Fragments From Floyd

HAZARD, Ky. (AP) Tourists Watch Appalachian Mountaintops Removed

Groups opposed to a practice they call mountaintop removal are using a new tactic to try to sway public opinion. They're calling it disaster tourism. John Rausch, director of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia, says visitors are adding mountaintop removal sites to their travel itineraries. The process calls for coal to be removed from mountains by blasting at the top. Environmentalists says the blasts send debris into streams and valleys below. Rausch says he can't introduce people to Appalachia without addressing mountaintop removal.

[And now for the grand corporate-think finale, from those who do the blasting, make the money, and sleep well at night, mostly from homes in states that are not Kentucky:]

Kentucky Coal Association president Bill Caylor says environmental groups are giving visitors a biased view of the coal industry.

He says coal companies are creating level land for Appalachia.