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Fast Company
08-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Trump wants to fast-track an Alabama coal mine expansion—but almost all its rock is shipped overseas
BROOKWOOD, Ala.—The Trump administration has announced it will aim to fast-track the permitting and environmental review of a major coal mine expansion in central Alabama as part of a larger effort to accelerate the construction of what the government has labeled 'critical mineral' infrastructure. While administration officials said the change is aimed at 'significantly reduc[ing] our reliance on foreign nations,' coal produced as part of Warrior Met's expansion in Alabama is almost entirely exported overseas to support foreign steelmaking markets, according to the company. Warrior Met's Blue Creek mine expansion, set to be one of the largest coal build-outs in Alabama history, is one of 20 planned developments deemed 'transparency projects' by the administration over the last two months. The mine expansion will be placed on the federal government's permitting dashboard as it moves its way through the regulatory and permitting process. The projects' inclusion on the dashboard authorized under the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST) will, according to the Trump administration, 'make the environmental review and authorizations schedule for these vital mineral production projects publicly available and allow all of these projects to benefit from increased transparency. 'The public nature of the dashboard ensures that all stakeholders, from project sponsors and community members to federal agency leaders, have up-to-date accounting of where each project stands in the review process,' the administration said in its announcement. 'This transparency leads to greater accountability, ensuring a more efficient process.' During the Biden administration, the so-called FAST-41 dashboard was used to fast-track projects aimed at benefiting tribal nations, as well as various projects advancing renewable energy, coastal restoration, broadband, and electricity transmission sectors. The program was created as a means 'to enhance transparency and increase the efficiency of the permitting process,' the Biden administration said at the time. With a new president, though, the programs designated to participate—and the policy priorities they represent—have now changed. The Trump administration has already signaled its support of the Alabama project. In April, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visited an existing Warrior Met mine outside Tuscaloosa and took a windshield tour of the Blue Creek facility currently under construction. During that visit, Burgum emphasized the administration's stated commitment to fossil fuel production and said that its actions would 'unleash American energy.' He did not acknowledge Warrior Met's checkered safety and environmental record or that nearly all of its product—metallurgical coal—is shipped overseas for foreign steelmaking operations, not used in the U.S. 'We sell substantially all of our steelmaking coal production to steel producers outside of the United States,' a recent Warrior Met corporate filing said. 'For the three months ended March 31, 2025, our geographic customer mix was 37% in Europe, 43% in Asia, and 20% in South America.' The planned expansion of Blue Creek involves a major build-out of Warrior Met's ability to mine for underground coal using the longwall method, a particularly destructive form of mining in which large machines shear walls of coal, leaving vast, empty expanses in their wake. Land above those empty caverns sinks, causing what is often permanent damage to the surface and structures there. Longwall mining has devastated communities in Alabama and beyond. In March 2024, an Alabama home exploded above a longwall mine with a different owner after methane—a gas released during mining—seeped into the residence and ignited. The resulting blast killed an Alabama grandfather and seriously injured his grandson. Since then, the community above the Oak Grove mine in western Jefferson County has continued to crumble, with homes' foundations cracking as the longwall mine expands below. Earlier this year, just as President Donald Trump was announcing efforts to promote 'clean, beautiful coal,' a West Virginia woman was hospitalized after a methane explosion in her home atop a longwall mine left her seriously injured. Workers from the mine beneath her home had stood behind Trump during his White House announcement. Once completed, Warrior Met's Blue Creek expansion will increase the company's coal production by 60%, providing additional supply for overseas steelmaking markets hungry for metallurgical coal that can meet production needs. Taxpayer-funded support for the facility may top $400 million. The company has also asked the federal government to allow it to mine publicly owned coal as part of the Blue Creek project. The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced last year that it would conduct an environmental assessment related to Warrior Met's Blue Creek project and, specifically, its proposal to mine 14,040 acres of federal minerals underlying privately owned land in Tuscaloosa County. Warrior Met's applications to lease the coal rights propose the extraction of approximately 57.5 million tons of recoverable public coal reserves. Initial government scoping documents indicated that any environmental assessment of the Blue Creek project would include an analysis of its impact on climate change, both direct and indirect. Since those initial documents were released, however, federal guidance on the inclusion of climate change considerations in government decision-making has been in flux. A day-one executive order by Trump, for example, disbanded the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, which was established pursuant to a Biden executive order. The order said 'any guidance, instruction, recommendation, or document issued by the IWG is withdrawn as no longer representative of governmental policy.' That guidance had emphasized the importance of government analysis of the social cost of carbon, a way of putting a dollar figure on the economic damage that comes from emitting a ton of carbon dioxide. The Trump White House has said without evidence that the concept 'is marked by logical deficiencies, a poor basis in empirical science, politicization, and the absence of a foundation in legislation.' Public comments on the project already submitted to BLM included concerns around greenhouse gas emissions and Warrior Met's contribution to the climate crisis. 