Pend Oreille County, WA: Mining region struggles as it faces loss of biggest employer

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Mining region struggles as it faces loss of biggest employer

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
August 10, 2019

METALINE FALLS, Wash. (AP) — Times are tough in a rural county in northeast Washington state because one of the region’s biggest employers is shutting down.

The Pend Oreille Mine, just north of Metaline Falls, closed on July 31, at a cost of about 200 family wage jobs in an area of less than 1,000 residents.

It’s another sign of the imbalance of prosperity in Washington state. While the Seattle area gorges on high-paying jobs, many rural counties like Pend Oreille County that depend on natural resource industries — logging, fishing, mining — are suffering.

This divide is part of a national trend. People in urban areas had higher per-capita income, lower poverty rates, lower unemployment rates and higher education levels than people in rural areas in recent years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rural areas are also suffering a declining population, while urban areas grow, the USDA said.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/525fb82f2f80419c849a30ce20b3f1cc

[captain queeg]

1. Rich people have 2nd homes over there along the Pend Oreille

I see this in a lot of places of natural beauty. There are few decent jobs that would allow families to live there but wealthy out of towners drive the real estate higher making it that much harder on those who have been there for years.