PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE: Who Cleans Up Environmental Mess Bankrupt Coal Leaves Behind?

ACLC’s deputy director Mary Cromer was interviewed by Public News Service about the impacts of coal bankruptcy and the vast need for environmental clean up these bankruptcies leave behind.

“Eight coal companies declared bankruptcy in 2019, and that number is expected to rise amid declining demand for fossil fuels. Mary Varson Cromer, deputy director at the Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center, said 29% of all mining permits in Kentucky are now in bankruptcy.

‘And all of those bankruptcies are cases where companies are dissolving and trying to sell all their permits,” Cromer said. “And we’ve seen in Cambrian and BlackJewel a real failure to get those permits sold and get the environmental liabilities transferred.’”

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