Season 3 · Episode 1

30 Days: Working In A Coal Mine

To kick off the third season of 30 Days, series creator Morgan Spurlock returns to his home state of West Virginia, to work as a rookie apprentice coalminer known as a "redhat" for 30 days. Morgan goes to Bolt, West Virginia and lives with Dale and Sandy Lusk. Dale, the supervisor of the mine where Morgan works, has mined coal for 35 years and introduces Morgan to a miner's way of life. Morgan gains an understanding of the financial benefits that draw people to coal mining, but also learns, first hand, the dangerous conditions that miners must face every day. As a new miner, Morgan is assigned much of the grunt work, including plastering, building wooden roof supports, shoveling coal and hauling heavy equipment. On his days off, Morgan leaves the mine to examine some of the bigger issues surrounding the coal industry. He meets with Peggy Cohen, 36, the daughter of a miner killed in 2006 in a Sago, West Virginia mine explosion. Morgan also talks to both coal industry executives and environmentalists about surface mining and mountain-top removal to gain perspective on the pros and cons of an industry that provides the U.S. with the raw materials for 50% of our electricity. electricity.