To all concerned with this topic: a cemetery is considered a cultural resource and there are laws in every state regarding their treatment. Generally, if a piece of land is going to be disturbed and this disturbance will affect a cemetery, then the coal company has two options: the first is to preserve the cemetery in place with a buffer of land around it sufficient to leave the burial ground undisturbed. Since this is often not feasible (especially in strip-mining), the second alternative is to have the cemetery removed. This removal is done by a cultural resource firm (archaeologists/bioarchaeologists/historicarchaeologists), who will begin with remote sensing to try to determine how many graves are present (especially those older ones with no monument other than a fieldstone, for example). The cemetery boundaries will be established, using the results of remoted sensing, plantings, and any fencing. Graves will be inventoried in written and photographic form, using monuments and funeral home records and landowner information. Family members of each person buried in the cemetery will be identified if at all possible and contacted to determine where each person should be reburied. The most straight-forward course of action after that is for each burial vault to be removed by the proper authorities and re-interred. Where next of kin cannot be established, arrangements are made with local cemeteries for reburial. BUT, raise your voice right now and let your state historic preservation office (SHPO) know that mining is likely to occur and that a family cemetery is present. Coal companies have to receive a permit to mine an area; that permit kicks in the SHPO involvement. Hope this helps. Flora Church