Some areas of Ohio are riddled with karst, a layer of cracked and eroded rock a few feet below ground.
Other areas, particularly in eastern Ohio, are pocked with abandoned coal mines whose entrances and air shafts puncture the ground.
Both these natural and man-made openings could be channeling pollutants into groundwater, making people sick. That’s something the Ohio Department of Health will study in the next two years with a $286,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click here to read more.