June 15, 2021 - There’s no question that the coal industry, especially as it pertains to mining in West Virginia, is in steep decline. Coal seams are depleted and the product just doesn’t have the same demand in the energy sector it once did.

While an economic shift in West Virginia is inevitable, it’s important to remember there are still miners working here, and it’s still very dangerous work. An unfortunate reminder of just how dangerous a profession it can be came earlier this month, when two miners were killed on the job in consecutive days. Trenten J. Dille, 26, of Littleton, was fatally injured when struck by a falling edge of a support pillar in a Marion County mine on June 3. The next day, in Raleigh County, Nicholas David Adkins, 43, of Racine, was killed after he was hit by an underground shuttle car.

There are few professions that carry the daily risk of underground mining. There’s also the long-term risk to consider. Black lung cases are surging again, because miners now have to cut through much more sandstone to reach coal. This kicks up silica dust, which settles in the lungs and perforates them, leaving miners on oxygen and unable to function at younger and younger ages.

Revitalization plans that take coal communities and workers into account while trying to pave a new way forward for West Virginia’s economy are vital, as are the continuation of federal and company-owed benefits — often the unnecessary subject of political plays and frequently endangered with the growing list of mining operations shutting down or filing for bankruptcy. Too often, companies try to get away with shedding these responsibilities, as was evidenced last week in a Gazette-Mail report that noticed union officials had to go to court for a second time to make sure health benefits from coal companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice continued.

Yes, West Virginia must move forward, but it also must have the backs of those who churned the state’s economic engine for decades, while providing the substance that fueled American energy production and manufacturing. And West Virginians can’t forget there are still plenty of their friends and neighbors taking on this dangerous work.