A field of Chinese lespedeza surrounds the Wendell H. Ford Airport on the outskirts of Hazard, KY. It was built on reclaimed strip-mine land.
A barb-wired fence bisects a large field of Chinese lespedeza on what was once a forested mountaintop.
Reclaimed strip-mine land community outside the Wendell H. Ford Airport. The grass is plentiful, but very little larger vegetation is growing.
What used to the thick forested rolling hills of the Cumberlands are now plains.
Many toxic chemicals are used in coal slurry ponds, such as this one at the Coalfields Industrial Park in Hazard, KY.
The slurry pond is owned by the Pine Branch operation of Blackhawk Mining, LLC in Lexington, KY. Contrary to what many politicians may say, much of the earnings from mining operations leave the mining community. At least this one has a KY address.
A small fence/gate protects the pubic from direct access to the slurry pond.
We noticed an active mine operation several mountains over and decided to take an unpaved road to get a better view.
Patches of trees spot vast fields of Chinese lespedeza.
Little diversity can be found amid the vast fields of "reclaimed" land seeded with Chinese lespedeza.
The thick forest growth in the distance is what the near field once looked like. Time will tell if it will ever again host such rich and diverse flora.
After about 2-3 miles of off-roading, the landscape opened up to reveal the decapitation of the nearby mountain. Fields of Chinese lespedeza overlook a presumably active mining operation several miles from the Coalfields Industrial Park.
Mountaintop removal mining leaves flat, stair-steps along the mountainside, with the top being removed completely at times.
Reclaimed vegetation overlooks the bare steps of the active mine in the distance.
Overlooking the Carr Fork Creek State Park is a large valley fill where a mine operation filled a valley with waste from the extraction process. Since many valleys in this area create creeks and streams (that subsequently flow to larger rivers such as the Kentucky River) from the mountain runoff, I wonder if such water flow has been stopped by the valley fill OR is that water being filtered by the contents of the fill which may contain remnants of explosives used during mining? That water very likely flows down to the man-made Carr Fork Lake, where children and adults swim on a public beach.
"Blasting Zone" warnings can be found on many of the small roads meandering between the mountains.
Bullet riddled sign at gated entrance to a strip mine.
Several overlooks along the way to the Pine Mountain summit provided the opportunity to see an unscarred view the beautiful Appalachian rolling hills of dense tree vegetation.
Harry Monroe Caudill was an outspoken KY legislator who opposed strip mining in the Appalachian area.
Black Mountain is Kentucky's highest peak, reaching 4145 feet. The summit marks the entrance to Harlan County, KY, which has been economically devastated by the proliferation of strip mining.
Just past the summit of Black Mountain is the Virginia State line.
From the Black Mountain summit (actually, a bit lower - the actual summit was gated with a "No Trespassing" sign), a large active strip mine can be seen in Virginia. Note how this view contrasts the view from Pine Mountain!
The edge of this active VA mine contrasts with the thick mountain forest in the background.
What once was a mountaintop is now a gaping crater carved by toxic explosives.
This "well-shot" sign labeled an oddly colored pond.