For decades, coal was king in West Virginia. It paid good wages, paid the bills for many local services through taxes, and kept small towns alive. But more of our nation’s electricity is starting to come from other sources like wind and solar power. Coal is losing out.
This Us & Them episode brings us three tales of coal and its future in Appalachia. Two of those tales come from men who grew up in the same neighborhood in Charleston, WV and now hold very different perspectives. Andrew Jordan owns mines. Joe Lovett is an environmental lawyer. Our third tale comes from journalist Ken Ward, who has covered the coal industry for decades. He says West Virginia needs to look at another energy player – natural gas – to determine its future.
You also can listen to this episode of Us & Them on WVPB Radio on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 8 p..m. Tune in to Us & Them on the fourth Thursday of the month at 8 PM, with an encore presentation on the fourth Saturday at 3 PM.
Bobby Bowman mined coal in West Virginia for 12 years before his employer shut down.
“I don’t think that mine will ever open again,” he said.
Bowman lives in Welch, in the south of the state, where he worked at the Pinnacle Mine, which shut down almost exactly one year ago, putting him and about 400 others out of work. After waiting a month in hopes someone would buy Pinnacle and the mine would reopen, Bowman decided to do a four-week training program offered by the United Mine Workers Career Center. He enjoyed it and earned a certification in heavy equipment operation. But when he came back home, he struggled to find a job in the field. So Bowman took matters into his own hands.
“So I sent myself through truck driving school and that’s what I’m doing today,” he said.
Bowman is not alone. In the midst of the region’s declining industries, politicians are betting big on job training, with millions directed at those who lost jobs in coal mining and power plants.
The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced nearly $5 million for worker training programs in Appalachia. It’s the latest influx of funding aimed at blunting the job losses in the region’s coal sector.
Recently Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky announced more than $2 million in funding from the National Dislocated Workers fund, and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced more than $1 million in funding from the same program.
But critics say worker training alone is no solution and that such retraining programs have a poor record in actually connecting dislocated workers with local employment that pays a comparative wage.
“There are great examples of ones here in Appalachia who have trained people for jobs then they couldn’t find employment,” Ted Boettner said. The executive director of the left-leaning West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, Boettner said job training hasn’t made up for the number of jobs lost by the coal industry. He and other economists argue that a more broad-based approach to jobs, public investment, and wages will be necessary for coal country.
Wage Gap
“You have to realize a lot of this is in the backdrop of 40 years of wage stagnation across this country and especially men in West Virginia,” Boettner said.
He said job training needs to be connected to employment that pays well because it’s difficult to go from a $75,000 a year coal mining job to one that pays $12 or $15 an hour. Boettner points to areas of opportunity, such as Appalachia’s needs for mine reclamation work which could also provide jobs for coal miners similar to the work they’ve already done.
“We have [$4 billion to $5 billion] in mine site reclamation that needs to happen,” he said. “That’s enough jobs, that’s thousands of jobs, and billions of dollars of investment right there.”
Credit Courtesy CVI
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Stream restoration work in progress on an old mining site in West Virginia.
Josh Benton is deputy secretary of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet in Kentucky, where miners have been hurt by recent coal bankruptcies. Benton said the state has had some success retraining people to work in the healthcare industry. But the real challenge is finding jobs where that displaced worker lives.
“The challenge that we face is not necessarily are the training programs effective? It is, are there other industries, for those displaced workers to go to work,” he said.
Benton said the jobs that have been created in technology or healthcare don’t make up for the ones lost in the energy sector over the last 10 years. Wages are another concern. He said it’s a tight labor market and he tries to communicate that to employers who are looking for skilled workers, but offering low wages.
“If a manufacturer, for example, is paying an entry-level wage of $11.50 an hour, you know, if we’re aware of that, we can say that the average entry-level wage for manufacturing across the state is really $14 an hour,” he said. “So, it’s not surprising that you’re struggling to find someone because you’re paying below market value.”
“I think that job training keeps being promoted because it solves a political problem both for elected officials and for employers, but it doesn’t do anything for the economics,” he said.
Lafer said the most important thing to understand about job training programs is that they don’t create new jobs. However, he argues, those programs do create a convenient narrative for politicians on both sides of the aisle.
“Job training is one of the favorite things of both Democrats and Republicans because it’s cheap, it’s symbolic,” he said. “It kind of places the blame on workers instead of employers because it suggests only if you had the right skills or the right work ethic or something then you wouldn’t be in the trouble you’re in.”
Lafer said the employment picture in the Ohio Valley is especially important because of its connection to climate change. He said talk of a “Green New Deal” and a move away from polluting industries should include a just transition for those who would lose jobs.
“It’s just not in good faith to say, one group of people is going to pay the price for saving the planet,” he said. “Either we have to say, we’re going to take care of people from age, whatever they are when they lose their jobs to when they would retire. Or there have to be other jobs that are real jobs.”
