WHITESBURG, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky statistics show that coal production in some of the state’s historically big producers dropped in 2012 to the lowest levels seen in 47 years.
The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet reported that production in Letcher County fell to 2.97 million tons last year, a 36 percent drop from the year before and a fall of more than 50 percent since 2009. The Mountain Eagle reported (http://bit.ly/13R7EBq ) that Pike County saw a fall in production of 12.9 million tons in 2012, dropping it from the top spot among coal producing counties in Kentucky.
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Union County, in the western coalfields, produced 13.5 million tons — a 9.3 percent increase over 2011 to take the top spot on the list.
The cabinet also reported that on-site employment at coal mines in eastern Kentucky has fallen from 13,000 jobs in 2011 to 9,500 in 2012.
Neighboring Perry County was Kentucky’s third-largest coa lproducing county in 2012 with 9.2 million tons mined. That number still represents a drop of 30.1 percent since 2011.
Two other western Kentucky counties — Hopkins (8.9 million tons) and Ohio (7.2 million tons) — round out the state’s top five coa lproducing counties, followed by neighboring Harlan County with 7 million tons. Harlan’s production fell by 28.1 percent from 2011 while Ohio County’s production grew by 30.5 percent.
Rounding out the top 10 Kentucky counties in coal production in 2012 were the western counties of Webster (5.6 million tons) and Muhlenberg (4.9 million tons), followed by the eastern counties of Martin (3.5 million tons) and Leslie (3 million tons).
Letcher County is now the state’s 11th-highest coal producing county, finishing ahead of Knott (2.6 million tons), Floyd (2.3 million tons), and Magoffin (2 million tons).
“Eastern Kentucky coal production decreased in 2012 by 27.6 percent from 2011 to 49.4 million tons — the lowest level since 1965,” the Energy and Environment Cabinet report says. “Production slowed at both underground and surface mines. Eastern Kentucky production has declined by 53.5 percent since the year 2000, and by 62.3 percent since peaking at 131 million tons in 1990.”
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Information from: The Mountain Eagle.
