USA - KENTUCKY - Plan: Convert Coal Mine Into Vertical Farm
August 27, 2020
By Wes Mills, Content Manager
FISHERS - Fishers-based Land Betterment Corp. is putting in a bid for an abandoned coal mining operation in western Kentucky, with hopes to turn the land into an ag-tech focused business development.
The company’s business model involves acquiring former coal mines and other industrial sites and convert them into sustainable community development projects.
In June, Inside INdiana Business reported on Land Betterment’s plan to convert an old mine in Greene county into farm-to-bottle craft distillery.
The company says it made an offer to acquire certain assets of the Kentucky thermal coal mining operation after the mine’s owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.
“If it were to be successful in the acquisition, Land Betterment plans to permanently close the thermal coal operations, undertake the complete environmental remediation of the land associated with the mining complex, and establish new businesses on the land to create economic diversification and jobs that support the local communities in a new and sustainable way,” said a company statement.
Land Betterment’s plan includes upcycling the 280-acre property into an ag-tech location for indoor vertical farms and a number of bee apiaries.
It also wants to place a commercial-grade solar farm on up to 200 acres of the land.