Appalachian Coal Mining Research Articles

Prevalence of nano-sized coal mine dust in North and Central Appalachian coal mines – Insights from SEM-EDS imaging

The increasing prevalence of coal mine dust-related lung diseases in coal miners calls for urgent and meticulous scrutiny of airborne respirable coal mine dust (RCMD), specifically focusing on particles at the nano-level. This necessity is driven by expanding research, including the insights revealed in this paper, that establish the presence and significantly increased toxicity of nano-sized coal dust particles in contrast to their larger counterparts. This study presents an incontrovertible visual proof of these tiny particulates in samples collected from underground mines, utilizing advanced techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The intricate elemental composition of nano-sized coal dust identified through EDS analysis reveals the presence of elements such as silica and iron, which are known to contribute to lung pathologies when inhaled over prolonged periods. The outcomes of the statistical analyses reveal significant relationships between particle size and elemental composition, highlighting that smaller particles tend to have higher carbon content, while larger particles exhibit increased concentrations of elements like silica and aluminum. These analyses underscore the complex interactions within nano-sized coal dust, providing critical insights into their behavior, transport, and health impacts. The nano-sized coal dust could invade the alveoli, carrying these toxic elements from where they are impossible to exhale. The revelation of nano-sized coal dust's existence and the associated health hazards necessitate their incorporation into the regulatory framework governing the coal mining industry. This study lays the groundwork for heightened protective measures for miners, urging the invention of state-of-the-art sampling instruments, comprehensive physicochemical profiling of RCMD nanoparticles, and the pursuit of groundbreaking remedies to neutralize their toxic impact. These findings advocate for a paradigm shift in how the coal mining industry views and handles particulate matter, proposing a re-evaluation of occupational health standards and a call to action for protecting coal miners worldwide.

A just transition to what, for whom, and by what means? Transition technology, carbon markets, and an Appalachian coal mine

The promise of a just transition is not only that of a large-scale transition away from carbon-intensive energy production and consumption, but of one towards a more equitable society broadly. In this article, we contribute to discussions regarding just transitions by analyzing a case of transition technology in a historically productive coal mine in West Virginia, using it to explore who benefits and loses from transition technologies deployed within existing socioecological structures. The Marshall County coal mine in West Virginia installed a regenerative thermal oxidation engine in 2012 to curb the mine's methane emissions. Since going online, the engine, one of only a few in the world, has destroyed tons of methane, resulting in an accumulation of tradeable carbon credits for corporations in states like California. We argue that, in this case, environmental progress in California depends upon continued exploitation and degradation in Appalachia. By theorizing what we call the ‘transit’ of the just transition, we highlight the complexities and potential pitfalls of transition technology, noting how these technologies stand to repeat the very practices and ideologies that have led to the need for a just transition. We are not suggesting that technology is unnecessary in a just energy transition. Rather, we hope to highlight that any transition without critical attention to histories of power and powerlessness is likely to further harm those who stand to benefit the most from a truly just transition.

Trace Elements and Consequent Ecological Risks in Mining-Influenced Streams of Appalachia.

Appalachian (eastern USA) coal surface mines fracture geologic materials, causing release of both major ions and trace elements to water via accelerated weathering. When elevated above natural background, trace elements in streams may produce adverse effects on biota via direct exposure from water and sediment and via dietary exposure in food sources. Other studies have found elevated water concentrations of multiple trace elements in Appalachia's mining-influenced streams. Except for Se, trace-element concentrations in abiotic and biotic media of Appalachian mining-influenced streams are less well known. We analyzed environmental media of headwater streams receiving alkaline waters from Appalachian coal mines for eight trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Sr, V, and Zn) and assessed the potential consequent ecological risks. Streamwater, particulate media (sediment, biofilm, leaf detritus), and benthic macroinvertebrates (primary consumers, secondary consumers, crayfish) were sampled from six mining-influenced and three reference streams during low-flow conditions in two seasons. Dissolved Cu, Ni, and Sr were higher in mining-influenced streams than in reference streams; Ni, Sr, and Zn in fine sediments and Ni in macroinvertebrates were also elevated relative to reference-stream levels in samples from mining-influenced streams. Seasonal ratios of mining-influenced stream concentrations to maximum concentrations in reference streams also demonstrated mining-influenced increases for several elements in multiple media. In most media, concentrations of several elements including Ni were correlated positively. All water-column dissolved concentrations were below protective levels, but fine-sediment concentrations of Ni approached or exceeded threshold-effect concentrations in several streams. Further study is warranted for several elements (Cd, Ni, and Zn in biofilms, and V in macroinvertebrates) that approached or exceeded previously established dietary-risk levels. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2651-2665. © 2023 SETAC.

