Key Findings:

• Structures above a longwall mine almost always suffer subsidence, forcing homeowners to contend with such damages as shattered foundations, crooked roofs, and cracked plaster. By last September, 1,819 property owners had reported longwall damages since the state began documenting such complaints.
• Longwall mining dams, diminishes, and dries up water sources. Scientists have found the practice is permanently lowering the area’s water table and draining its aquifers; state regulators have reported damages to 23 stretches over 97 miles of mined streams.
• The environmental fallout has hit farmers so hard that the agricultural land and farming community are dwindling.
• State policymakers have fostered this destruction through the mining law and environmental regulations, leaving citizens virtually powerless to undo harm.