Blackjewel LLC is an American energy company which held a significant portion of the coal mines in the United States.
[2][3] In 2021, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the company was allowed to abandon assets without cleaning up the environmental damage of mines in its holdings.
[1] These holdings included mountaintop removal, surface mines and coal refuse many of which had significant potential environmental and public health impacts.
[1][2] For example, of 187 mining permits in Kentucky, 150 had 587 outstanding environmental violations,[2] many of which did not have a bond to pay for cleanup.
[1][4] These employees were left without any financial relief at their termination, spawning protests in Cumberland, Kentucky and Harlan County.