Editor's Introduction

Like Appalachian coal mining, the Northwest logging industry has not gone down without a fight. Again, somewhat akin to the politics of mineworking communities in West Virginia, the protagonists in ensuing bitter fights over jobs versus environmental protectionism have skewed traditional class alliances and threatened long-standing regional progressive traditions. As Steven Beda makes clear in his assessment of a still-smoldering controversy that upended ambitious cap-and-trade legislation to stem logging in 2020, environmental regulation combined with a more long-term sectoral economic decline have fueled a decidedly right-wing version of populism across the region since the early 1970s. In this thoughtful assessment of Oregon's internally conflicted Timber Unity rank and file—a movement based on marginal, independent timber contractor-producers and small sawmill operators who draw variously on old-Wobbly and antiregulatory rhetoric redirected at “elitist” protectors of the spotted owl and a recreation-oriented middle class—Beda discovers a microcosm of a larger rural shift away from radical working-class identities (see A. Brooke Boulton's accompanying Common Verse poem) toward the defensiveness of populist backlash.Francis Ryan tracks an important but little-noticed component of the post–World War II labor force: school crossing guards. Born of the Baby Boom expansion of school-age children combined with a population of mothers eager for rewarding part-time work, official, uniformed crossing guards—taking the place of otherwise overworked police officers—became a fixture at urban intersections beginning in the early 1950s. Although initially linked in the public mind to the “voluntary” sector associated with “PTA women” and others, Ryan convincingly connects them to a labor feminist tradition centered on an emergent public sector workforce. By the 1960s, the guards’ economic demands encompassed both benefits and wages, and their formalized associations began to affiliate with established unions like AFSCME and the SEIU. Not surprisingly, the urban fiscal crises of the 1970s also directly touched the interracial guard associations, who fought back against massive job cuts. Yet the real threat—and seeming denouement—to this once-classic urban occupation, suggests Ryan, came with a decline of collective, public protection of street corners by the guards, replaced by the hyper-individualized vigilance over children by their own parents.In the course of a larger biographical study of civil rights and labor icon, A. Philip Randolph, Eric Arnesen pauses here to zero in on Randolph's relation to what might be considered the ultimate expression of late 1930s Popular Front radicalism: the National Negro Congress. With a spirited assault on both racial and economic exploitation—critiquing the inadequacies of the New Deal, supporting interracial trade unionism, combating segregation , and opposing fascism—the NNC temporarily repaired a breach between Communist Party–linked militants led by Ben Davis Jr. and the heretofore vociferously anticommunist socialist, Randolph. Just how responsible (despite their public attempts to submerge their identity) was the party cadre for the NNC's direction and initial strategic success defines a sustained research quest. Against the “reassessment” of many recent historians in the service of a more broad-based, “grassroots” understanding of Popular Front initiatives like the NNC, Arnesen insists that the centrality of the party's role must be reckoned with.As is frequently the case, the books under review cover the labor map, touching down on a rich historical mix of geography and chronology. Subjects covered include at least three that our readers are not likely to have encountered before: turtle harvesters in the Caribbean, women working in the production of British cinema, and Mozambican migrants passing across the “night trains” to and from apartheid South Africa. Among generally positive and respectful treatment of their charges, Elizabeth Tandy Shermer tweaks Michael Kazin's history of Democratic Party successes for forgetting that given the flawed structure of American democracy, the party itself is “not enough to win and govern.” Similarly, Benjamin Goldfrank faults John French's otherwise “excellent” biography of Brazilian leader Lula for underplaying its hero's collaboration with a culture of “clientelism” that (at least temporarily) reversed his and his movement's fortunes. Less positive yet is Joseph Viteritti's treatment of Benjamin Holtzman's study of neoliberalism and New York City's fiscal crisis: curious readers will likely want to consult the original before making up their own minds.

Postexposure progression of pneumoconiosis among former Appalachian coal miners.

