Governor Jim Justice stated he has “never been” to a plant he owns in Birmingham, Alabama, that has multiple public health violations and does not currently have a license during the Wednesday, November 24, COVID-19 press briefing.
According to CBS42 investigative reporter Chloe Vincente, the Bluestone plant’s “neighbors in North Birmingham, [Alabama] … have been reporting health concerns surrounding this plant since it was bought by Bluestone Resources in 2019, and even before then, when the plant was owned by other companies.”
“Back in August, [the Jefferson County Department of Health] attempted to deny Bluestone a permit that allows them to operate due to the health violations, but a hearing officer granted Bluestone’s motion to stay,” reads the article. “In addition to the health concerns, CBS 42 confirmed Bluestone Coke currently does not have a business license [with] both the Jefferson County Revenue Department and the City of Birmingham Tax and Licensing Office.”
The coverage notes that on Monday, November 22, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Department of Health said the plant had switched to a “cold idle” after the station reached out with questions about why Bluestone Coke didn’t appear to be active.
Anyone looking to read the report can find it online, titled “Birmingham coke plant owned by West Virginia governor has no license, multiple health violations.”
The coverage also notes “CBS 42 attempted to contact West Virginia’s Governor, Jim Justice, who owns Bluestone Resources, dozens of times by phone and email. All of our requests have so far been ignored or denied.”
Instead, a sister news firm to CBS 42, Nexstar Media’s reporter Mark Kurtz asked Justice about the reporting and several lawsuits during the Wednesday, November 24, COVID-19 briefing.
“There are two lawsuits filed by the Jefferson County Board of Health over air quality violations,” Kurtz explained. “[The lawsuit is] alleging the Department of Taxation and business licensing says Bluestone Coke does not even have a license to operate in Birmingham, Alabama. There is another lawsuit [filed by] an environmental organization, citing neighbors of the plant, who’s saying they’re being made sick by the emissions and so forth. I realized the plan is now pausing production until April of 2022 and is promising to make repairs and upgrades and whatever it has to do to rectify these problems. … What can you say to assure the public, not only here in West Virginia but in Alabama or any of the other states where your companies operate, that you will do whatever … has to be done to rectify problems … and settle these lawsuits?”
Kurtz asked about the reporting during the press briefing. In response to Kurtz’s question, Justice stated he had never been to the plant.
“I’ve never seen the plant. … This is what I’ve been trying to tell everybody all along. My job is to be your governor. We [Justice and his family] have owned that plant for a good while. That plant had been bankrupt, for all practical purposes, two different times prior to us getting it. … Iit is very, very, … old. … With any and every obligation we’ve ever had, we’re going to fulfill, absolutely. We’re going to continue to do the right stuff all along. … I don’t have time to even think about being able to tell you the whole story, if I knew the whole story, and I don’t have any idea about it.”
Justice’s son, James Justice III, is currently in charge of the Justice family business.
“My family, wholeheartedly, will always do the right stuff [and] … a perfect example is The Greenbrier Hotel. How many businesses have we taken over, saved all the employment, and they’re thriving and continuing right on? … What was Bluestone in Wyoming and McDowell County doing two or three years ago? [The Russians] were leaving town, leaving reclamation liabilities, leaving the union stiff, the retirement fund and everything with the union stiff, leaving vendors, leaving taxes owed to McDowell County and Wyoming County. What did we do? … All you’ve got to do is just follow along, and you’ll see our family … cleaning out a lot of messes up. You take a lot of flack because you are the governor and, and you are, per say, the billionaire and whatever else.”
Justice noted this was not currently his job, despite him being an owner and fiscal beneficiary of any profits the plant generates.
“My job and my focus is these 92 people we lost [since the last briefing to COVID-19],” Justice said. “That’s all there is to it right here. This is my job. My job is the health and well being in this state. … You take a lot of flack along the way, but it doesn’t matter to me, we’re gonna do the right stuff. That’s what our family does. That’s what we’re gonna continue to do, and I’m gonna, first and foremost, look after these 92 people as best as I possibly can.”
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