Posted July 3, 200519 yr From the 7/3/05 Chillicothe Gazette: Appalachia seeking new jobs success Special employment programs working, but taking some time By GREG WRIGHT Gazette Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A few dozen miles makes a big difference if you're looking for a job in Appalachian Ohio. Ross County reported 7 percent unemployment in May. But drive south on U.S. 23 to the rolling hills of Pike County and the picture gets gloomier. Unemployment was almost 10 percent in May, the second highest rate in the state. Forty years after President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, making a living in parts of Appalachian Ohio continues to be daunting, partly because parts of the region are far from commercial centers in Columbus and Cincinnati, state officials said. But local and state officials are pushing projects that could bring jobs, including an ethanol plant in Coshocton, a big box retail center in Zanesville and an industrial park outside a proposed new uranium processing plant in Pike County. State, federal and private agencies spent $38 million in 2004 to develop Appalachian Ohio, including programs to create and retain jobs. MORE: http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050703/NEWS01/507030302/1002
July 5, 200519 yr High unemployment areas persist. The region was dotted with pottery factories, coal mines and steel mills after Europeans settled in the early 19th century. But Appalachian Ohio was hit hard in the 20th century when the U.S. steel and manufacturing industries declined in the face of foreign competition. The story of steel and ironmaking in Appalachian Ohio is an interesting case of industrial and technological history....one usually thinks of this industry more along the Ohio River (Steubenville and vicinity) or up in Youngstown, but the industry was big, earlier, in western Appalachia..the so-called Hanging Rock Region. This was orginally a charcoal-blast furnance based industry, which had interesting implications for landownership, but the steelmaking actually survived into the 1960s and 70s, with a few stand-alone furnaces still in existence (of course by modern times they used coke, not charcoal) The last steel/iron making operation on the Ohio side was in Portsmouth/New Boston...and the last blast furnace left in the Hanging Rock Region is the AK Steel furnaces in Ashland, on the Kentucky side. There is a good site on the history of the industry at the Olde Forester website (as well as other lore from Appalachian Ohio. Hillbilly Bears Regional History of Appalachain Ohio is also alot of fun to surf around in.... There was also a large Welsh community that settled in a part of Appalachian Ohio..in Jackson County....there is even a Wesh-American Heritage Museum there. There where Welsh singing festivals in Jackson as late as the 1930s. You don't hear much about coal, and alot of it is strip mined, but I swore I drove by a working deep mine on a road trip to Wellston and the Buckeye Furnace a few years ago.
November 14, 200519 yr From the 11/8/05 Cambridge Daily Jeffersonian: Ormet plant to close; 600 layoffs WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) - Aluminum maker Ormet Corp. announced Monday that it is closing its Hannibal, Ohio, rolling mill, laying off 500 hourly workers and 100 salaried employees. The plant will close at the end of the year. The company has been using salaried employees there since more than 1,200 members of the United Steelworkers went on strike last November at the plant and another operation in Hannibal, about 115 miles southeast of Columbus. ... http://www.daily-jeff.com/article.php?pathToFile=/archive/11082005/news/&file=_news1.txt&article=1&tD=11082005
November 18, 200519 yr From the 11/10/05 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Steelworkers pledge fight for Ormet jobs THE UNITED Steelworkers (USW) today pledged that the union will fight to save the jobs of about 500 hourly employees at Ormet's Rolling Mill, in spite of an announcement earlier this week that the facility will be closed by the end of the year. "I encourage Aleris to bargain with our Union and negotiate an agreement that will keep the Hannibal plants operating," said USW District 1 Director David McCall. "A well-trained, experienced workforce could be a valuable asset that was overlooked in the early stages of this deal." ... http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/1115202005_new03_ormet.asp
November 23, 200519 yr From the 11/19/05 Marietta Times: PHOTO: Striking Ormet worker Sam McCauley of Oak Grove prepares dinner Friday night while his daughter, Stephanie, 17, looks on. McCauley has been playing the roll of “Mr. Mom” since the strike began and is currently seeking employment elsewhere. Ormet workers in a bind By Connie Cartmell [email protected] United Steelworkers members met Thursday to hear what might in store for them after Ormet Corporation shuts down its rolling mill at Hannibal Dec. 31. The still striking workers, at both the rolling mill and reduction plant next door (1,500 overall) heard nothing they didn't already suspect and fear. "I'm 50 years old. I have bills and student loans to pay," Bill Covert, of rural Monroe County, said. "They told us about training programs available to us. Nobody wants to hire a guy who's 50. We all know that." ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new11_1119200511455.asp
November 26, 200519 yr From the 11/23/05 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Rally held on anniversary of Ormet strike By MICHAEL SCHULER, Times Leader Staff Writer Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the Ormet strike by United Steelworkers of America locals 5724 and 5760. While a rally was held near the aluminum producers corporate headquarters in Wheeling, across the street from Local 5724 in Clarington the striking workers gathered at a food distribution center. ... http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/1123202005_new03_ormet23.asp
