Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · United States · 2019–2020

Blackjewel bankruptcy and mine reclamation bonds in Kentucky, Virginia and Wyoming

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Coal producer Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy in 2019 with mine cleanup bonds in Kentucky, Virginia and Wyoming. Whether the bonds would pay to reclaim the land depends on figures the sources report only in part.

What?
Coal company Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and proposed funding mine cleanup only from its permit guarantees. Appalachian Voices
Where?
Kentucky, Virginia and Wyoming, United States Appalachian Voices
When?
Bankruptcy in 2019; Kentucky study published in 2020. Appalachian Voices
Who?
Gained
  • Contura — Exit from Wyoming mines, for $21 million paid to Blackjewel Appalachian Voices
Lost
  • State of Virginia (contingent) — $195 million cleanup would fall to the state if 20 self-bonded permits were cancelled Appalachian Voices
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Mines were bonded with guarantees to state regulators. The company could not sell the permits and proposed a cleanup foundation funded only by those guarantees. Appalachian Voices
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Appalachian Voices reported in October 2019 that Blackjewel had filed for bankruptcy, with $220 million of bonded liability tied to permits that could not be sold.

Contura, the successor to Alpha, had paid Blackjewel $21 million to get out of Wyoming mines. Twenty Virginia permits held by the family of the state's governor were still self-bonded, and if they were cancelled the $195 million cleanup would fall to the state.

A 2020 Kentucky study found that cleanup costs for 20% of the company's mines there exceeded $38 million in guarantees. The company proposed leaving cleanup to a foundation funded only by those guarantees, a proposal that would have blocked the state from pursuing the founder's personal assets.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not confirm the number of Blackjewel permits (given as about 296 or about 300) or the roughly 13,000 acres of unreclaimed land; the acreage figure comes.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Wyoming accepted $75 million against Arch's $486 million obligation.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the foundation proposal was adopted or whether the state pursued the founder's assets.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether Virginia cancelled the 20 self-bonded permits.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Communities and civil society

    1. Coal bankruptcy cleanup
      Appalachian Voices · 2019-10-11
    2. Blackjewel mine reclamation
      Appalachian Voices · 2020-12-15

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    • Peabody, Patriot Coal and coal self-bonding United States · 2007–2020
      • Blackjewel (Company) — here: Coal operator that filed for bankruptcy in 2019; there: Coal company that went bankrupt in 2019
      • Contura (Company) — here: Paid Blackjewel to get out of Wyoming mines; there: Successor to Alpha; paid Blackjewel to be rid of Wyoming mines
    Terms used on this page

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
    Liquidation, insolvency, bankruptcy
    Legal processes that apply when a company cannot pay its debts; its assets are sold and claims against it may go unpaid.
    Similar cases
    Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · Chemical pollution · United States · 1980–2025
    US Superfund tax and funding shortfall
    Same type: Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds)Same countryHarm to nature not measured
    Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · Chemical pollution · Water use · United States · 2017–2021
    Duke Energy coal ash cleanup cost recovery (North Carolina)
    Same type: Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds)Same countryHarm to nature not measured
    Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · Chemical pollution · United States · 2015–2025
    Chemours spin-off liabilities
    Same type: Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds)Same countryHarm to nature not measured
    Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · United States · 2014–2015
    Kerr-McGee / Anadarko fraudulent transfer settlement
    Same type: Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds)Same countryHarm to nature not measured
    Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · United States · 2017
    US tax deductibility of environmental settlements (IRC 162(f))
    Same type: Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds)Same countryHarm to nature not measured
    Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds) · United States · 2024
    Fieldwood bankruptcy and US offshore decommissioning
    Same type: Liability shifting (spin-offs, bankruptcy, closure bonds)Same countryHarm to nature not measured