The prevalence of pneumoconiosis among working United States underground coal miners has been increasing for the past two decades, with the highest rates of disease observed among miners in the central Appalachian states of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Surveillance for this disease in the United States focuses on working coal miners, who continue to be occupationally exposed to dust. This study examines the radiographic evidence for postexposure progression of pneumoconiosis in a population of former coal miners no longer occupationally exposed to coal mine dust who were seen at a community radiology clinic in eastern Kentucky. Data were obtained and analyzed from clinical records of former coal miners who had a clinic encounter during January 1, 2017-August 1, 2019, a recorded final year of employment, and ≥2 postemployment digital chest radiographs. Radiographs were classified according to the International Labour Office guidelines by at least two B Readers. A final summary pneumoconiosis severity score (range, 0-13), accounting for both small and large opacities, was assigned to each chest radiograph. Progression was defined as an increase in severity score between a miner's radiographs over time. Data for 130 former coal miners were analyzed. All miners were male and most (n = 114, 88%) had worked primarily in Kentucky. Information on race/ethnicity was not available. The most common job types were roof bolters (n = 51, 39%) and continuous miner operators (n = 46, 35%). Forty-one (31.5%) miners had evidence of radiographic disease progression after leaving the workforce, with a median of 3.6 years between first and latest postretirement radiograph. A total of 80 (62%) miners had evidence of pneumoconiosis on their latest radiograph, and two-thirds (n = 53) of these were classified as progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), the most severe form of the disease. Postexposure progression can occur in former coal miners, emphasizing the potential benefits of continued radiographic follow-up postemployment. In addition to participating in disease screening throughout their careers to detect pneumoconiosis early and facilitate intervention, radiographic follow-up of former coal miners can identify new or progressive radiographic findings even after workplace exposure to respirable coal mine dust ends. Identification of progressive pneumoconiosis in former miners has potential implications for clinical management and eligibility for disability compensation.

The effects of OMT on progressive massive fibrosis: A brief report of an adjunctive therapy to improve respiratory function in Appalachian coal miners

Recently in central Appalachia, there has been a resurgence of the more complicated form of black lung disease known as progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). This brief report was aimed at determining the effects osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) could have to improve the lives of these individuals. This brief report involved a former Appalachian coal miner diagnosed with PMF. Over the course of a year, the patient was seen and treated with OMT. Though the patient reported improvement in his activities of daily living compared to previous, there was no significant data according to spirometry or quality of life metrics. This study illustrates that OMT has thepotential to provide adjunctive treatment for patients with PMF. Limitations due to sample size and socioeconomic deficits of former Appalachian coal miners warrant further study.

Inter-regional coal mine competition in the US: Evidence from rail restrictions

This analysis looks at how Appalachian coal mining responds to restrictions in coal production from the Western US. An unexpected reduction in the ability to move coal from the Powder River Basin (PRB) in 2005–06 led to a reduction in the rate of Appalachian coal mine closure, no impact on the rate of coal mine openings, and an increase in the number of employees in Appalachian coal mines. On the demand side, plants in the Midwest are more likely to switch from PRB coal to Appalachian coal, using the spot market to procure this coal, which is costlier and of lower quality. The results imply inter-regional coal mine substitution possibilities and shed light on the tradeoffs inherent in policies that impact production in one region.

Coal's legacy in Appalachia

Appalachian coal mining provided the lifeblood of energy for a century of expanding industrial development in America. Now, coal production in Appalachia has declined to levels not seen since the late 1800s. Coal's legacy is stamped on Appalachia's mined landscapes and remains imprinted on Appalachia's coal-mining communities, and these impacts will influence land, water, and people into the 21st century, environmentally as well as economically and socially. We call on local, state and national leaders to recognize the challenges ahead for Appalachia's coal-producing communities and people; to promote economic development, education, and health in these areas; and to encourage greater chances for expansion of economic opportunities and quality of life for residents.

Application of the coal mine floor rating (CMFR) to assess the floor stability in a Central Appalachian Coal Mine

Estimating the overall floor stability in a coal mine using deterministic methods which require complex engineering properties of floor strata is desirable, but generally it is impractical due to the difficulty of gathering essential input data. However, applying a quantitative methodology to describe floor quality with a single number provides a practical estimate for preliminary assessment of floor stability. The coal mine floor rating (CMFR) system, developed by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), is a rock- mass classification system that provides an indicator for the competence of floor strata. The most significant components of the CMFR are uniaxial compressive strength and discontinuity intensity of floor strata. In addition to the competence of the floor, depth of cover and stress notch angle are input parameters used to assess the preliminary floor stability. In this study, CMFR methodology was applied to a Central Appalachian Coal Mine that intermittently experienced floor heave. Exploratory drill core data, overburden maps, and mine plans were utilized for the study. Additionally, qualitative data (failure/non-failure) on floor conditions of the mine entries near the core holes was collected and analyzed so that the floor quality and its relation to entry stability could be estimated by statistical methods. It was found that the current CMFR classification system is not directly applicable in assessing the floor stability of the Central Appalachian Coal Mine. In order to extend the applicability of the CMFR classification system, the methodology was modified. A calculation procedure of one of the CMFR classification system’s components, the horizontal stress rating (HSR), was changed and new parameters were added to the HSR.