November 29, 200519 yr From the 11/25/05 Dayton Daily News: State targeting closed mines Higher fees, new regulations loom for operators under proposed plan By Steve Bennish Dayton Daily News COLUMBUS | It will cost Ohio $5 million to clean up a 780-acre backlog of closed coal mines that pose environmental problems, state officials estimate. The price tag would cover the reclamation of 25 mines abandoned by operators in southeastern Ohio. It could be paid with a special appropriation from the state legislature. The appropriation is part of a proposal from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Coal Association designed to allow the state to retain oversight of coal mining, Mike Sponsler, chief of Ohio's Division of Mineral Resources Management, said this week. The 18-point plan also will require new laws and higher fees paid by the coal industry to ensure that the state's mines are reclaimed in a timely manner. In May, the U.S. Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining threatened to take over coal mine regulation in Ohio because the state wasn't reclaiming closed mines fast enough. Some landowners who leased their land for mining have been awaiting reclamation for a decade, Sponsler said. MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1125coalminer.html
November 30, 200519 yr Seriously, its often forgotten that Ohio had a big coal mining industry, both deep and strip..probably more famous for strpmines as the state had the worlds largest dragline for awhile. I recall reading that the coal mines in the Steubenville area where so exetensive that they went under the city, and even under the Ohio River. I think I drove by a working deep mine once, on a road trip to the Wellston/Buckeye Furnace area.
November 30, 200519 yr The world's largest dragline... one of my geography profs at Ohio Wesleyan was interested in coal mining (among many other things) and showed a lot of slides of coal mining in eastern Ohio in a couple of my classes, I think with a couple pictures of that dragline included. He also gave us an interesting pair of numbers: coal mining employed something like 700,000 people in Ohio thirty-something years ago (before the Clean Air Act, basically); today it is only a few thousand.
December 15, 200519 yr From the 12/10/05 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Ormet workers to receive stipends By BETTY J. POKAS, Times Leader Area Editor WOODSFIELD - Qualified Ormet employees and others eligible in Monroe County will receive $1,000 stipends as a result of action taken this week by the Monroe County commissioners. Monroe Countians qualifying for the stipends also will be informed of programs available through the Monroe County Department of Job and Family Services to assist eligible, displaced workers through the transitional period. ... http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/1210202005_new002_ormet10.asp
December 18, 200519 yr From the 12/13/05 Marietta Times: Hope rises for Ormet workers By Justin McIntosh, [email protected] Ormet workers believe they gained a major victory Monday in their fight to receive unemployment benefits dating back to the start of their November 2004 strike. On Monday the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas overturned an earlier decision by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services that rendered Ormet workers ineligible for unemployment benefits, said officials with Ormet and a union representing the striking workers. The decision was unable to be confirmed with the court late Monday. ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new32_1213200593451.asp
December 28, 200519 yr From the 12/21/05 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Ormet unemployment checks in the mail By MICHAEL SCHULER, Times Leader Staff Writer While the "Save the Valley Coalition" met with local officials Tuesday to try and save approximately 500 to 600 jobs that could be lost after Ormet had sold its rolling mill assets in Hannibal to another company, there was some good news for striking workers. Their checks are in the mail. Dennis Evans, office of communications, Ohio Department of Job and Families Services reported that 617 checks for unemployment benefit went out to workers Tuesday. ... http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/1221202005_new01_ormet21.asp
January 11, 200619 yr From the 1/4/06 Marietta Times: Deal made to sell Ormet’s assets By Brad Bauer, [email protected] A deal to sell the assets at Ormet’s Hannibal rolling mill has closed and equipment at the facility was being removed or disabled Tuesday, striking steel workers said. Chuck Ballard, president of United Steel Workers Association Local 5760 said, production at the mill stopped last week. He said he is currently negotiating a severance package for the 500 employees who were employed at the Monroe County aluminum manufacturing facility. “I expect they’re going to offer us what they have to by law and that’s about the size of it,” Ballard said. “I don’t get the warm fuzzy feeling they’re going to give us anything they don’t have to.” ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new43_14200683754.asp
January 12, 200619 yr Has anyone ever checked out this page from the ODNR? It's an interactive map that shows all of the states abandoned mines. Well, at least the ones that have been identified: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/website/geosurvey/omsiua/viewer.htm Apparently there is at least one in my county, but I'm unable to find it.
