...brings the enormously destructive process of longwall mining up from the depths of the vast Pittsburgh Coal Seam and into public view for the first time.

Under hundreds of square miles of Pennsylvania’s Greene and Washington Counties longwall mining leaves the earth’s surface unsupported. Subsidence damage to structures — like homes, farms and roads — is inevitable.

Longwall mining also damages entire watersheds, depriving the land and its occupants of springs, streams, ponds and wells, creating an environmental disaster of local and national importance.

This 15-minute documentary portrays the experience of two families as they struggle to cope with extensive longwall subsidence damage to their historic homesteads.

This documentary was written and directed by Emmy award winning journalist Terri Taylor and produced by the Raymond Proffitt Foundation, a Pennsylvania conservation group. Funding was provided by The Heinz Endowments.