Thank you for sharing your experience with the coal company. I have many kin folk in this region. My ancestors came to the region after the AR. It breaks my heart when hard times revisit this area. I remember when Exxon sold out in both Illinois and Ky to a greedy oil company (Petco Oil) who pay their workers poorly with no benefits. People lost their lives on the job due to poor training. The manager of Petco oil of Fayette Co Illinois was from Lee County KY. I got them busted a few years back for oil spills in a wetland. When the coal jobs shut down in Illinois, same happened to Eastern Ky. Today, the only thing that’s left is a drug economy. I believe the closures of the coal fields was made by design.

In the summer I’d visit my grandparents. I remember seeing the coal trucks on Main Street

The Estill County fiscal court over the years has failed to recruit new industries.

That aint all thats burried out there