January 12, 200619 yr ooh, there's an abandoned mine in trumbull co. dating closed in 1883 cool website, until it crashed my firefox
January 12, 200619 yr This is an especially big problem in Eastern Ohio, where there were a lot of "wildcat" coal mines that were dug quickly to extract the coal and abandoned just as quickly, leaving behind little or nothing in the way of support structure. I know of homes in the Akron-Canton-Youngstown area (usually on the edges of the community) where back yards have caved in, foundations have cracked or collapsed. The biggest problem is that many of these mines were unregulated and rarely if ever mapped, so finding them and fixing the problem is often hit and miss.
January 21, 200619 yr From the Wheeling News-Register: Ormet Appeals Court Decision By HEATHER ZIEGLER Assistant City Editor A spokeswoman for the Ormet Corp. said today the aluminum maker, whose employees at the Reduction Plant in Hannibal have been idle since November 2004, is appealing a court decision that stated steelworkers were locked out of the plant rather than choosing to go on strike. Ormet spokesperson Linda Regelman said today the company does not oppose workers receiving unemployment benefits as granted last month by Monroe County Commons Pleas Judge William B. Harris. However Ormet officials do not agree that the workers were forced into a lockout situation, rather the steelworkers went on strike. “Ormet is only appealing the language of the judge’s decision. They want it on public record ... the former ruling ... that it was a strike not a lockout,” Regelman said. ... http://www.news-register.net/news/articles.asp?articleID=1186
February 9, 200619 yr From the 2/3/06 Marietta Times: Ormet resumes mediation By Diana DeCola Negotiations between Ormet and the United Steelworkers Association resumed this week in Pittsburgh. Committees from USWA Local 5760, USWA Local 5724, both in Hannibal, and USWA Local 14465 from the Burnside plant in Lousiana, met with Ormet officials to conduct three separate negotiations simultaneously. ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new76_23200614236.asp
February 18, 200619 yr From the 2/13/06 Marietta Times: Ormet’s severence offer not satisfactory to Union Special to The Times HANNIBAL — After sporadic negotiations over the last two weeks between Ormet Corp. management and United Steelworkers leadership, representatives from the USW said Ormet’s severance offer to about 500 rolling mill workers was unsatisfactory. This statement came after two days of negotiations last week and another day of negotiations Thursday involving the rolling mill portion of Ormet’s operation which are the Hannibal facilities in Mornoe County now owned by aluminum maker Aleris International Inc. "The only thing I really want to say is that we’re (Ormet and the union) miles apart," said USW official Denny Longwell from the union hall in St. Clairsville. "They’re offering a lump sum of money to divide among the people. It’s not a large amount of money, considering they’re losing their livelihood." ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new77_213200685127.asp
February 27, 200619 yr This series of articles appeared in the 2/19/06 Dispatch: Tragedies haven’t cooled demand for coal jobs in Ohio Sunday, February 19, 2006 Rita Price THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Coal might be a fossil, but the old fuel burns hotter than ever in today’s economy. As energy prices soar, demand for electricity surges and aging workers retire, coal companies need a fresh generation of miners. Cleaner power plants offer the potential for well-paying jobs, even in Ohio’s high-sulfur coal country. "For the first time in 20 years, you’re seeing mines actually hiring people," said Clemmy Allen, executive director of the United Mine Workers of America’s Career Centers. "There’s an immediate need for 5,000 to 6,000 workers." Despite dangers made vivid by tragedies in West Virginia, people would love to sign on. Officials expect a surplus of applicants when a mine opens this year about 60 miles southeast of Columbus in Perry County. "And every mining job has a significant ripple effect," said Jacqueline Bird, director of the Ohio Coal Development Office. "One job can create up to 11 spinoffs." MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/19/20060219-A1-02.html PHOTO: ABOVE: These Perry County coal miners were photographed in 1955. COURTESY JIM AND ROSALIE EING PHOTO: Bill Costello MAP: Corning and Glouster PHOTO: In 1930, this rescue team entered the Millfield Mine in Athens County after an explosion killed 82 men. COURTESY JIM AND ROSALIE EING PHOTO: Arnold Glanemann crosses the deserted main street in Corning. He hopes to someday work at a new mine opening just south of town. DORAL CHENOWETH III DISPATCH New King Coal As an old industry revives, many seek to become miners Sunday, February 19, 2006 Rita Price THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH CORNING, Ohio — The No. 6 is strange for these parts, a coal seam so thick that even a tall man can work standing up. Bill Costello has spent exactly half of his 46 years as an underground miner, most recently running the machines that chew into the 10-footdeep ribbon — "a real freak seam," Costello says — swirling beneath the Athens and Perry county line. Coal often plays him to a draw. When he was 10 years old, it took his father in a mine-roof collapse. Costello followed those footsteps anyway, and it made him strong. Coal terrified his wife and daughter even before it killed four of his acquaintances at Sago. Yet it provides a comfortable living and the satisfaction of a hard job well done. MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/19/20060219-B1-01.html
