By Lora SmithEastern Kentucky holds the headwaters for three major rivers - the Big Sandy, the Cumberland, and the Kentucky. Many regard our mountain waterways as eastern Kentucky’s most valuable resource. However the waterways we share in this region and that feed the rest of the state are being polluted by mining practices such as mountaintop removal. Current mountaintop removal practices allow caol operators to dump their overburden (The topsoil covering the coal seam) into adjacent mountain valleys covering important headwater streams. To date over 422 miles of blue line streams have been buried by valley fills.This CCC piece followed the filing of house bill 385, the ‘Stream Saver Bill’ which would make the practice of buryng streams with mine waste illegal in Kentucky. Narrated byHarlan native and water advocate, Teri Blanton, this piece interviews supporters of the Bill and asks the question, “Why aren’t our politicians doing more to protect our health and land?”UPDATE ON THE STREAM SAVER BILL :House bill 385 never made it out of the House Natural Resources Committee during the last legislative session, much to the dissapoinment of its sponsors and supporters.John Roark of Montgomery Creek and Bobby Ray Hicks of Knott County speak with one of the Stream Saver Bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Richard Henderson (D- Montgomery County)Mckinley Sumner of Montgomery Creek near Vicco, KY was one of several KFTC members who came to Frankfort to show their support for the filing of the Stream Saver Bill.To learn more about mountaintop removal, the Stream Saver Bill and how you can get involved, visit KFTC online at KFTC

 

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