'Please do not approve any new or expanded coal mining,' one commenter wrote. 'The climate crisis is already deadly and rapidly getting worse. There is an overwhelming international consensus on the severity of this crisis and the urgent need to phase out the use of harmful fossil fuels.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump official visits, touts Alabama coal mine with thousands of federal safety violations
Warrior Met has a checkered safety history, according to federal records. (Lee Hedgepeth/Inside Climate News) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. TUSCALOOSA — When Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum visited two Warrior Met coal mines in central Alabama last week, he said he was emphasizing the administration's commitment to 'clean, beautiful coal' and its plans to roll back regulation. The department's press office swiftly posted on social media after the trip his ultimate goal: 'Mine, Baby, Mine!' What Burgum didn't mention on Friday was Warrior Met Coal's checkered safety and environmental record, which includes thousands of federal safety violations issued under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He also didn't mention the death of Aaron Haley, a 34-year-old miner killed on the job in 2023 because, according to an investigative report by federal safety officials, Warrior Met did not keep equipment in safe operating condition. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Missing, too, from Burgum's comments was any recognition that the coal produced by Warrior Met, metallurgical coal, is not used to power American homes or businesses. Instead, it is shipped abroad through the Port of Mobile, largely to countries in South America and Asia for steelmaking. 'Through these tours, Secretary Burgum is displaying the importance of President Trump's executive orders which are Unleashing American Energy and putting hardworking Americans first,' a press release from Burgum's office said after the trip. 'Friday's visit highlights the Department of the Interior's continued focus on bolstering domestic coal production to create more jobs, lower the cost of living for Americans, and unlock more of our nation's critical resources.' Neither Inside Climate News nor other local news outlets contacted by ICN were notified of Burgum's visit ahead of time. A national reporter for Fox Business was on site for the trip with access to the cabinet secretary. The Department of the Interior has not responded to questions about the trip or why local reporters were not included. It did not address Warrior Met's safety or environmental record. Warrior Met has not responded to questions about Burgum's visit or its own environmental and safety record. According to the department, Burgum's first stop was Warrior Met Mine No. 4. The mine utilizes the longwall method of extraction where coal is sheared by large high-powered machinery, leaving behind vast open expanses underground that can lead to the permanent sinking of the land above. The method is faster and can be riskier than other forms of mining and has been blamed for methane leaks. In March 2024, an Alabama grandfather was killed by an explosion in his home above Oak Grove mine, a longwall operation in nearby Jefferson County, after methane gas likely leaked into the home, This month, just days before President Donald Trump boasted from the White House about 'unleashing…clean, beautiful coal,' a West Virginia woman was severely injured from a blast at her home above a longwall mine. On April 5, she lit a cigarette, setting off an explosion that first responders suspect was caused by a methane leak from the mine, owned by Core Natural Resources, a Pennsylvania company created by the merger in January of CONSOL Energy and Arch Resources. An investigation is continuing by state inspectors who have ordered the company to submit a revised permit for monitoring methane emissions. Coal helped turn the United States into a global economic and military power, but coal-fired power plants emit toxic air pollution and heat-trapping gases that are changing the world's climate in dangerous ways. Moreover, the methane that coal mining releases is a super-pollutant 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming the planet over a 20-year period. Inside mines, methane also presents deadly explosion risks to miners if safety measures are not followed. Contrary to Trump and Burgum's clean coal assertions, coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels. Warrior Met's No. 4 mine has had a history of safety violations, according to records maintained by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the federal regulator charged with ensuring miner wellbeing. Since 2019, the mine has been cited by federal regulators nearly 3,000 times with safety violations. About 25 percent—731 of those violations—were labelled by MSHA as 'significant and substantial,' meaning the violations were 'reasonably likely to result in a serious injury or illness.' More than 100 citations have been issued since Trump took office. Records show that the No. 4 Mine is currently undergoing two spot inspections and a 'regular safety and health inspection,' investigations that have resulted so far in 25 citations. The mine's previous complete safety and health inspection, conducted in January, February and March, resulted in 78 citations, according to regulatory records. Less than two years ago, Aaron Haley, a West Virginia native and father of three, was killed while working inside the No. 4 Mine. An MSHA investigation into the incident faulted the mine for his death and injuries suffered by two other miners. 