Help the city of Lynch protect its drinking water and other resources!

By Roy Silver, Harlan County chapter member

"The biggest thing is our water resource. Our water is really good now. What's more important the water or the coal? This is the best place in the world to live. You're not just taking out the coal, you're destroying generations of people who could live here and raise their families here."  Bennie Massey, Lynch City Council

Harlan Development/A & G wants to strip mine Black Mountain above Lynch. It would drain into Looney Creek, which feeds the Lynch Reservoir.

The discharge is a violation of the Kentucky Five-Mile Policy. It "prohibits discharges into a stream within five miles upstream from any public water supply intake. Looney Creek feeds the head waters of the Cumberland River. The strip mine could also impact downstream communities. 

This strip mine would place 18 new sediment ponds above the community, set off blasts near homes and historic buildings.

It will encroach on the upper elevations of Black Mountain.  Harlan Counties. The Kentucky Resources Council, KFTC and many others protected in 1999.

To strip mine this area, the company must get a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers US EPA. It will mine through and create a sediment pond at the headwaters of Long Rock Branch, (Magazine Hollow).  This feeds the Lynch Reservoir.  This strip mine could damage four other headwater streams.  

A&G’s Ison Rock Ridge strip mine in Wise County, Va. has been suspended. It had history of federal violations. Owners of Harlan Development Corporation owed over $1.5 million in mine safety violations. Lynch residents are asking that this permit be denied. They are also asking for a public hearing from the US Army Corps of Engineers. 

Send an email to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EPA asking officials to respect the concerns of Lynch residents, protect their water and community resources.

Submit comments by 4pm on Monday, February 1st.
Click here to go to the KFTC Action Page to send your letter.

Comments will be accepted after the deadline. For more information, contact [email protected].

You can also send a letter by fax to:
Nashville District Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch
(Attention: Marty Tyree)
3701 Bell Road, Nashville, TN 37214
Fax 615-369-7501