A subsidiary of St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc. is boycotting Tennessee and its tourist sites because one of the state's U.S. senators, Republican Lamar Alexander, right, is sponsoring a bill that would outlaw mountaintop-removal strip mining, Jessica Lilly reports for West Virginia Public Broadcasting. (PBS photo)Coal-Mac Inc. of Holden, W.Va., said in a July 6 letter to chambers of commerce in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that its sister companies in Kentucky and Virginia (Cumberland River Coal and Lone Mountain Processing) had canceled their annual company picnics for 780 employees and 2,340 family members at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, and that it had asked its 300 workers, who "usually travel monthly to your state for entertainment, shopping and recreation" to do those things in the company's home states.
The letter, written by Human Resource Manager Richard Phillips, concluded, “If you want our industry’s business, we suggest you let your representatives know that the industry they are trying to destroy is a major source of your tourism money.” The Citizens for Coal group told Lilly that it is also asking members to avoid Tennessee. Her story concluded, "Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) is also a co-sponsor of the bill. Coal-Mac is not boycotting Maryland."
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