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strip mines

Congressional Office Agrees to Investigate ‘Zombie’ Coal Mines

Kentucky citizens’ law group finds 40 percent of state’s active coal strip mines are “functionally abandoned.”

By James Bruggers

 According to a new report from Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, this “zombie” mine in Pike County, Kentucky has not produced coal since 2019. Credit: Erin Savage/Appalachian Voices
The prison fence at the Southeast State Correctional Complex in Floyd County, Kentucky, meets a road and open coal seam. Credit: Jill Frank

Q&A: From Coal to Prisons in Eastern Kentucky, and the Struggle for a ‘Just Transition’

By James Bruggers
The company that blasted the sides of this Floyd County, Kentucky, mountain went bankrupt and left behind mining violations including steep cliffs. The property’s owner, Tracy Neece, is waiting on state regulators to find a way to get it reclaimed. In the background, other former surface mines, largely barren of trees, are visible. Credit: Alton Strupp/The Courier Journal

The Decline of Kentucky’s Coal Industry Has Produced Hundreds of Safety and Environmental Violations at Strip Mines

By James Bruggers

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