March 13, 200619 yr From the 3/12/06 Dispatch: Ex-Ormet workers’ futures uncertain Technicality may deny financial help for people in training Sunday, March 12, 2006 Paul Wilson THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH About 200 workers from the closed Ormet Corp. aluminum rolling mill in Hannibal might miss out on federal money normally provided to people who lose their jobs to international competition. Employees in such cases must have worked 26 weeks in the final year that their employer operated to receive federal Trade Readjustment Assistance, which provides money to live on while learning a new trade. ... http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/12/20060312-H1-01.html
March 24, 200619 yr From the 3/24/06 Dispatch: MAP: Affected watersheds Mine-cleanup money stays put Friday, March 24, 2006 Spencer Hunt THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Efforts to clean Ohio streams polluted by long-abandoned coal mines won’t be crippled by a plan to divert money to other projects, officials said yesterday. A bill in the General Assembly would take the $1 million spent each year on cleaning streams and divert it to such things as county road repairs. But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jim McGregor, said most of that money — about $800,000 in taxes collected from gravel-pit and quarry owners — won’t be diverted from streams until a new funding source is found. The Gahanna Republican said he will make that change to his bill before it passes a House committee, perhaps as soon as next week. "Are we just going to abandon these cleanups? I think everyone feels the answer to that should be ‘No,’ " McGregor said. "People need to understand and agree that we’re not going to take money away from acidmine drainage." MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/24/20060324-A1-04.html
April 10, 200619 yr From the AP, 4/10/06: PHOTO: CAM Ohio coal miners head into the mine for a shift inside the Hopedale Mine near Cadiz. There are about 100 mines and 35 coal companies in Ohio. An estimated 24.6 million tons of coal were mined in Ohio last year. The Associated Press / Joe Maiorana PHOTO: Steve Dulkoski, CAM Ohio coal mechanic, works inside the Hopedale Mine near Cadiz. Coal mining was once king in the state's Appalachian foothills. But the industry went into a nosedive in the 1980s. Now the cost of oil is rising. Mines are being reopened, and new miners are being hired. Other energy-related operations are also bringing new jobs to Appalachian Ohio. The Associated Press / Joe Maiorana Coal makes a comeback Pollution controls, new economy change fortunes BY JAMES HANNAH | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CADIZ, Ohio - There are new signs of life in Ohio's coal fields. Coal mining was once king in the state's Appalachian foothills. But the industry went into a nosedive in the 1980s because of falling foreign demand and increased production of cheaper coal from Western states. Mines closed, and a generation of potential miners left their tiny towns to make their livings elsewhere, dealing a hard blow to a region already lagging behind the state economically. With the skyrocketing cost of oil and new pollution controls, coal is on the rebound. Mines are being reopened and new miners are being hired. Other energy-related operations are also bringing new jobs. "The market's very strong," said Bruce Hann, general manager of Central Appalachian Mining of Ohio, which in 2004 reopened the Hopedale Mine near this eastern Ohio town of about 3,300. "It was just an economic decision. It made sense." MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060410/BIZ01/604100340/1076/rss01
May 3, 200619 yr From the 4/28/06 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Funds awarded for dislocated Ormet workers By BETTY J. POKAS, Times Leader Area Editor MORE THAN $2.4 million has been awarded by the Office of Workforce Development to serve dislocated workers from Ormet, according to state Rep. Jennifer Garrison. Earmarked to serve the dislocated workers is $2,493.067. The rapid response emergency assistance funds, part of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, will be used to support a program to serve the workers through June 30, 2008, according to a release from the state representative. ... http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/0428202006_new02_ormet28.asp
May 11, 200619 yr An ODNR news release, 5/8/06: ODNR TO HOLD MEETING IN ATHENS TO DISCUSS ABANDONED MINE PROJECTS IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO COLUMBUS, OH - A public meeting to discuss proposed abandoned mine projects in nine southeastern Ohio counties will be held from 6 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, May 17 at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) district office, 360 E. State Street, in Athens. ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management employees will be available to discuss the environmental, public health and safety issues associated with Ohio mines that were abandoned prior to August 3, 1977, when legislation addressing the mines went into effect. The policies and procedures of Ohio’s Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program will be discussed, as well as the proposed AML projects for Athens, Belmont, Gallia, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Muskingum, Perry and Vinton counties. Meeting attendees are encouraged to present details of their own abandoned mines in these counties as well as Guernsey, Jackson, Lawrence, Licking, Morgan, Noble and Washington counties, and to check on eligibility for AML project funding. ODNR is seeking approximately $4.56 million in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of the Interior to fund abandoned mine clean-ups during the next year throughout the northeastern and southeastern Ohio coal mining region. A portion of that money is earmarked for 21 non-emergency projects in southeastern Ohio. ODNR proposes to spend about $1.27 million on design and construction for these projects. Also included in the $4.56 million grant is $268,000 to improve streams impacted by acid mine drainage and $1.8 million to address emergency abandoned mine land issues in the