Lafer said he’s heard this public policy touted as a solution for years, but it isn’t creating employment opportunities as advertised.
“You could take on every argument, bring all the statistics and show why it doesn’t make sense. As a policy job training feels like the undead to me,” he said. “Like you can drive a stake through its heart and it keeps coming back up.”
Different Approach
Lafer said a better approach is to train people and invest in the industries that can’t move to a different country with cheaper labor once they get to a scale where they need more employees. Some of those industries include healthcare, construction, education, and tourism.
Economist Ted Boettner said public investments in infrastructure, including expanded broadband, could help create a stable economy that works for everyone.
“Have we upgraded our antiquated grid? That’s thousands and thousands of jobs in West Virginia if we just upgrade the grid,” he said.
As automation continues to grow, and the coal industry declines, more people will be displaced. The challenge is training those workers for jobs that pay well and aren’t likely to be outsourced or automated.
The U.S. Department of Labor and a company associated with Blackjewel agreed this week to put nearly $5.75 million toward coal miners left unpaid in the company’s chaotic bankruptcy.
The July 1 bankruptcy of one of the nation’s largest coal companies left 1,100 coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia out of work and without weeks of pay.
The potential deal comes after a nearly two-month-long protest by unpaid miners, who blockaded a railroad to stop over a million dollars worth of coal from leaving Harlan County, Kentucky. The U.S. Department of Labor intervened with a motion supporting the miners’ claim that delivering the coal would violate fair labor standards.
Ned Pillersdorf, an attorney representing miners in Blackjewel’s eastern division, said if the miners’ claims are not resolved soon, Harlan County and neighboring impacted counties could experience recessions in their already tenuous economies.
While the deal has not been formalized, Pillersdorf said he expects a firm commitment in the coming days. Pillersdorf said in exchange for the backpay, the Department of Labor will withdraw its motion to stop coal from leaving Harlan County over fair labor violations.
“I’m thrilled with the Department of Labor,” Pillersdorf said. “It’s a very positive step, and it sounds like it’s going to happen.”
The funds would likely come from Blackjewel Marketing and Sales Holdings, the entity that owns the approximately $1.4 million in coal the miners blockaded. But BMSH only has one customer: Blackjewel itself. And Blackjewel has long maintained it does not have the funds to compensate its former employees.
“I just hope it covers at least our bounced check,” said David Pratt Jr., a former Blackjewel miner who has not yet been paid for his last weeks of work for the bankrupt firm.
The Appalachian miners will proceed with claims against Blackjewel regarding their 401(k)s and vacation time, as well as their original wage claims. The agreement with the Department of Labor, however, would reduce the value of that claim.
A spokesperson for Blackjewel could not immediately answer a request for comment.
Further hearings to finalize the deal and pursue miners’ additional claims are being scheduled for later this month.
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.
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
“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.
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
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.”
Credit Brittany Patterson / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
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.
Credit Brittany Patterson / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
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.”
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.
Credit Brittany Patterson / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
The Woodbooger statue in the Flag Rock Recreation Area in Norton, Va.
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.”
West Virginia employees of coal operator Blackjewel LLC have received their final paychecks more than two months after the company declared bankruptcy on July 1.
In an agreement reached last week between the Department of Labor and the company, Blackjewel cut paper checks for all owed wages to a few dozen employees working at the company’s Pax Mine in Fayette County, West Virginia.
While good news for former West Virginia employees, about 1,000 miners in Kentucky and Virginia are still owed millions of dollars in back wages.
Christina Burgess’ husband, Greg, ran heavy equipment at the Pax Mine. The 20 year coal mining veteran had been laid off before, but the family had never before experienced the fallout from a paycheck bouncing, as Greg’s did in early July.
“It’s been unreal,” Christina Burgess said.
The Burgess family received Greg’s owed wages late last week, but is still waiting for the check to clear a bank hold.
Blackjewel’s bad check created a series of challenges. The first few unemployment checks the family received went straight to the bank to get the account out of the red. In total, Christina said Blackjewel’s bankruptcy has cost her family about $3,000 in penalties and fees.
Greg quickly found new work after the Pax Mine closed and the family had some money saved in preparation for a downturn in the local industry. Christinia said she empathizes with younger miners who were hit hard by Blackjewel’s sudden bankruptcy.
As one of the administrators for the Blackjewel Employees Stand Together Facebook group, she has heard many stories of families unable to pay their bills as a result of not being paid by Blackjewel. She expects the fallout from Blackjewel’s bad checks to have long-term consequences as well.
“Everybody that’s involved in this right now their credit score has been damaged because of this,” Christina said. “And that’s hard to come back from when you when your credit starts going down.”
