A perfect reclamation would be restoring the original contours of the land, bringing in deep topsoil and then planting native vegetation. That's very, very rarely done except for some sort of PR projects or show pieces. So a lot of these mines can become productive for us again, but it takes effort and time and money to do that.
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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