coal region. Non-emergency projects proposed for the southeastern Ohio mining district include: * Eliminating one dangerous water impoundment * Stabilizing four mine-related landslides * Backfilling several subsidence features * Sealing 29 mine entries * Installing or upgrading nine mine drainage diversion systems * Removing a dangerous mine-related structure * Conducting exploratory drilling and geotechnical investigations * Reclaiming a 29-acre eroding mine waste gob area * Removing obstructions and taking corrective measures to prevent mine-related stream flooding problems http://ohiodnr.com/news/may06/0508amlmeeting.htm From same: ODNR TO HOLD MEETING IN NEW PHILADELPHIA TO DISCUSS ABANDONED MINE PROJECTS IN NORTHEASTERN OHIO COLUMBUS, OH - A public meeting to discuss proposed abandoned mine projects in ten northeastern Ohio counties will be held from 6 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, May 24 in the Business Conference Room A of the Kent State University-Tuscarawas Branch, 330 University Drive, New Philadelphia, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management staff will be available to discuss environmental, public health and safety issues associated with Ohio mines that were abandoned prior to August 3, 1977, when legislation addressing the problem went into effect. The policies and procedures of Ohio’s Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program will be discussed, as well as the proposed AML projects for Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Jefferson, Harrison, Mahoning, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Tuscarawas counties. Meeting attendees are encouraged to present details of their own abandoned mines in these counties as well as Holmes, Medina, Portage and Wayne counties, and to check on eligibility for AML project funding ODNR is seeking approximately $4.56 million in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of the Interior to fund abandoned mine clean-ups during the next year throughout the northeastern and southeastern Ohio coal mining region. A portion of that money is earmarked for 19 non-emergency projects in northeastern Ohio. ODNR proposes to spend about $1.22 million on design and construction for these projects. Also included in the $4.56 million grant is $268,000 to improve streams impacted by acid mine drainage and $1.8 million to address emergency abandoned mine land issues in the coal region. Non-emergency projects proposed for the northeastern Ohio mining district include: * Excavating and backfilling several small subsidences * Extending a waterline to replace water supply contaminated by surface and deep mine discharge * Sealing two mine openings * Exploratory drilling to determine the extent and severity of subsidence danger * Backfilling or stabilizing five dangerous highwalls and eliminating associated impoundments (a portion of one will be used to create a wetland area to control runoff and preserve existing wildlife habitat) * Upgrading or installing four mine drainage diversion systems * Reconstruction of a dam and installation of three spillways * Reclaiming two eroding coal refuse piles to prevent flooding and local stream sedimentation, and design of a passive water treatment system http://ohiodnr.com/news/may06/0508amlnewphila.htm
May 22, 200619 yr From the 5/20/06 Steubenville Herald Star: Plans for coal mine outlined By PAUL GIANNAMORE, Business editor STEUBENVILLE — A coal mine employing more than 200 workers when it’s running at full capacity is being constructed in Jefferson County by Murray Energy Corp.’s OhioAmerican Energy Inc. Robert E. Murray, an Ohio Valley native who lives in Cleveland and maintains a home in St. Clairsville, told the Steubenville Rotary Club of his company’s plans for the mine, as well as the general state of the mining industry, during its Friday luncheon meeting at the YWCA. Murray is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Murray Energy, which has about 2,400 employees across the United States. The local mine, which could begin producing coal in late 2007, will include the old Tidd surface mine pits west of the Cardinal Plant and properties leased from Starvaggi Industries and Martin McKim of Adena, running over to state Route 151 and west to Smithfield and then north, Murray said. MORE: http://www.heraldstaronline.com/articles.asp?articleID=3245
May 27, 200619 yr From the 5/25/06 Athens News: State to fix tottering chimney, gaping holes left in county by coal mining By Jonathan Hunt Athens NEWS Writer Thursday, May 25th, 2006 State regulators intend to fix problems at three abandoned coal mine sites in Athens County during the next cycle of state funding. The tall, decaying chimney at the old Canaanville mine complex will be exploded, a mine entrance off Federal Creek will be sealed, and a subsidence hole near a Nelsonville home will be filled if the projects go forward, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources employees. At an abandoned mine reclamation meeting in Athens last week, environmental specialists with the ODNR's Division of Mineral Resources Management outlined conditions at the sites and how they plan to deal with them. MORE: http://athensnews.com/index.php?action=viewarticle§ion=news&story_id=24827
May 27, 200619 yr Grasscat said: "Has anyone ever checked out this page from the ODNR? It's an interactive map that shows all of the states abandoned mines. Well, at least the ones that have been identified: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/website/geosurvey/omsiua/viewer.htm Apparently there is at least one in my county, but I'm unable to find it." I was not aware that there was any coal in Hamilton County, but look, there's an abandoned mine on the map! I looked up the property on the county auditor's site and there are a couple of brick buildings dated 1900 on it; the property is presently owned by a developer. I wonder what this was? There's also a concentration of mines in Lemon Township, Butler County.
