Two good letters to the editor in today's Herald-Leader

Mining hurts Kentuckians' quality of life

In Pike County, Clintwood Elkhorn Mining has self-reported to the Army Corps of Engineers that it had mined through two streams and constructed two sediment ponds without having a permit. As a result, water on Millers Creek above Fishtrap Lake, the source of drinking water for Pikeville and much of Pike County, was affected.

Despite this, Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, says he doubts there is any validity to Kentuckians for the Commonwealth's and Sierra Club's allegations.

I invite Caylor and the media to visit the site with members of the community, who won't drink their home water, won't eat fish they catch in Fishtrap Lake and have been and are being affected by the destructive and desperate act of mountaintop removal mining.

Caylor can sit in his office in Lexington and continue to close his mind, but the people who live with this every day would like to open his eyes and the eyes of people who live downstream and want to protect their drinking water.

John Cleveland

Sierra Club organizer

Blackey

Big Coal wins again

I guess coal companies have won again. In this year's legislative session, the "stream saver" bill was voted down. Actions like this keep showing coal companies they are above the law.

I guess they can keep destroying the mountains, murdering animals and poisoning our streams with no law to stop them and no government agency to police them.

Do you think Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Caylor will ever admit what mountaintop-removal mining really does to the environment? According to him, it is the best thing for the mountains.

Our politicians are afraid to vote against the coal industry because they fear angering too many of their voters and not getting re-elected, even though they know what they are doing is wrong and should be against the law.

Larry Wilder

Pineville