A bankrupt Pike County coal operator has a buyer, though its sale price will not cover outstanding debts.
Pending approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the assets of Clintwood JOD LLC will be sold for $1.1 million to CW Reclaim LLC.
According to an affidavit by Christopher Atkins, a trustee for the bankrupt company, CW Reclaim’s bid was less than hoped for, but the highest and best offer.
As a result, Atkins asked the court to approve the sale. His filing notes the coal industry is suffering a downturn.
“It is the best offer received after a thorough marketing and auction process and maximizes the recovery to the debtors’ creditors,” Atkins said.
According to Clintwood’s bankruptcy filing in federal court in March, it owes the Kentucky Treasury more than $3 million in severance taxes. It also owes Kentucky Power $1 million and another $1.2 million in property and mineral taxes to local governments.
CW Reclaim is based in Orange Village, Ohio, near Cleveland, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office. The registered agent for the company, Brian Meldrum, a Louisville attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to its website, Clintwood has access to reserves of 56 million tons of high-quality metallurgical, or steelmaking, coal. It has 12 permitted underground and eight permitted surface mines, as well as two preparation plants.
The metallurgical coal market has contracted since early 2025, in part due to overseas competition and U.S. trade policies that have made domestic suppliers less favorable.
Challenging conditions
The Trump administration has attempted to revive domestic coal use, but hundreds of workers have lost their jobs since early 2025.
Data from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet shows Eastern Kentucky lost 400 coal jobs from the first three months of 2025 to the first three months of 2026.
Production in the eastern coalfield dropped 5.5%. Though it increased 5% in Western Kentucky, that region lost about 100 coal jobs in the quarter.
Statewide, Kentucky ended March with 3,500 coal workers, the lowest number on record.
Clintwood terminated about 300 workers at the time of its bankruptcy filing in March.
Joseph Barnett, one of the laid-off workers, filed a lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in March. His complaint accuses the company of violating the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires large employers to give workers 60 days notice before termination.
Barnett’s suit seeks back pay and benefits for himself and the other affected workers. A trial is scheduled in November.
Pike County, once the state’s leading coal producer, is now fourth in Eastern Kentucky, behind Harlan, Letcher and Perry. Henderson County in Western Kentucky now leads in production.
As U.S. Census data released in March show, Kentucky’s coal-producing counties – east and west – experienced the largest population losses from 2020 to 2025.