May 28, 200619 yr ^--- Upon further examination of the ODNR site I found that the mine in Hamilton County was an underground LP gas storage cavern and it was abandoned in 1963.
July 1, 200618 yr From the AP, 7/1/06: TENTATIVE CONTRACT Deal to end long strike at Ormet Saturday, July 01, 2006 HANNIBAL, Ohio (AP) — Aluminum maker Ormet Corp. and striking steelworkers said yesterday that they have reached a tentative deal to end a year-and-a-half strike at operations in southeastern Ohio. About 1,300 United Steelworkers went on strike at two Ormet plants after the company received permission from a bankruptcy judge in 2004 to void its labor contracts with the union. ... http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/01/20060701-C2-05.html
July 3, 200618 yr http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/07/03/daily3.html Ormet, steelworks reach deal to end strike Business First of Columbus - 11:52 AM EDT Monday Ormet Corp. and the United Steelworkers of America union have reached a tentative pact that may end a 19-month strike by about 1,500 workers at company plants in Hannibal, Ohio. Details of the agreement were not disclosed, but the Canonsburg, Pa.-based aluminum maker said the proposed agreement includes a signing bonus, wage increases and profit sharing. Union workers hope to have the contract ratified by the end of the week, said USW spokesman Mark Shaw. ...
July 5, 200618 yr From the 7/4/06 Marietta Times: Meetings planned to explain Ormet contract By Kevin Pierson It was announced Friday that the Ormet Corp. and striking union members had reached a tentative agreement on all outstanding issues. If approved by the union, the contract would end the steelworkers’ 19-month strike. The two meetings, one in the morning and one in the evening, are intended to answer questions and provide insight into the contract for union members prior to a vote on the contract, said Jim Markus, vice president of USW 5724. “All the aspects of the contract will be gone over with the membership body on (July) 14 at both meetings to explain the contract proposal,” Markus said. ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new43_742006124508.asp
July 13, 200618 yr From the 7/12/06 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Ormet pact vote set STRIKING WORKERS at Ormet will hold a ratification vote on Sunday for a tenative agreement reached between Ormet and United Steelworkers of America negotiatiors. USW Local 5724 will vote from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the local's union hall, located at 105 Union Drive in Clarington. ... http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/0712202006_new04_ormet12.asp
July 18, 200618 yr From the AP, 7/18/06: Workers at Ormet OK contract, end strike Tuesday, July 18, 2006 HANNIBAL, Ohio (AP) — A union representing workers at a southeastern Ohio mill owned by aluminum maker Ormet Corp. approved a contract that will end a year-and-a-half strike. Terms of the contract were not immediately announced. ... http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/18/20060718-E3-04.html
July 21, 200618 yr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published Jul 21, 2006 Perry Co. coal company could add 200 jobs By KATHY THOMPSON Staff Writer CORNING - Two hundred jobs could be coming to the Corning area, after the Ohio Rail Development Commission agreed Thursday to allocate $500,000 in grant money for a rail project. Buckingham Coal Company, which has exhausted its mine in Glouster, asked for a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, for construction of a rail infrastructure to connect its property near Corning to Norfolk Southern's "West Virginia Secondary Line," which goes from Columbus to Charleston, W.Va. Buckingham is spending approximately $4 million on the project. MORE: http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060721/NEWS01/607210306/1002
July 22, 200618 yr Rail project could deliver 200 jobs to Perry County Saturday, July 22, 2006 Margaret Harding THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Roughly 900 feet of missing track is all that stands in the way of completing a $4 million rail project that could bring 200 jobs to Perry County. The Ohio Rail Development Commission has allocated $500,000 in federal grant money to Buckingham Coal Co. to finish the project, said Stu Nicholson, the commission’s spokesman. Buckingham opened the new underground mine in the Corning area to offset diminishing coal deposits in its Glouster mine in Athens County. MORE: http://dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/22/20060722-C1-03.html
July 26, 200618 yr From the 7/22/06 Marietta Times: 65 Ormet workers returning By Kate York, [email protected] About 65 Ormet workers are expected to be back to work by mid-August, while hundreds more must wait until Ormet Corp. signs a new electrical service agreement for the plant in Hannibal. A 20-month labor strike ended Sunday when the 900 members of the United Steelworkers of America Local 5724 in Clarington voted to approve a new contract with the company. Now most must wait until there is power in the company’s Hannibal aluminum reduction plant to head back to work. “Right now, they’re looking at sending in a limited number of workers until there’s a power agreement,” said Mark Goddard, recording secretary for USWA Local 5724. “After the agreement, they’ll start trying to bring people back in larger numbers.” ... http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new33_722200623646.asp
