As eastern Kentuckians continue to search for missing loved ones, muck out their homes and prepare for more rain, they are beginning to ask who could be at fault for this past week's deadly flooding.
and whether it was a natural disaster or one caused by the coal mines that have drastically reshaped and scarred the landscape.
Kentucky, particularly the eastern mountains, are littered with abandoned coal mines. Many are a result of strip mining or, the latter a method in which mining companies use explosives to blast off a mountain's summit to get to the coal inside. The loss of the natural ridge lines, vegetation and trees, and the cracks in the mountains that are largely owned by companies often funnels rainwater into the thin valleys, or low-lying hollows, where most eastern Kentuckians make their homes.
SMCRA required every state to enforce the financial responsibility and reclamation obligation of the coal mine operators in their state. While some states required mining companies to pay reclamation costs upfront, others — like Kentucky — allowed them to put up a bond for the potential costs. In the past, small companies in Kentucky were allowed to create a pooled fund, while larger ones were able to self-bond, but the majority were done through a third party.
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