What has caused all that mud to collect in the Kentucky River?
Sediment pollution from Mountain Top Removal mining. Mountain Top Removal (MTR) is a form of mining in which the top of a mountain is literally bull-dozed off so that miners can reach underground coal seams. The top layers of soil, rock, and vegetation are usually blasted off with explosives, and then dumped into the closest valley. These valleys are the headwaters of our streams and rivers: • The major pollutant to the eastern waters that flow into central Kentucky is coal mining that dumps dirt and rock directly into our headwaters and turns our rivers brown with mud.[2] • So much vegetation is cleared off mountain tops in MTR mining, destroying plants that normally absorb hundreds of gallons of water each year. Even on reclaimed mine sites, it is very hard to get anything to grow in the soil left after a mining operation. As a result, rain runs off mountains much faster, causing violent flash floods in eastern Kentucky. The floods destroy homes and lives, costing taxpayers millions