August 10, 200618 yr From the 8/9/06 Dispatch: Ormet workers get $2.4 million grant Wednesday, August 09, 2006 Paul Wilson THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A technicality in federal law no longer will be an obstacle for about 100 workers who want to move on with their lives after Ormet Corp. closed its aluminum-rolling mill in Hannibal. The Labor Department announced a $2.4 million National Emergency Grant yesterday that will provide those workers with money to live on while they’re learning a new trade. ... http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/09/20060809-D2-03.html
August 15, 200618 yr From the 8/14/06 Martins Ferry Times Leader: Strip pits difficult to track By ART LIMANN, For The Times Leader ST. CLAIRSVILLE — With more than 3,400 bodies of water mapped in Belmont County, local and state officials say there is no accurate count of the number of strip pits in the county. Ownership of strip pits is not always easy to determine, and funding intended to mitigate strip pit-related hazards is declining. But despite the lack of detailed information about strip pits in general, at least one Lafferty-area pit is being watched by sheriff’s deputies after the recent drowning of a Belmont teen. Sheriff Fred Thompson has said at least three people have died in that pit since the 1980s. Don Pickenpaugh, Belmont County Geographic Information Systems director, said his office last mapped the enclosed bodies of water in the county in 2001. However, he said there currently is no way through GIS to differentiate between natural lakes and ponds and strip pits created by mining. MORE: http://timesleaderonline.com/News/articles.asp?articleID=2719
August 28, 200618 yr From the 8/27/06 Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Jobless rate on the rise By BRAD BAUER About 70 Ormet workers have returned to work since an agreement was reached last month ending a 20-month labor strike, but nearly 800 of the Hannibal plant’s steelworkers remain out of work as negotiations to secure a power agreement continues. In the meantime, Monroe County, where Ormet is located, currently posts the state’s highest unemployment rate at 10.2 percent. ... http://newsandsentinel.com/articles.asp?articleID=8184
August 29, 200618 yr Both from the 8/29/06 Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Eramet workers claim lockout By BRAD BAUER MARIETTA — United Steelworkers at Eramet Marietta rejected a proposed labor contract Saturday, and now 290 workers consider themselves ‘‘locked out’’ of the plant on Ohio 7, which is continuing operations with outside help, union members said. Denny Longwell, staff representative of the United Steelworkers Union, said plant employees offered to continue working under an existing contract as bargaining negotiations continued. The company’s three-year deal with local USW 1-00639 expired at midnight Sunday. ... http://newsandsentinel.com/articles.asp?articleID=8257
September 3, 200618 yr From the 9/2/06 Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Changes in pension plan at issue in Eramet strike By BRAD BAUER, Special to The News MARIETTA — The average age of the 290 striking Eramet Marietta workers is 50. About a quarter of the union force is within a few years of retirement. It helps explain how proposed changes in pension plans and retiree medical costs has led to picket lines forming outside the Ohio 7 plant, just south of Marietta. “The way we figure it, in nine years every bit of our retirees’ pensions will be ate up by their share of medical costs,” said Jim Deem, local steelworkers union president. ... http://newsandsentinel.com/articles.asp?articleID=8377
September 20, 200618 yr From the 9/13/06 PD: Many rural Ohioans find themselves down and out Families struggle as well-paying jobs vanish Wednesday, September 13, 2006 Barb Galbincea, Plain Dealer Reporter Melissa Barringer loves living amid the ridges and hollows of Appalachian Ohio, where she unwinds in a backyard swing to a chorus of frogs and crickets, and her boys fish the Hocking and Ohio rivers for bluegill and a legendary catfish. But the living isn't easy. For the Barringers and others in rural Ohio, making ends meet can be just as trying as it is for families struggling at the other end of the state in Cleveland's central city. With full-time work hard to come by, Melissa and husband Brian hold five part-time jobs to support themselves and their three sons. She works as an aide at a school for the mentally retarded and at a nursing home; he's a handyman and gas-field laborer and hauls junk. Together, the Athens County couple make a little more than $400 a week. "You do what you have to do," says Melissa. "You have to make the best of what you've got." Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job & Family Services, cites plenty of similar cases. "People are working at low-wage jobs, piecing together employment," he says. "Their circumstances are all so varied. The only thing they have in common is that people just don't have enough money." MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/115813678140920.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
