Kentucky has more surfaced mined land than other Appalachian states, and little of that flatter land is put to "beneficial" use, according to new research released Monday.
Nearly half the 1.2 million acres in the region that have been mined for coal are in Kentucky, according to "Reclamation FAIL," a report by Appalachian Voices and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
When the NRDC looked at the 500 (293 of them in Kentucky) mountains where mountaintop removal was used, it found 90 where mining was still taking place, 366 that exhibited "no form of post-mining economic reclamation excluding forestry and pasture" and only 26 that had some sort of visible economic development.
Matt Wasson, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, said he was surprised by how much of the mountain top removal mining was taking place in Kentucky.
"I think people tend to look at mountaintop removal as a West Virginia phenomenon," he said.
Read the complete story at kentucky.com