Question:
As for Coal mining jobs around here...nope. The last coal mine just closed
down in my area of SE Ohio. Are/were there mining jobs around Red Boiling
Springs TN? (My G-mother was from Jackson Co. TN)
Answer:
I love your site! I hate to see the strip mines also. I grew up in Eastern
Kentucky, Pikeville to be exact. I seen a lot of strips there. Some good,
some nasty. I miss Eastern Kentucky, the true heart of the Appalachian
mountains!
A couple of years ago when a federal judge quashed a permit for Arch
Mineral in Southern WV there were in excess of four hundred surface
miners laid off from tht facility. When a portion of that project
finally did get approval, it is my understanding that ARch Mineral had
some difficulty in that of those laid off most had left the area.
They had to go outside of the "panel" to fill the jobs. There will be
some jobs in Eastern Ky and WV for a few years. Western KY, Southern
Ohio, Indiana, and Southern Ill are pretty much history because of the
high Sulphur content.
This was a darned good one. I remember Billy Edd's own recording of it
when it came out, which I still prefer to all others, and which I still
have on very scratchy vinyl. This is the same guy who wrote "Coal
Tattoo."
I abhor the effects of stripmining. I'm not a "tree hugger" but I do appreciate
a good stand of wood and the curve of an Appalachian hill. I think of this song
every time I see something stripped bare. For example, just a mile or so from
me, Maronda Homes bought a fully wooded property, looks to be maybe 10 acres,
and stripped off EVERY SINGLE tree. Not ONE tree is left. (Of course I'm sure
the county will require them to "landscape" with the required number of two
4'-tall "trees" per acre.) Then had the balls to put up a sign proclaiming the
advent of a new development, "Misty Woods." Woods, my foot. Makes me want to
write them a very nasty letter.
