The requirements for reclamation are unclear and there isn't enough money available to do the reclamation. If these companies fail as a lot of them do that difference is going to have to be borne by somebody else. Are companies willing to at least try? Companies often don't want to do the cleanup. It's hard, it's expensive, it takes a long time, it takes equipment away from the profitable activity of actually mining coal.
As the US coal industry dwindles, big mining companies that once made a fortune are packing up–and leaving behind a staggering mess of destroyed land and poisoned water. So who’ll pay to clean it up? Bloomberg reporters Josh Saul and Zachary Mider spent time in coal country and join this episode to talk about the multi-billion-dollar game of pass the buck now playing out in Appalachia.
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