Tagged: appalachia

A filmmaker in North Carolina is working on a documentary that juxtaposes the coalfields of Appalachia with those of another area: Wales. He’ll present some of his findings for revitalizing a community after coal at a meeting this week.

Friday on WFPL's Byline, our environment reporter Erica Peterson spent some time with NPR reporter Howard Berkes and Chris Hamby with the Center for Public Integrity. They’ve been investigating a serious resurgence in black lung disease in Appalachia in a series of reports and features made public last week.

State government inspectors have been using aerial surveillance to watch coal operators in central Appalachia.

Helicopter flights have cost The Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement more than $477,000 over the past four years, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

News of the flyovers surprised mining industry leaders, including Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett, who protested the covert nature of the inspections and questioned their effectiveness.

The Appalachian Program at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland has produced original plays about prescription drug abuse, life in the coal mines and how young people decide to stay or leave Harlan County after graduation. The program compiles oral histories and interviews with Harlan County residents and turns them into plays about the present and future of Eastern Kentucky.