There's more MTR sites in Kentucky

More mountains have been decapitated and more acreage surface mined in eastern Kentucky than in other Appalachian states, new research shows.

Of the nearly 1.2 million acres that have been mined, nearly half – or 574,000 acres – are in Kentucky. This is 222,000 acres more than has been identified in West Virginia.

Of the 501 mountains that have been decapitated, 293 or 58 percent are in Kentucky.

 "This research shows what a sacrificial lamb Kentucky has been for an industry that is not interested in any kind of restoration," said KFTC member Mick McCoy.  "Here in Martin County, more than 25 percent of the land has been leveled by coal companies yet we are among the poorest of counties not just in Kentucky, but the entire country."

"The fact that coal companies can blast away the tops of 500 of the oldest and most bio-diverse mountains on the continent shows an utter disrespect for the communities that have to live with the destruction of their land, air and water," said Matt Wasson, with Appalachian Voices.

The research, released by Appalachian Voices and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in a report called Reclamation FAIL, also shows that only a fraction of that land has been reclaimed for so-called beneficial economic uses. The study, which analyzed recent aerial imagery of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee, confirms the extent of mountaintop removal throughout the region.

"Mining companies don't love mountains but they love bragging about how they restore mine sites for the benefit of local communities," said NRDC's Rob Perks.  "Our study exposes Big Coal's broken promises by proving that post-mining economic prosperity is a big, flat lie."

NRDC examined 500 mountaintop removal sites in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.  Of these locations, 90 were excluded from the study due to active, ongoing mining activity.  Of the 410 remaining sites surveyed:

• 366 (89.3 percent) had no form of verifiable post-mining economic reclamation excluding forestry and pasture;


• 26 (6.3 percent of total) yield some form of verifiable post-mining economic development.

Only about four percent of mountains in Kentucky and West Virginia, where 80 percent of the mining is occurring, had any post-mining economic activity.  Virginia had the highest proportion of economic activity on its reclaimed mountaintop removal sites at 20 percent.  Tennessee, which has relatively little mountaintop removal compared to the other three states, had no economic activity on the six sites examined in that state.

"As long as there’s a seam of coal, no matter how small it is, the companies seems ready to blast the whole area to smithereens to get that coal,â€ pointed out McCoy.  "It’s just not right.

"Why do we have to wait before every lump of coal is gone out of Appalachia before we think, What are we going to do for energy now?  The coal company executives aren’t thinking that.  They’ll be out of here and leave flat plateaus that are worthless and unreclaimed.

"We must, for the future sake of Appalachia, look for renewable energy. We have to go in that direction – before Appalachia is totally obliterated,â€ McCoy concluded.