Seeing is Believing

Emily McCue, a Watershed intern with the Office of Surface Mining, like many college students felt "a tinge of skepticism concerning the entire mining process". It's easy to understand why when universities like Northern KY University and others make books like Lost Mountain required reading.

Emily, pursuing an Environmental Engineering Major and Environmental Science Minor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was ready with "with three years worth of technical questions regarding mining hazards and reclamation inadequacies" for Dave Blankenship, Director of Safety and Environmental Affairs, and his assistant, Teresa McHargue both from TECO Coal. They were to be Emily's tour guide on a trip to some reclaimed surface mines in Kentucky.

Little did Emily know by the time her tour was over she not only would have a greater understanding of the reclamation process but that the memory of clouded streams that had been forged into her mind would be replaced with images of living, breathing ecosystems.

CLICK HERE TO READ EMILY'S STORY