.Va. National Guard Invests More than $5 Million to Grow Apple Trees on a Mine Site

Can apples grow on an abandoned mine site? That’s a question the West Virginia National Guard is spending more than $5 million to find out.

West Virginia was given $30 million in 2016 to invest in economic development projects across the state. The money came from the 2015 omnibus federal spending bill passed by Congress. There was a catch, though—groups would have to build their projects on former Abandoned Mine Land sites.

The idea was partly to spur new jobs in coal country, but also to speed up reclamation of mine sites. Some of the funding went to develop industrial parks, and $5.3 million went to agricultural projects, includuing an apple orchard project in Nicholas County.

Apples on Abandoned Mine Sites

Sergeant Major Darrel Sears, with the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG), manages the project on an abandoned mine site in Muddlety, in Nicholas County.

Behind an electric fence, rows of young apple trees are growing over a hillside.

Young apple trees that were planted several years ago on the West Virginia National Guard’s apple orchard in Nicholas County

“Some of it needs a little bit of help in lime and fertilizer and balance for the pH, but honestly almost every soil in West Virginia does,” he said.

Sears said the majority of this property can be used to grow fruit trees. These 3,000 trees are expected to live about 30 years. They aren’t producing many apples yet, they’re only two years old. They’re also tiny, a type of dwarf apple tree that will need to be trellised.

The project is growing different varieties of apples, most of which are Golden Delicious, a variety of apple that was developed in West Virginia. They’re sweet, and Sears said that makes them great for more than just eating—the project has also attracted a major private investor, a producer of apple juice and apple cider vinegar.

“So, we already have a potential partner to develop further but it hasn’t been anything official,” he said. “If they don’t come somebody else will.”

If that type of private investment pans out, this orchard could eventually provide about 400 jobs, and $1.5 million in tax revenue for the state, according to an economic impact study West Virginia University conducted.

Sears and nine other employees work at this orchard now. By the end of next year, he said they’ll have planted 250,000 trees on this site.

Questions Abound

Not everyone is convinced this plan is the best scenario. West Virginia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt said he’d love to see the National Guard’s project succeed, but he has questions about their approach.

“Why did they choose juicing apples, when juicing apples are the lowest value of an apple that there is out there?” he said. “Why aren’t we going after table apples, and a processing plant to where we can cut them up to the sizes that our youth need in our schools?”

Newly planted apple rootstock at the orchard site in Muddlety, W.Va.

Using some of the apples for eating is still part of the WVNG’s plan, but they’re hoping that by bringing in a larger company, the project will have more long-term investment beyond the current grant cycle, which ends next year.

Another question Commissioner Leonhardt has is why is the National Guard investing in agriculture? Major General James A Hoyer, the man in charge of the WVNG, said their job is not only to deal with natural disasters, but also to help find ways to solve economic and environmental challenges.

He said that includes looking beyond coal for ways to use the land that’s been left behind by years of mining.

“I think our role, from a guard perspective, is to take that property and turn it into something for West Virginia’s future,” he said.

If the Soil Fits

But is a mine site really a suitable place to grow an apple orchard?

“It all depends on the kind of soil you’ve got and its productivity potential,” said Jeff Skousen, a professor of soil science at West Virginia University, and an expert in reclamation of mine sites. He estimates that there are about 500,000 to 600,000 acres of abandoned mine land sites in West Virginia.

Some have been reclaimed. Others have not.

“And I would guess that probably a fourth of that area might be suitable for farming,” said Skousen.

Most of this abandoned mine land is still owned by mine companies or private landowners, but it could be developed into a post mining industry, like growing apples, if the soil is free of contaminants, and if there are enough nutrients to support farming. Skousen helped the WVNG select the site for their Nicholas County orchard, and he tested the soil.

“These soils aren’t toxic; there’s nothing wrong with them,” he said. “They’re just fairly course … they don’t hold as much water and hold as many nutrients.”

Skousen advised the WVNG to add some potting soil to the dirt to give more nutrients and to help break up the tough clay. He said he’s hopeful the trees will continue to thrive and produce, but it will be a few more years till they’ll know for sure if they were successful.

Clay County Failure

An earlier apple tree project the WVNG was involved in was not successful. That site is located in Clay County, right along the Nicholas County line. Most, if not all, of the thousands of apple trees there have died. The ground appears dry, and there are pieces of coal shale in the dirt, nestled up against the dead trees.

Previous site of apple tree project in Clay County

This project was headed up by a non-profit called the Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone, and the West Virginia National Guard helped plant all the trees in 2015.

Hoyer with the WVNG said in the case of the Clay County project, the soil soil quality was adequate, rather the project lacked resources to manage the orchard after the trees were planted.

“The follow up on those trees is not like the follow up in the orchard that we have at Muddlety,” he said.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the site where these apples were planted was mined by Greendale Coal, which had its permits revoked in the late ’80s. The DEP said reclamation was later done on the soil, but there is an issue with acid mine drainage.

It’s not exactly clear if any of these environmental issues had anything to do with why the apple trees died. Connie Lupartus, executive director the Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone, said she was told by the DEP that the site would be appropriate to grow apples, and they did grow initially. Lupartus said they only received a little more than $20,000 for this pilot project, and if she had to do it over again, she would make sure she has workers in place to care for the trees once they were growing.

Jeff Skousen, the WVU soil scientist, said that, generally speaking, if the reclamation on a mine site wasn’t completed, then it’s probably not the ideal location to grow apple trees.

“So we do have to be careful about sites like that,” he added.

For multiple reasons, Skousen said, the second orchard location in Muddlety is probably better suited for growing apples. That site was last mined in 1969, and though there is still some reclamation needed on the property, he’s hopeful that the soil and water quality will be able to support an orchard.

Bringing in Outside Perspective

The challenges in the first pilot project in Clay County did help the WVNG realize they needed some help.

They consulted with some fruit researchers at the Appalachia Fruit Research station in Kerneysville, West Virginia.

The reserachers are working with the WVNG to help find the apple varieties that grow the best on the Muddlety site. They’re also helping them grow some other fruit on this site.

“In our stone fruits we have a trait we call super sweet nectarines and peaches that have tremendous flavor profiles,” said Chris Dardirck, a molecular biologist with the Appalachia Fruit Research Station.

They’re also working on finding a way to help the WVNG grow pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, and even a kiwi variety that was developed specifically for West Virginia.

Time Will Tell

Back up at the Muddlety site, Sergeant Sears said, in a generation from now, apples and other fruit trees could be one of the things covering these hillsides. He added he does think this project will be more successful than the Clay County project.

“And as far as them doing better here there than over there, it’s just a matter of testing to see,” Sears said. “I mean, you don’t know until you get them going, but they appear at this point [to be] doing quite well here.”

He said in about four years, we’ll know for sure. That’s when the 250,000 trees they are planting for this pilot project are expected to start producing apples.