Tag: Coal Mining

85-Year-Old Says He is Still in Good Health and Spirits and Will Continue to Fast

85-year-old Roland Micklem is still fasting at the West Virginia Capitol Building. He began his fast ten days ago to draw attention to the effects of climate change, and he says he will continue to go without food. Since July 7th, Micklem has eaten no food and has consumed only water, juice and coffee.

“My health is excellent. I am very much encouraged and motivated by the reception I’ve been receiving by the people we’ve run across. Everyone has been supportive and cooperative,” says Micklem.

“Our support person Cat is providing us with a variety of juices. Grape, apple, and some vegetable juices. And that is the closest thing to food that we are taking.”

A retired science teacher and environmental activist, Micklem is fasting to express what he calls his grief for the loss of creation as a result of mountaintop removal mining.

“It’s not a protest, it’s not a hunger strike. It’s a witness, a witness that I’m making by being there every day and not eating. The campaign needs love and respect for one’s advisories, as well as one’s friends.”

In the past, Micklem has fasted for as long as thirteen days, but he says he plans to go on longer than that this time. Micklem says two trained medics, named Natalie and Noah, have been checking on his health. Aside from a little dehydration, he says they have found no indications that he is experiencing and serious side effects due to the fast.

Coal Industry, Miners Concerned Over Proposed EPA Rules

The coal industry is worried that the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly proposed regulations on carbon emissions will cripple the nation’s coal…

The coal industry is worried that the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly proposed regulations on carbon emissions will cripple the nation’s coal economy.

With 95 percent of the energy produced in West Virginia coming from coal fired power plants, many within the industry feel the state will be the hardest hit by the new proposal.

Roger Horton, a retired miner from Logan County paints a grim picture already evolving in coal country. Since March of 2012 thousands of miners have lost their jobs.  Horton said the EPA new proposed rules ignore the economic impact of its standards on countless coal mining families.

“The uncertainty now that is created by these new [regulations] is going to make even more people apprehensive about being able to keep their homes and I’m sure there’s going to be more who lose their jobs and have to relocate,” Horton said. “That’s just absolutely wrong.”

The EPA is the target of bi-partisan wrath. West Virginia’s congressional delegation is a mix of Democrats and Republicans and they have all criticized the Obama Administration over the rule proposed Monday.  The exception was Senator Jay Rockefeller who didn’t criticize the EPA. Instead, Rockefeller called for a bigger push for clean coal technologies.

Meetings Underway to Discuss New Coal Dust Rules

Federal mine safety officials are holding the first of several meetings on the Obama administration’s new coal dust rule in Beaver, West Virginia.

The Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration meets with industry representatives Thursday morning at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy. 

Federal officials will highlight major provisions and effective dates of the rule and describe best practices for controlling dust and reducing exposure. They also will provide materials to help the industry comply.

The administration announced last month that it’s cutting the amount of coal dust allowed in coal mines in an effort to help reduce black lung disease. Officials say the disease has caused or contributed to the deaths of 76,000 miners since 1968.

 

New Rule to Help Black Lung Disease

The Obama administration is cutting the amount of coal dust allowed in coal mines in an effort to help reduce black lung disease.Black lung is an…

The Obama administration is cutting the amount of coal dust allowed in coal mines in an effort to help reduce black lung disease.
Black lung is an irreversible and potentially deadly disease caused by exposure to coal dust. The government estimates that the disease has killed more than 76,000 miners since 1968.

 
The rule lowers the maximum levels of coal dust in mines. It also increases dust sampling in the mines, and requires coal operators to take immediate action when dust levels are high. The requirements will be phased in over two years.
 
The administration first proposed the rule back in 2010.
 
Top Labor Department officials are unveiling the long-awaited rule Wednesday at an event in Morgantown, W.Va.

Can West Virginia's Laid Off Coal Miners Find New Careers?