She said she reached out to more than three dozen West Virginia state senators and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, but heard nothing back. She said she feels abandoned by West Virginia lawmakers who were slow to advocate on behalf of stiffed workers in the bankruptcy court and haven’t pushed utility companies or others to offer leniency to struggling Blackjewel families.
“They could have at least came in and said, you know, ‘don’t send turn off notices for the power bills, give them a little leeway,’” she said. “Nothing. We didn’t receive anything.”
The Pax mine is now owned by Tennessee-based Contura Energy. About 1,000 Blackjewel employees in Virginia and Kentucky are still awaiting millions of dollars in owed wages. A protest on the railroad tracks in Harlan County is in its eighth week.
Millions of dollars worth of coal mined by former Blackjewel employees is sitting in railcars. The Department of Labor says the coal is “hot goods” and can’t be moved or sold until the workers who mined it are paid for their work.
The judge said he expects to review the documents “swiftly” and rule soon after whether the coal should remain sitting until the Blackjewel workers who mined it are fully paid, or if it can be sold.
BJMS has proposed paying $1.4 million for the coal. The Labor Department says back wages owed to workers directly involved in producing the “hot goods” coal in Kentucky and Virginia totals more than $3 million.
The federal judge presiding over coal operator Blackjewel LLC’s bankruptcy has set a timeline in the “hot goods” dispute over millions of dollars worth of coal sitting in railcars in Kentucky and Virginia.
Frank Volk, chief U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, gave the Labor Department, Blackjewel and Blackjewel Marketing and Sales (BJMS) — buyer of the disputed coal — until Sept. 23 to submit a series of briefs to the court. A final set of briefs is due Oct. 1.
Volk said he expects to review the documents “swiftly” and rule soon after whether the coal should remain sitting until the Blackjewel workers who mined it are fully paid, or if it can be sold.
While the timeline provides some clarity about the future of the coal in question, Friday’s hearing highlighted continued uncertainty about if and how hundreds of miners across the region will be paid millions of dollars in owed wages.
The Labor Department says the coal is “hot goods.” Under the federal Fair Labor Standard Act, workers must be paid at least minimum wage or the things they produce can’t legally be moved or sold. More than 1,000 former Blackjewel employees across West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia are still awaiting their final paychecks more than two months after the company declared bankruptcy.
“The FLSA has put the prohibition in place to discourage employers from benefiting from the uncompensated work of the employees,” Samantha Thomas, associate regional solicitor for the Labor Department, told the court during the Friday status hearing. “It’s about making sure that employers that actually abide by the law are not unfairly treated — because here’s BJMS and Blackjewel being able to profit off of the fact that [sic] they’re able to move coal that they didn’t really pay for in terms of workers being paid for their work.”
Volk asked the Department of Labor about its “end game” for the coal sitting on the tracks.
Thomas said that in the case the judge does affirm the coal cannot be moved, the agency would hope Blackjewel, BJMS or “another party” would step up and pay the owed wages so the coal would no longer be considered “hot goods.”
BJMS attorney Sean George told the court it was extremely unlikely BJMS would do that.
“My understanding, candidly with all, is that there is no possibility that BJMS is going to pay more than $1.4 million that it’s agreed to pay,” he said.
BJMS and Blackjewel argue not allowing the coal to be sold deprives the court from using the proceeds to pay creditors, including workers. The two companies have agreed BJMS will pay $1.4 million for the coal, and if sold, have agreed to set the money aside for possible use to pay owed wages. During a hearing earlier this month, the companies also argued the coal is degrading in the railcars and losing value.
“That sounds like the end game is to inflict economic duress on the parties by prohibiting the movement of coal,” said Scott Kane, an attorney with Squire Patton Boggs, representing Blackjewel. “Certainly the debtors will argue that in these particular circumstances, that doesn’t further anyone’s interest, including the interests of the employee creditors, who are owed those FLSA wages.”
In a notice filed Thursday, the Department of Labor noted back wages owed to workers directly involved in producing the “hot goods” coal in Kentucky and Virginia totals more than $3 million.
“In other words, the wages for the uncompensated work that resulted in the production of the hot goods at issue total more than $3 million – more than double the amount Blackjewel and BJMS ask this Court to force DOL to accept and to release the coal,” agency attorneys wrote.
A temporary restraining order against the rail cars in Kentucky issued in district court is set to expire on Sept. 20. The Labor Department said it’s open to shifting the Kentucky railcars to allow work at the nearby mine to restart if approved by a judge.
Sam Petsonk, an attorney representing Appalachian Blackjewel workers, told the court in addition to the train being blocked by court order, dozens of miners, now in their seventh week of protest, are camped on the railroad tracks blocking the train.
“It is miners themselves who continue day by day to also, in their own capacity, apart from the injunction, to block the movement of that train,” he said. “They wanted that action to reflect their intentions and preferences and interests as to whether it is in their interest for this coal to move before the back payment is made.”
The miners have pledged to remain on the tracks until they are paid.