'On August 30, 2023, at approximately 6:50 a.m., Aaron Haley, a 34-year-old belt foreman with over 13 years of mining experience, died when a longwall belt conveyor take-up unit (take-up) component, the bridle, broke and struck him,' the report said. 'The accident occurred because the mine operator did not maintain components of the take-up in safe operating condition.' Haley's obituary offers a more expansive sense of what was lost that day: 'Aaron was kind, loving, generous, funny and would give the shirt off his back to anyone. He loved teaching [his son] baseball, football, fishing, and just 'guy' stuff. His two baby girls…had him wrapped around their fingers. He loved playing kitchen, restaurant and pushing them on their swings. Aaron loved his wife…dearly and took the best care of her. He was the absolute best husband, father, son, and an all-around wonderful man.' MSHA cited Warrior Met with a violation of 30 CFR 75.1725(a), a regulation requiring that equipment 'be maintained in safe operating condition.' If machinery is deemed unsafe, the regulation requires it be removed from service immediately. Since Haley's death, the No. 4 Mine has been cited nearly 39 times for violating the same safety requirement. Burgum's visit to the No. 4 mine was followed, according to his department's press release, by a 'windshield tour' of Warrior Met's planned Blue Creek facility, which is slated to be one of the largest coal mining expansions in the state's history. If approved by state and federal regulators, the project is expected to increase Warrior Met's coal production by up to 60 percent. Taxpayer-funded support for the facility may top $400 million. Warrior Met's planned expansion at Blue Creek may also include the extraction of publicly-owned coal managed by the Bureau of Land Management, according to federal documents. In Alabama, as in many other states, so-called 'mineral rights'—including the right to mine for coal under property—have been separated from surface ownership over time. One person or entity can own a surface property under Alabama law while another person or entity can own the rights to all of the resources below that same piece of land, a situation known as a 'split estate.' In significant areas of Alabama, the federal government retains mineral rights despite private land ownership on the surface. The federal Bureau of Land Management announced in April that it would conduct an environmental assessment related to Warrior Met's Blue Creek project and, specifically, its proposal to mine 14,040 acres of federal minerals underlying privately owned land in Tuscaloosa County. Warrior Met's applications to lease the coal rights propose the extraction of approximately 57.5 million tons of recoverable public coal reserves. Taxpayers will help to pay for some critical needs related to the expansion of the Blue Creek project, according to state and county officials who touted the expansion as leading to job creation. In March 2024, Gov. Kay Ivey announced that, with the support of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the Appalachian Regional Commission would provide $500,000 in taxpayer funding to install public water service to the Blue Creek mine site. 'Access to dependable local water service is essential to attract and grow new business and jobs,' Ivey said. Warrior Met also secured a $26.5 million tax abatement from the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority. A breakdown of the tax incentive deal in 2020 estimated that Warrior Met would receive $18 million in tax breaks during the project's construction and $8.5 million over the next decade. 'This project represents a significant investment in our community by Warrior Met Coal,' said Mark Crews, chairman of the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority, 'but also represents valuable job opportunities for our citizens for several decades to come.' Exports from Warrior Met and other Alabama coal producers are also a driving force behind continued expansion at the Port of Mobile, including the publicly-funded dredging of Mobile Bay, which is slated to cost taxpayers more than $350 million. Warrior Met has been the target of litigation over its environmental record. In September 2024, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, an environmental group founded to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries, settled a lawsuit with the company over a leaking coal slurry impoundment at Warrior Met's No. 7 Mine in Brookwood. Black Warrior Riverkeeper had documented nearly two dozen leaks from the coal waste pond in the year before the suit was filed, the organization said in a court filing earlier this year. The settlement, approved by a federal judge in September of last year, requires Warrior Met to limit and monitor leaks from the site, pay $250,000 to the Freshwater Land Trust for a conservation project and reimburse the nonprofit for its legal fees. Burgum said last week that metallurgical coal like that extracted by Warrior Met is 'essential for us for steelmaking,' though the company itself has acknowledged its coal is not used for steelmaking in the United States. 'Substantially all of our steelmaking coal sales are exported,' the company wrote in its 2024 annual report to shareholders. In the same report, Warrior Met outlined various risks and uncertainties that could impact their bottom line. Among them: 'Challenges associated with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations' and 'climate change concerns and our operations' impact on the environment.' James Bruggers contributed reporting for this story.