Some miners are looking for new occupations because they worry this current down swing in coal production won’t be an ordinary ‘bust’. Workforce West Virginia is reporting that more than 4,200 West Virginia coal miners have lost their jobs since March 2012. Although mining jobs were created during that same, the agency couldn’t quantify the number. 

In March of 2012, the bureau of labor statistics forecasts that coal mining would decline between 2010-2020, saying that support activities for mining is projected to experience little or no growth.  The bureau said declining employment in these industries is mainly attributable to technology advancements that boost worker productivity.

More than 700 West Virginia coal miners are expected to lose their jobs by the end of this year and many them are being forced to find new occupations. 

What other types of work are displaced miners looking for?

  •  Commercial Freight/Truck Driver 
  •  Welder
  •  Health Care Technician
  •  HVAC Repair Technician
  •  Diesel Technology and Chemical Processing
  •  Electrical Engineer
  •  Robotics Technology Operator

Federal and state dollars are helping to pay for these types of retraining programs.

"Their first hope is they’re going to get called back to their job or get another mining job and the reality may be that it won’t happen," said Brett Dillon, Director of United Mine Workers of America Career Center in Beckley.  

What groups are offering help for retraining?

The state  just wrapped up a series of ‘rapid response’ meetings which are designed to help miners sign up for unemployment benefits and learn more about various training options.

  •  The West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services which is offering $6,000 towards retraining for miners who qualify. This is reserved for miners with conditions like diabetes, ADD, ADHD, etc. 
  •   The US Department of Labor awarded the Coal Mining National Emergency Grant to West Virginia. Workforce West Virginia is administering the $1.8 million  emergency grant awarded in late June 2012. Up to $5,000 is available for miners and their family members for classroom occupational skills  training. 
  •  Coal Mining National Emergency Grant also provides money for travel, child care, gas, food at the rate of $20 per day for the days attending class up to  $100 per week
  • UMWA Career Center partners with several of the community colleges and universities throughout the region including New River, and Southern Community and Technical College, and The Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) to offer training in different occupations.  RCBI has created an individual program designed specifically for coal miners. The school is working to condense a two year Associate’s Degree in robotics technology into a 9-month training program.

Retaining takes some encouragement

Robert Lafever recently lost his job driving a coal truck. The Clay County resident started work in the coal business in 1980.  

“They sent me papers to come up to get retrained,” Lafever said, “so I wanted to see what they got to offer.” 

“They’re devastated because they just lost a good paying job.  One of the best paying jobs in West Virginia,” Dillon said. 

He said every miner to reach out for some form of retraining. 

“I tell them that, while they’re drawing unemployment, don’t sit on the couch watching TV, go ahead and get some training,” he said. “Maybe you’ll get called back to the mines. Maybe you’ll get another mining job. You may not need this training.”

But Dillon said some miners are worried a lack of experience elsewhere tends to be discouraging.

“What I tell the guys when they say, ‘all I’ve ever done is coal mining. I can’t do nothing else,’ well the first thing I say is ‘that’s bull’,” Dillon said.

“’You have been a coal miner for a number of years and coal miners are very resourceful you can call a lot of them ‘MacGyvers.’”

Ghostly stories from the Whipple Company Store

Built during a time of labor strife in the southern coalfields, the Whipple Company Store in Fayette County is one of those buildings that just LOOKS haunted. Every Halloween, the owners offer tours full of history, folklore, and ghost stories. Producer Catherine Moore set out to do a fun piece about the reported paranormal activity at the store with a couple of local ghost hunters. Well, she got more than she bargained for and found out that there’s a lot more to the so-called hauntings, and to the history of the store, than meets the eye. Now here’s part one of “The Soul of a Company Store,” a three-part series that concludes on Halloween morning.

“I don’t know.  I don’t know why. I could smell like a man comes out of the mines and he has the coal dust on his clothes. It just rose up.”  Cora Sue Barrett, visitor at the Whipple Company Store who suddenly smells coal dust in a tiny metal safe room.

Wess Harris is the editor of “When Miners March” and “Dead Ringers: Why Miners March.”

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