The second part of the book, Lost Mountain, was very interesting to say the least. It talked about the different areas in Kentucky near the Appalachian Mountains that have coal mining has affected their drinking water. In the book Erik Reece said that 47% of Kentucky's rivers and streams are too polluted from mining for the water to be drank, fished, or swam. The reason for this is that when coal is being mined, the rocks that fall into the valleys, rivers, and streams cause many different kinds of sediments and minerals to get into the water. This makes all parents in these areas scared to death for their children to drink the water. The results that tend to happen from drinking the water vary greatly from nausea, diarrea, vomiting, and shortness of breath to long term effects of bone damage and cancers of the digestive track, liver, kidney, an spleen failure.
Along with the hazardous drinking water, the people in this region have to watch out for the flash floods that occur also because of the coal mining. These flash floods has taken lives, destroyed ecosystems, destroyed homes, and destroyed towns. In some cases there were up to one foot of mud that made its way into the homes of the people who live there. These floods of what is described as a massive black milkshake that contains many hazardous chemicals including mercury, arsenic, cadium, and lead, all of which can kill you.
I think that the many results of coal mining can only lead to bad consequences. As we have discussed in class about how bad drinking bottled water is for people and the amount of energy it takes to make bottled water, I have decided that these people do not really have a choice other than to drink bottled water. Because of how bad the water condition is in these areas, their only choice if they want to drink water and not die is to drink water that is bottled.