Mercury and selenium loading in mountaintop mining impacted alkaline streams and riparian food webs

Coal is naturally enriched in trace elements, including mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se). Alkaline mine drainage from mountaintop mining valley fill (MTM-VF)—the dominant form of surface coal mining in Appalachia, USA—releases large quantities of Se into streams draining mined catchments, resulting in elevated bioaccumulation of Se in aquatic and riparian organisms. Yet, the release of Hg into these streams from MTM-VF has not yet been studied. We measured total Hg, methylmercury (MeHg), and Se in stream water, sediment, biofilm, cranefly larvae, and riparian spiders in alkaline streams (pH range 6.9–8.4) across a mining gradient (0–98% watershed mined) in central Appalachia. Hg concentrations ranged from below detection limit (BDL)-6.9 ng/L in unfiltered water, BDL-0.05 µg/g in bulk sediment, 0.016–0.098 µg/g in biofilm, 0.038–0.11 µg/g in cranefly larvae, and 0.046–0.25 µg/g in riparian spiders. In contrast to Se, we found that Hg concentrations in all environmental compartments were not related to the proportion of the watershed mined, suggesting that Hg is not being released from, nor bioaccumulating within, MTM-VF watersheds. We also did not find clear evidence for a reduction in Hg methylation or bioaccumulation under elevated Se concentrations: water, sediment, biofilm, and riparian spiders exhibited no relationship between Hg and Se; only cranefly larvae exhibited a negative relationship (p = 0.0002, r2 = 0.42). We suggest that the type of surface mining matrix rock, with resultant alkaline or acid mine drainage, is important for the speciation, mobility, and bioaccumulation of trace elements within watersheds affected by mining activities.

Outtakes of ’68

If ’68 marks the emergence of seemingly new kinds of radical practices pursued by new revolutionary subjects, this essay asks how we might understand a strike undertaken by Appalachian coal miners in the early 1970s and its documentation in the film Harlan County, USA. Is this strike best understood apart from ’68, as a disconnected, outmoded activity pursued by retrograde subjects who, after ’68, can only be represented by and for nostalgic or reactionary political projects? In the strike’s abandonment of political and auterist representation, in the commitment not to any one endpoint but to the ongoing, performative reorganization of social life that the strike and its documentation come to entail, and finally, in the tenuous but still open connections between this strike and other radical practices in and beyond Appalachia, in and beyond ’68, this essay discerns another model for insurgency and for a history without subjects.

Burying stereotypes: Archaeology, representations, and everyday activism at Appalachian company coal mining towns

ABSTRACT Politicians, scholars and the popular media have problematically represented Appalachia for the past 150 years. Appalachians are the homogenous, white ‘Other’ in a backward land of isolated hillbillies living in opposition to the American mainstream. Such characterizations have been revitalized since the 2016 election to explain Appalachia's ‘cycle of self-inflicted ills,’ to justify exploitation, and to obfuscate underlying structural factors. Archaeologists in Appalachia have unique input about its materiality, identity, and economies, inexplicably linked with industrialism in complicated relationships of identity, despair, hope, and pride and impacted by the legacy of coal extraction. Archaeologists must add our voice to global discussions of Appalachia's past and future. Critical regional studies of company coal-mining towns across Appalachian Kentucky demonstrate archaeology's potential to challenge persistent narratives with contemporary consequences through artefacts and oral histories, and suggests economic strategies adapted from historic ones to aid Appalachia's just transition post-coal.

Black Lung Disease Resurges in Appalachian Coal Miners.

Earlier detection and treatment are needed.

