by Elyse Johnston
Background Information about Hobet Coal Mine:
Hobet Coal Mine is located in Boone County, West Virginia. Originally owned by Fil Nutter, it was a functional surface coal mine from 1974 to 2015. The mine was subsequently bought by Ashland Oil in 1977, then by Arch Coal in 1997, then by Magnum Coal in 2005, and lastly by Peabody Energy in 2008 (Rucker). Today, Hobet is owned by a conservation group and is no longer producing coal.
In order to extract the massive amount of coal from the Hobet mine, these mining companies have employed underground mining, strip mining, and intensive surface mining techniques. In 1974, more intensive extraction techniques were used, causing the mine to rapidly expand and double production (Rucker).
Most of Hobet’s growth occurred between 1984 and 2015. For the first several years, the mine expanded along southwestern mountaintops under Ashland Coal’s ownership. In 1991, the mine began to rapidly expand northward; this surge in growth caused mining operators to dump overburden from mining operations into neighboring hollows, gullies, and streams (Rucker). These valley fills are the cause of the majority of the environmental problems associated with mountaintop removal. After being purchased by Arch Coal in 1997, Hobet mine turned corporate – meaning that mining knowledge would be less of a priority than marketing. However, according to government data, Hobet mine was producing a record of 5 million tons of coal over 5 years, which was 1.5 million tons more than Ashland production (Rucker). In 2005, Magnum Coal bought the Hobet mine and sought to bring about better miner health and pension plans. In 2007, Peabody Energy, the nation’s largest coal company, created Patriot Coal, which subsequently bought Magnum Coal in 2008. By 2011, coal prices were inflating, and most coal companies were struggling to profit. In 2015, Patriot Coal went bankrupt (for the second time), and was broken up into pieces and sold. The former governor of West Virginia, Earl Ray Tomblin, hopes that the Hobet site will be fit for commercial development in the near future (Rucker).
Aerial view of Hobet Coal Mine
General Facts from "The Last Mountain":
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Coal was first discovered in Boone County in 1742.
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In West Virginia, 99% of generated electricity comes from coal.
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Almost half the electricity in the USA comes from burning coal.
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16 pounds of coal are burned for every man, woman, and child in the USA.
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One-third of that coal comes from the mountains of Appalachia.
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Mountaintop removal mining has destroyed 500 Appalachian mountains, decimated 1 million acres of forest, buried 2,000 miles of streams, and is contaminating thousands of miles more.
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Mountaintop removal also threatens the water supplies of tens of millions of people.
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In the last 30 years, West Virginia's coal industry has increased production by 140% while elminating more than 40,000 jobs.