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Internal records show that state regulators struggle to keep up with the violations as “zombie” mines proliferate.

Internal records and emails show Kentucky regulators struggle to keep up with the violations as coal bankruptcies and “zombie” mines proliferate.

Blackjewel’s Bankruptcy Filing Is a Harbinger of Trouble Ahead for the Plummeting Coal Industry The company wants to walk away from almost 200 mining permits in four states, potentially leaving thousands of acres of environmentally damaged land. March 3, 2021 Unemployed Blackjewel coal miner David Pratt holds his daughter Willow as he walks across railroad tracks that lead to one of the company's mines near Cumberland, Kentucky in 2019. Blackjewel miners found themselves unemployed when the company declared bankruptcy and the workers' final paychecks bounced, leading them to blockade the tr...

Source: Scott Olson/Getty Images News via Getty Images During a recent wave of bankruptcies in the U.S. coal sector, Blackjewel LLC and its affiliates emerged as a vehicle for some of the least-wanted assets of larger producers looking to lean operations. The company is now trying to close the book on a bankruptcy reorganization that started in July 2019, causing uncertainty for many of its coal mining permits. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 15 before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to confirm the Blackjewel reorganization plan, which includes a request to a...