Kentucky is the third largest coal producing state in the US, mining over 80 million tons in 2013. The Appalachian Mountains run through eastern Kentucky and coal production has historically been important to the local economy. This GIS analysis focuses on Perry County, Kentucky, which has extensive coal mining. It calculates the area of mountains removed, waste dumped, and length of streams contaminated by mining in the county near three mine sites. The results found over 4.5 million square meters of mountain removed, 2.8 million square meters of waste dumped, and 90,465 meters of contaminated streams.

2. Kentucky is the third largest coal producing state in the United States. In 2013,
80.4 million short tons of coal were mined from the state of Kentucky. (US. Energy
Information Administration http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=69&t=2)
The Appalachian Mountains run through the southeastern part of Kentucky,
and this region has historically been known for its coal production and the coal
industry’s prominence on the local economy.
Perry County is one of the heavily
mined counties in the Appalachian
region (highlighted in yellow).
Darkened areas represent coal mining regions.

4. A Coal Slurry Pond in Perry
County, KY
The October 2000 Martin
County Sludge Disaster
Mountains before mining
Mountains after mining
Photos courtesy of http://www.mountainroadPshow.com/misc/MTR_Tour_Guide_KY_VA%20_WV.pdf and
http://www.plunderingappalachia.org/theissue.htm

5. This GIS model will:
1. calculate the total areas
- of mountain removed
- of the material dumped
2. generate the extent of
contamination of the watershed
within range of streams and local
communities

6. Basic Steps involved include:
• Clipping Kentucky state shapefiles to cover solely
Perry County
• Creating a buffer around contaminated streams within
1000 meters of three mine locations
• Using the Statistics tool to determine the amount of
mountain material that is removed and deposited into
mountain streams and the total distance of streams
polluted by mountaintop removal coal mining

7. Final Map and Results
The total area of mountaintop
removed = 4,578,124 m2.
The total area of deposits
dumped in the valley
fills = 2,783,952 m2.
The total length of the streams
contaminated by the mining
process = 90,465 meters.

8. Cooper, Dave. “http—www.mountainroadshow.com-misc-MTR_Tour_Guide_KY_VA%20_WV.pdf.”
The Mountaintop Removal Roadshow. n.d.
http://www.mountainroadshow.com/misc/MTR_Tour_Guide_KY_VA20%_WV.pdf
Kentucky Geography Network. Kentucky Geography Network – Geoportal. n.d.
http://kygisserver.ky.gov/geoportal/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B98DA4C1F-9026-4FCC-96D3-2B76585CDC69%7D