JULIAN, W.Va. — Joined by several members of his cabinet, representatives of the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund and former president of Marshall University Gary White, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin hosted a press conference and tour of the much anticipated former Hobet Mine site in Boone County May 12.
Tomblin first announced the massive project which aims to tap thousands of acres of land on the border of Boone and Lincoln counties for industrial development in his 2016 State of the State Address.
Mining began on the Hobet site in 1973, and throughout the years it is estimated the site produced around 135 million tons of coal.
Now, the site, which stretches for a length of eight miles and a width of two miles, consists mostly of long-reclaimed land which officials state could easily be worked into parcels of flat land surpassing the 500 acre mark…