September 20, 200618 yr "It doesn't matter if you're a person living on a hillside or in a third-floor walkup," says Bill Thacker, planning director of the Community Action Organization of Scioto County. "The problem is still the same." Here's your answer, mister: Many clients, she says, complain about how far they have to go to find work -- to the pizza roll factory in Jackson County or all the way to Columbus, a 90-minute commute one way, for construction jobs. This is what makes urban poverty so frustrating -- in Cincinnati and elsewhere people in public housing are literally in shadow of downtown office towers, universities, hospitals, and thousands of jobs a $1 bus ride away. But they get high every day from age 9 on, have 5 kids by age 22, get high some more, and die. These idiots out in the country need to MOVE. Either move or get a job as a truck driver or as a deckhand on the river. The coal mining jobs are gone and they're never coming back. Nothing new has opened out in that area for decades.
September 20, 200618 yr Decided to delete my post. Not good to have personal anecdotes hanging around the internet for all eternity.
September 20, 200618 yr Tens of millions of people got here from Europe over a 300 year period, hundreds Mexicans are walking through the desert as we speak to get here. These guys can't move 100 miles. Unfortunately communities break down when people have to move for work, but I would hardly call places such as Chauncey and Glouster communities. They are cesspools of ignorance, sloth, and methamphetamine. Dizzamn, yet telling... "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 20, 200618 yr Scioto County. Home sweet home. These idiots out in the country need to MOVE. Well, it's not quite that easy. The very few of us that have managed to get out, without the help of the military, have discovered a phenomenon that 99.9% of the appalachian people have. That is the "magnet". Whenever these people get about 2 hours away from their home, whether that be by dirt bike, four-wheeler, monster truck, etc., the magnet will pull them back home. Fortunately for myself and most of my family, we were born without the magnet.
September 20, 200618 yr ^Sounds about right, except some of us were fortunate to have a branch of Kent State within driving distance. It also helped that I was going to college - period, and my parents wouldn't have it any other way. There was never a question of "learning a trade" because we knew those trades were being shipped south or overseas. I agree about the magnet - fortunately Cleveland's about 2 hours from Salem (thanks to no direct highway access). As far as the idiots needing to move - thank you for insulting not only me, but my family. Would you suggest that they sell their home and relocate to say, Cleveland? That's pretty naive, because as bad as the real estate market is now - imagine how bad it is in Appalachian Ohio. Even if they did (or could) sell - my family's 1920-built home on one acre wouldn't enable them to move anywhere into Cleveland except undesirable crime-ridden neighborhoods. All I can say is that as bad as I think of Salem, I'm grateful that it isn't Chauncey (never been, have no inclination to). clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
September 20, 200618 yr ^I had lots of friends from Salem at Kent, and I didn't realize it was considered Appalachian. I always just thought of it more as an exurb of the Youngstown area and I don't consider Youngstown Appalachian. I think of Appalachia in Ohio as mostly Southeast. People so poor the kids don't have shoes, and the schools are completely horrible. Areas over 2 hours away from a decent sized city with absolutely no economy left at all and no opportunity. I agree that if there are no jobs and no hope then you need to move, and I think that is what the earlier post meant. For The state of Ohio to waste resources trying to prop up an area that is basically hopeless is a waste of time and money. The people need to do what it takes to improve their own lives, and if picking up everything and moving is the way to do it, then that's what needs done. Columbus has a super low unemployment rate, and it is not that far from Appalachia. If someone is not willing to move a few hours away to better their families life, then they kind of are an idiot.
September 20, 200618 yr Should we all just leave Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton, and Youngstown because the economies are currently weak in those areas? I would say that if you have exhausted every possibility of making a living, but are still unemployed then yes you should. If you have applied for every moving company, lanscaping, window washer, Wal-Mart.....etc job and there are none available at all, but you are employable, then certainly you should go somehwere that has some opporunity for you. Most of these Appalachian areas have absolutely no opportunity.
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