Mark Olalde
Mark Olalde is a freelance investigative journalist and photographer who has reported on mining, energy policy and agriculture in the US, southern Africa and the Caribbean. His work digging into mine closure data earned him a McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism and recognition as South Africa's top environmental print reporter in 2017. www.markolalde.com
The US’ hidden methane problem
Unregulated, unnoticed coal mines across the US are leaking a potent greenhouse gas with the same greenhouse effect as 13 million cars
US agency calls for ban on controversial coal mine ‘self-bonds’
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office is urging Congress to make coal mining companies pay for environmental clean-up and reduce the risk to taxpayers
Coal tycoon governor Jim Justice uses loophole to leave mines and workers idle
Companies owned by WV governor exploited a supposedly temporary status to defer environmental clean up and leave miners in limbo, in some cases for decades
What happens to the land after coal mines close?
Across the country, mining land has been reclaimed at low cost, leaving communities with few alternatives to rebuild their economies
Crackdown on coal mine ‘self-bonds’ stalls under Trump
Regulators have almost wiped out risky practice since 2015-16 wave of bankruptcies, but some coal companies still insure themselves
Obama official: Trump cuts will leave coal clean-up agency unable to function
The number of mine site inspections is falling and proposed budget cuts at the federal regulator will further erode oversight, a former top official warns
Why and how we investigated the coal industry’s clean-up funds
The Reclaiming Coal investigation involved six months of crunching data from state and federal agencies, coupled with travel across the country
Reclaiming coal: US mines’ clean-up cash – all our data
All of our data on the US coal industry’s reclamation bonds, compiled nationally and published here for the first time
US coal hasn’t set aside enough money to clean up its mines
Schemes that favour coal companies in Appalachia have left a national shortfall experts said was ‘one of the biggest public failures that has gone under the radar’
Unfinished business: Coal miners across South Africa walk away from clean up
Documents obtained by Climate Home reveal a growing crisis as big miners and government shift liability to small companies who cannot afford coal mine clean up