Charles Bowman’s hands used to be stained black with coal after work. Now, they smell like lavender from the farm he works on that was once a surface mine.
ASHFORD, W.Va.—Charles Bowman’s hands used to be stained black with coal after work. Now, they smell like lavender.
He is one of about 85 employees at Appalachian Botanical, a company that cultivates lavender on a former surface mine. Instead of coal, the company produces essential oils and other scented products and is part of a growing effort in West Virginia to reimagine an economy that is not dependent on coal.
Mr. Bowman, 54 years old, said he once made $37.50 an hour as an electrician in an underground mine. Those jobs are mostly gone. Now he makes $11.50 an hour. Despite the pay cut, working on a farm that has doubled its acreage in the past year makes him hopeful. “A year ago I heard nothing about lavender. Now it’s everywhere,” he said, standing on a plateau surrounded by misty ridges. “I think it’s going to get competitive.”
Amid coal’s steady decline, efforts are growing to repurpose former mines and lead the way to diversifying the state’s economy, creating jobs and cleaning up the environment, while helping to revive coalfield communities.
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