It’s hard to say the coal industry is in anything but a state of free fall. In the past year, thousands of workers have been laid off, more than half of the country’s major coal companies have filed for bankruptcy and coal production now stands at a 30-year low. In this special episode of The Allegheny Front, we follow the story of two Pennsylvania miners who are struggling to find work in the wake of a collapsing coal industry.
Bob Wilson was among the 220 workers who lost their jobs when Alpha Natural Resources announced it was closing the Emerald Mine in Greene County last November. He's since been unable to find full-time work. Photo: Ryan Loew