Housing Rebuild After Kentucky Flood Still Lacks Funds
After the 2022 flood in southeast Kentucky, the Ohio River Valley Institute worked with the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center to do an initial estimate of the cost to rebuild housing damaged by the flood and found that the cost far exceeded the funds that had been secured for rebuilding at the time. Since we published […]
Black workers helped build Appalachia’s economy. Today, they’re still shortchanged.
Here’s a name you don’t often read in Appalachian history books: Bill Worthington. Bill was a Black coal miner from Harlan County, Kentucky, and a member of the United Mine Workers of America. Bill played a pivotal role in historic labor disputes in Harlan County in the 1970s and helped organize the National Black Lung […]
Chart Book: Tracking Recovery from the Kentucky Flood of 2022
Last updated: December 31, 2022 In late July 2022, severe storms dumped extreme precipitation across southeast Kentucky. With so much rain bearing down over such a short period, streams rose to unprecedented levels and the region experienced catastrophic flooding. This page summarizes FEMA data regarding the flood damage as well as the relief and recovery […]
Here’s How Appalachian States Can Create “Good-Paying, Union Jobs” Cleaning Up Mines.
In March, Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) hosted the Secretaries of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy on a tour of West Virginia’s coalfields. After visiting a proposed steel mill in Mason County, they visited a center that educates the public about stream restoration and native wildlife. West Virginia’s need for resources […]
Can the Infrastructure Law Create “Good-Paying, Union Jobs” Cleaning Up Coal Mines? Not Without Policy Action.
“After decades of delay and decline, America’s workers stand ready to rebuild our country.” That’s what AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as she joined President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden. At the signing ceremony, the President underlined how workers would now have the chance to take advantage of historic […]
Black Appalachian History and Future: An Interview with Emily Jones Hudson
In 2021, Emily Jones Hudson founded the Southeast Kentucky African American Museum and Cultural Center, which seeks to share the stories of African Americans in east Kentucky left untold in popular understandings of Kentucky history. In an interview with ORVI, which has been edited for clarity and length, Hudson discusses how the Great Migration, coal’s […]
How to Clean Up the Most Damage with New Federal Investments in Abandoned Mines
Congress made an historic investment in coal abandoned mine land (AML) cleanup with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In the coming months, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) will issue the official guidance regarding implementation of the new IIJA AML money, and hopefully that guidance will provide clarification on some […]
Coal Mine Cleanup in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Explained
In November 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which made historic investments in the reclamation of land and water damaged by the coal industry before 1977. We have found that while the bill will only address about half of the remaining damage across the country, the investments are the largest in […]
Manchin Infrastructure Bill Needs More Focus on Labor, AML Funding Distribution
On Friday, US Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released a new version of his proposed energy infrastructure package. The previous version of his proposal included $11.3 billion in federal funds to clean up damage from Abandoned Mine Lands (AMLs) across the country. The new bill adds some important provisions, but alarmingly has dropped policies key to […]
Appalachia Could Address Poverty and Build Worker Power by Reforesting Mine-scarred Land
This post is the second in a four-part series based on a recent ORVI report on abandoned mine land (AML) issues. Figures cited below can be found in the accompanying report. Abandoned coal mines have damaged thousands of acres of land, polluted hundreds of miles of streams, and are emitting tons of greenhouse gases. In […]