strip mining

More than a decade of research has found a relationship between strip mine sites and health problems like cancer. Now, citizen groups are asking the Biden administration to jumpstart a federal study that was aimed at finding more complete answers about mining’s public health effects and — potentially — instituting additional regulatory measures to help coalfield residents.

Nearly 60 eastern Kentuckians say the historic flooding in late July was made worse when silt ponds associated with the strip mines failed.

Abandoned mine lands are supposed to be properly reclaimed—stabilized and reforested to preserve water quality and prevent erosion. But hundreds of thousands of acres of old strip mines remain unclaimed, and many mines that shuttered before 1977 were reclaimed in an antiquated style that doesn’t reflect today’s best practices.

In eastern Kentucky’s Pike County, some residents have suffered numerous damaging flash floods. State inspectors say the floods were made worse by a…