THE HUMAN TOLL: MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING IN APPALACHIA

Katie Falkenberg

The Washington Times

Erica and Rully Urias must bathe their daughter, Makayla, age 5, in contaminated water that is the color of tea. Their water has been tested and contains high levels of arsenic. The family attributes this water problem primarily to the blasting which they believe has disrupted the water table and cracked the casing in their well, allowing seepage of heavy metals into their water, and also to the runoff from the mountaintop removal sites surrounding their home. The coal company that mines the land around their home has never admitted to causing this problem, but they do supply the family with bottled water for drinking and cooking.ÊContaminated and colored water in has occurred in other coalfield communities as well where mountaintop mining is practiced.

Katie Falkenberg, "THE HUMAN TOLL: MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING IN APPALACHIA," in POYi Archive, Item #43676, http://archive.poy.org/index.php/items/show/43676 (accessed June 15, 2025).