Black Mountain (Kentucky)

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Coalswarm badge.gif

This article is part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy. See here for help on adding material to CoalSwarm.

Black Mountain (Kentucky) is the tallest mountain in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, USA, with a summit elevation of 4,145 feet (1,263 m) above mean sea level and a top to bottom height of over 2,500 feet (760 m). The summit is located in Harlan County, Kentucky near the Virginia border, just above the towns of Lynch, Kentucky and Appalachia, Virginia.

A coal company named Penn Virginia Resources of Radnor, Pennsylvania owns the summit. Penn Virginia Resources does not mine coal. Rather it leases coal mines to third parties.[1]

Virginia-based A&G Coal Company has planned mountaintop removal mining in the area. In a city council meeting in June 2011, Harlan County executive Joe Grieshop told Lynch Mayor Taylor Hall that he must negotiate with the coal company for mining or the county would not fund a needed fire station for Lynch.[2]

The Sierra Club reported in May 2011 that blasts for MTR are already taking place on the mountain.[3]

Loading map...

History

Black Mountain's history is intimately tied to the coal mining of the surrounding region. Lynch, Kentucky, was once one of the largest coal mining towns in the nation. it was built by U.S. Coal & Coke Company in 1917 to house 10,000 miners and their families, many African-American. In 1998, Jericol Mining, Inc., petitioned to use mountaintop removal methods in the area of Black Mountain. In 1999, Kentucky purchased mineral and timber rights to the summit and prevented future large scale mining. Coal companies continue to pursue mining the area, saying that mined coal veins converge beneath the summit of Black Mountain and that the summit is prone to collapse.[3]

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

To see a listing of coal mines in a particular state, click on the map:

Category:Existing coal mines in AlabamaCategory:Existing coal mines in AlaskaCategory:Existing coal mines in ArizonaCategory:Existing coal mines in ArkansasCategory:Existing coal mines in CaliforniaCategory:Existing coal mines in ColoradoCategory:Existing coal mines in ConnecticutCategory:Existing coal mines in DelawareCategory:Existing coal mines in FloridaCategory:Existing coal mines in GeorgiaCategory:Existing coal mines in HawaiiCategory:Existing coal mines in IdahoCategory:Existing coal mines in IllinoisCategory:Existing coal mines in IndianaCategory:Existing coal mines in IowaCategory:Existing coal mines in KansasCategory:Existing coal mines in KentuckyCategory:Existing coal mines in LouisianaCategory:Existing coal mines in MaineCategory:Existing coal mines in MarylandCategory:Existing coal mines in MassachusettsCategory:Existing coal mines in MichiganCategory:Existing coal mines in MinnesotaCategory:Existing coal mines in MississippiCategory:Existing coal mines in MissouriCategory:Existing coal mines in MontanaCategory:Existing coal mines in NebraskaCategory:Existing coal mines in NevadaCategory:Existing coal mines in New HampshireCategory:Existing coal mines in New JerseyCategory:Existing coal mines in New MexicoCategory:Existing coal mines in New YorkCategory:Existing coal mines in North CarolinaCategory:Existing coal mines in North DakotaCategory:Existing coal mines in OhioCategory:Existing coal mines in OklahomaCategory:Existing coal mines in OregonCategory:Existing coal mines in PennsylvaniaCategory:Existing coal mines in Rhode IslandCategory:Existing coal mines in South CarolinaCategory:Existing coal mines in South DakotaCategory:Existing coal mines in TennesseeCategory:Existing coal mines in TexasCategory:Existing coal mines in UtahCategory:Existing coal mines in VermontCategory:Existing coal mines in VirginiaCategory:Existing coal mines in Washington StateCategory:Existing coal mines in West VirginiaCategory:Existing coal mines in WisconsinCategory:Existing coal mines in WyomingCategory:Existing coal mines in DelawareCategory:Existing coal mines in MarylandCategory:Existing coal mines in New HampshireCategory:Existing coal mines in New JerseyCategory:Existing coal mines in MassachusettsCategory:Existing coal mines in ConnecticutCategory:Existing coal mines in West VirginiaCategory:Existing coal mines in VermontCategory:Existing coal mines in Rhode IslandMap of USA with state names.png
About this image

References

External links