Of mills and mines: an intercategorical critique of the hidden harms of natural resource boom and bust cycles in U.S. history

ABSTRACT The extant environmental justice research examines the unequal distribution of environmental risks across and within societies. While patterns of environmental injustice reveal that marginalized communities carry the greatest burden, to date, few scholars have examined the mutually constitutive relationships between environmental risks and intersectionally-subjected individuals and communities. In this article, we utilize intersectionial theory and tools to expose the ‘hidden’ costs associated with resource extraction throughout U.S. history, and to draw attention to the fact that these costs go beyond environmental risk and damage to include severe socio-cultural consequences for both the communities where extraction sites are situated and the individuals that comprise the labor force working at these operations. We also highlight how elites involved in resource extraction and development in the United States have capitalized on the socioeconomic and sociocultural marginalization of intersectionally-subjected populations to consolidate wealth and power. We do so across three extraction contexts: the California Gold Rush, coal mining in Appalachia, and uranium milling and mining in the four corner region. In closing, we explore the relevancy of this analytical approach to contemporary extraction contexts.

Work Practices and Respiratory Health Status of Appalachian Coal Miners With Progressive Massive Fibrosis.

The aim of this study was to characterize workplace practices and respiratory health among coal miners with large opacities consistent with progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) who received care at a federally funded black lung clinic network in Virginia. Participants were interviewed about their workplace practices and respiratory health. Medical records were reviewed. Nineteen former coal miners were included. Miners reported cutting rock, working downwind of dust-generating equipment, nonadherence to mine ventilation plans (including dust controls), improper sampling of respirable coal mine dust exposures, working after developing respiratory illness, and suffering from debilitating respiratory symptoms. Consistent themes of suboptimal workplace practices contributing to development of PMF emerged during the interviews. Some of the practices reported were unsafe and unacceptable. Further research is needed to determine the prevalence of these factors and how best to address them.

Appalachian coal mine spoil elemental release patterns and depletion

Elevated total dissolved solids (TDS) in Appalachian coal mining-influenced streams result from the interaction of oxygen and rainwater with fractured mine rocks. The weathering of common minerals in sedimentary coal-bearing strata such as silicates (quartz, feldspars, muscovite and chlorite), sulfides (pyrite), and carbonates (including siderite) releases soluble ions to streams. In this study, we determined mine spoil bulk composition and elemental depletion via column leaching, applied models to leaching patterns, compared model results among individual elements, and interpreted results to infer geochemical controls of soluble element release from mine spoils. Temporal release patterns of 15 elements from 26 mine spoils were determined via column leaching. Two five-parameter segmented models, one an exponential decay function combined with linear function and the second a growth function combined with a linear function, were applied to the elemental leaching patterns. Of the elements analyzed, Al (60,711 mg kg−1) and K (19,157 mg kg−1) had the largest concentrations on average in the bulk spoil samples. Leaching patterns for major elements (Ca, Mg, S, Ca, Na, K) differed from the release of Al, Fe, and Mn, and from trace elements (As, Cu, Ni, Se). Major elements tended to require more leaches to decay and transition to a stabilized state relative to Al, Fe, Mn and trace elements. Sulfur, Ca and Se were most depleted during the leaching period. Overall, results indicated that certain ions (Ca, Mg and HCO3−) were released to counter-balance the acid-production of S oxidation, whereas other elements, such as those released by feldspar hydrolysis (K, Na) were less associated with S oxidation but still contributed to overall TDS release from the mine spoils.

Interstitial Lung Diseases in the U.S. Mining Industry: Using MSHA Data to Examine Trends and the Prevention Effects of Compliance with Health Regulations, 1996-2015.

Given the recent increase in dust-induced lung disease among U.S. coal miners and the respiratory hazards encountered across the U.S. mining industry, it is important to enhance an understanding of lung disease trends and the organizational contexts that precede these events. In addition to exploring overall trends reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the current study uses MSHA's enforcement database to examine whether or not compliance with health regulations resulted in fewer mine-level counts of these diseases over time. The findings suggest that interstitial lung diseases were more prevalent in coal mines compared to other mining commodities, in Appalachian coal mines compared to the rest of the United States, and in underground compared to surface coal mines. Mines that followed a relevant subset of MSHA's health regulations were less likely to report a lung disease over time. The findings are discussed from a lung disease prevention strategy perspective.

