Muhlenberg County Kentucky
Mining
Muhlenberg County: After the coal is gone
By Garry Abrams, Messenger-Inqurier Staff
Greenville, Ky. - People in Muhlenberg County are beginning to worry - and plan for - the day the last ton of coal is mined.
No other county in the nation produces more coal than Muhlenberg - 21,897,984 tons last year, according to the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals. And no one doubts that the county will remain a top coal-producer for a number of years.
But 20 years from now the situation will be different, and some citizens are worried that some big strip mines will be worked out sooner - in four or five years.
The Kentucky Geological Survey has made it official by saying the days of the big strip mines are numbered and the burden of production in Western Kentucky will be shifting to deep mines - apparently few are now planned.
Another worry for some is the high sulfur content of Western Kentucky coal which may limit its use because of federal air pollution regulations.
Stuart Bohne, president of the Central City Chamber of Commerce, summed up the situation in an interview last week. “Right now Muhlenberg County's in pretty good shape. When the mines do start closing, we need to be ready.”
The need to begin working toward a different and more varied economic base was brought into focus last month when the county's share of the state coal severance tax rebate was announced.
Instead of the more than $3 million expected, the county received $1.9 million.
The lower amount, state officials said, was due to the low prices Muhlenberg coal brings because it is mined under long-term contracts. As a result, the coal generated less severance tax revenue, reducing the county's rebate under the state's allotment formula.
Less money meant that fewer city projects could be funded. In a stormy fiscal court meeting three weeks ago, two citizens groups pressed for recreation projects to satisfy immediate wants.
But the court opted for road and bridge projects and industrial development.
The fiscal court debate illustrated what Muhlenberg County newspaper editor Ronnie Bean calls “the debate in a lot of people's minds” on “whether we're to spend this money for the long term after the coal is gone.”
Industry, supported for years by county's coal, is seen by some as the main hope of the future.
William Greenwood, former Chamber president and president of the Central City Lions Club, said his club voted to urge fiscal court that severance money be used for industrial development because “we felt it was time to speak out.”
“My personal feeling,” Greenwood said, “is that most of the money should be spent for industrial development. In about 20 years there's going to be few miners left. It's a long term investment.”
Greenwood and others say they want an appointed group or full-time manager to oversee the severance tax money in order to get the most from it.
“There should be planning and maybe even an administrator,” he said. “We don't have people actively working on this for the county.”
Bohne agreed about the need for planning, especially for luring industry. Last year, he said, the county lost an industrial prospect because no one knew what was involved in convincing the firm to locate in Muhlenberg.
“We realized then how really unprepared we were,” he said. “Chances are, if we had the site we have now, we'd have gotten them.”
Last year the county paid $76,000 for a 109-acre site to be developed for industry. The site was paid for with part of the 1974 severance rebate.
Bohne said, however, that one site isn't enough. Another site, as large as 3,000 acres, is needed, he said.
The Central City Rotary Club also supports establishing more industrial sites.
Club president Earl F. McRoy wrote County Judge Robert Draper recently that his club is “concerned with the future of Muhlenberg County and hence wonders what our condition will be when the coal industry declines.”
Fiscal court has not yet determined exactly how this year's severance share will be spent. Magistrate Royce Morgan said the court probably will allocate some money for industrial development - possibly as much as $500,000.
Morgan said he would spend all $1.9 million on industrial sites if prospects were available. Referring to the recession, he said, “but isn't it a hell of time to be trying to get industry?”
The magistrate said he is against spending severance funds for the two swimming pools proposed by the citizens group.
“Personally I want to spend mine (the share for his district) on roads,” he said. “You can do more for the people by taking them out of the dust than you can be building them a swimming pool.”
Carole Griggs is one of those on the other side of the fence. She wants the severance money to be spent for the immediate future, not for long-term development.
“I'm not against industry,” she said, but would prefer to have recreation facilities for her four children. “They (coal miners) put their life on the line. It would be nice if the children of a coal miner could have something to do.”
No matter how the county spends its money, Mrs. Griggs said she is committed to staying rather than returning to her native Chicago. “We had to starve for a year waiting for a job,” she said. “The garden didn't even grow.”
Muhlenberg's future, whatever it may be, could be determined by how the severance tax is spent this year. When the state legislature meets next year, the coal counties will be in a minority when the program comes up for renewal.
Observers say the majority probably will not allow the minority to continue receiving special treatment.
Without the severance tax and federal revenue sharing. Muhlenberg County government would be one of the poorest in the state because of its low tax rate, Judge Draper said recently.
Source: Abrams, Garry. “Muhlenberg County: After the coal is gone.” The Messenger-Inquirer [Owensboro, KY], 1 Sept 1975, pp. 1A and 8A.
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Updated April 23, 2020