Rehab Continues at Former Landree Mine Site
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWhile coal contributes more than $750 million every year to the Hoosier economy, utility companies across the nation are continuing to transition to cleaner-burning, lower-cost alternatives. As a result, coal mines are shutting down. The former Landree Mine in the Greene County town of Jasonville is undergoing a revitalization that will transform the old coal mining site into a “farm-to-bottle” craft distillery.
In an interview with Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman, Fishers-based Land Betterment Corp. provides an update on efforts to transform the old mining site.
Redman first spoke with the company last year, when Land Betterment Corp. first announced its plans to redevelop the site and provide jobs to former coal miners.
“This mine alone provided over 100 jobs,” said Mark Jensen, executive chairman of Land Betterment. “The number of coal mines that have went bankrupt in the last three years and the number of people that have lost jobs – what we wanted to do is bring a real solution to a real problem.”
Land Betterment acquired the 22-acre site a few years ago from a defunct New York hedge fund. Jensen says the company wants to not only clean up the environmental hazards of the site, but also address the community’s job and tax problems.
“You’re supposed to do environmental cleanup as you mine coal,” said Jensen. “You have the potential for acid water in the down streams, you have affected wildlife, and more importantly, the community can never use a property again. When they walked away, there was post-mining cleanup needed. There’s five years of excess debris we had to go through.”
Former coal miner Joe Wright, who worked at the site for 10 years, says he’s grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the site’s past, present and future.
“I worked in the warehouse and then worked underground for four or five years,” said Wright. “It was definitely a downturn for the community, but hopefully this project will bring it back. It’s different jobs, but it’s still jobs. It’ll continue my employment, so that’s good for me and my family.”
Site remediation is expected to last another four months.
“Think about a former coal miner,” said Jensen. “They are great at trouble-shooting, electrical circuitry, heavy machinery. A distillery is not that different.”
The company says the grand opening of Coal Craft Spirits will likely be next spring due to supply chain issues.