Mineralogical influences on water quality from weathering of surface coal mine spoils

Surface coal mining fractures geologic materials to access coal seams. The excavated rock materials (mine spoils) have freshly exposed mineral surfaces that weather rapidly and release soluble ions to streams during and after site reclamation. The soluble ion release is directly influenced by the mine spoil mineralogy. We examined relationships among mine spoil mineralogical and geochemical properties and soluble ion release for the purpose of determining their influence on Appalachian stream water quality. We determined the mineralogy, bulk spoil composition, leachate concentrations, and acid-base accounting (ABA) parameters of 16 non-acid-forming spoil samples. Mineralogical composition was determined using thin section spectroscopy, a column leaching experiment was conducted to determine eluted leachate concentrations of 15 elements, and ABA parameters were determined using conventional methodologies. Results indicated that the mine spoils were comprised predominantly of quartz, with smaller amounts of plagioclase and K-feldspars, lithic metamorphic fragments, muscovite, chlorite, and goethite. Cementing agents included quartz, kaolinite, siderite, and carbonate. Indicators of weathering observed in samples presumed to be unweathered included halloysite at the expense of feldspar and goethite at the expense of pyrite and siderite. On an oxide basis, SiO2 and Al2O3 dominated the bulk geochemical composition. Sulfate had the largest initial leachate concentration whereas HCO3− was the dominant anion in final leachates. The ABA tests indicated most spoils were non-acid-forming, with total sulfur values ranging from 0.01 to 0.38%. Relatively high dissolved sulfate elution was attributed to trace pyrites. Carbonates were not observed in many samples, indicating other mineral sources neutralized the acid produced by pyrite oxidation. Feldspar hydrolysis and the weathering of metamorphic lithic fragments (schists), chlorite, and muscovite may have been responsible, in part, for soluble ion release and acid-neutralization. Bulk Mg contents often exceeded Ca for most samples, and high Mg:Ca ratios in leachate concentrations relative to regional waters may be attributed to chlorite weathering. Historically, high levels of soluble ion release was assumed to be controlled by sulfide oxidation reactions coupled with carbonate neutralization reactions. These results, however, indicate that other minerals typically presumed to be relatively stable also contribute significantly to overall soluble ion release in this highly disturbed environment. Minimizing the amount of time water is in contact with mine spoils and, by extension, decreasing the potentials for chemical weathering, may assist with controlling soluble ion discharges from Appalachian coal mining areas.

Energy and Society

These slides are intended to help students develop a justice-based lens for analysis of the relationship between energy and society. In particular, they explore the concepts of environmental justice and climate justice, drawing on the case of the No Dakota Access Pipeline movement by the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies. These slides were created by a sociologist to serve as an introductory set of slides for an environmental studies course on energy and society. They would also be well suited for a class period dedicated to themes of environmental justice and climate justice, especially for how these relate to energy extraction. To illuminate the social justice implications of energy extraction and resulting climate change, the slides include brief examples from the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, who are climate refugees from Louisiana; women resisting mountain top removal coal mining in Appalachia; and Nez Perce experiences losing traditional food sources because of climate change. These slides include an 8-minute video on Standing Rock and 15-minute discussion-based activity.

Long-term Effects of Rock Type on Appalachian Coal Mine Soil Properties.

Rock-derived overburden material is used as a topsoil substitute for reclamation of Appalachian coal mines. We evaluated five mixtures ( = 4 each) of sandstone (SS) and siltstone (SiS) overburden as topsoil substitutes for 25+ years to quantify changes in mine soil properties. The study area was planted only to tall fescue [ (Schreb.)], but over 50 herbaceous species invaded over time. Standing biomass was highest in early years (5.2-9.3 Mg ha in 1983) and was strongly affected by rock type (SS > SiS), declined significantly by 1989 (1.5-2.4 Mg ha), and then increased again (2×) by 2008. However, there was no long-term rock type effect on standing biomass. Rock fragments and texture differed after 26 yr, with fewer rock fragments in the SS-dominated mixtures (53 vs. 77% in SiS) and lower sand and higher clay in the SiS-dominated mixtures. Soil pH initially ranged from 5.45 (SS) to 7.45 (SiS), dropped for several years, increased in all SiS mixes, and then slowly declined again to 5.65 (SS) to 6.46 (SiS) over the final 15 yr. Total N, organic matter, and cation exchange capacity increased with time, and extractable P decreased. Chemical weathering was most apparent initially, but physical weathering of rock fragments and changes in texture continued throughout the study period. Influences of original rock mixtures remained apparent after 25+ yr in both physical and chemical properties of these mine soils, which remained much coarser than local native soils but were higher in pH, exchangeable cations, and extractable P.