Mountaintop Removal 101

As you probably know, I'm spending 6 weeks in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, to be part of the movement to end mountaintop removal coal mining. I'm currently living out of a tent on top of a mountain without phone or internet access, so there's only so much blogging I can do until I settle in Rock Creek, WV. I got a ride to a library in Whitesburg, KY and I don't know how much time I have left on the internet, so I apologize for the rushed nature of these posts. Before I get into anything else, I think I ought to give a primer on what mountaintop removal is, since I think most of us outside of Appalachia are for the most part blissfully unaware of what it is (even though our homes and businesses throughout the country are fueled by it, but that's another story).

So what is mountaintop removal, and why does it need to be stopped?

Mountaintop removal (MTR) is an enormous and complex subject, but if I had to pick one word to describe it, it is sacrilegious. MTR uses dynamite to blow 500-800 feet off the tops of 400 million year old mountains to reveal the coal seams (thin layers of coal) within. The six general steps of mountaintop removal are as follows (taken directly from ilovemountains.org for the sake of time):

	CLEARING — Before mining can begin, all topsoil and vegetation must be removed. Because coal companies frequently are responding to short-term fluctuations in the price of coal, these trees are often not even used comercially in the rush to get the coal, but instead are burned or sometimes illegally dumped into valley fills.
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	BLASTING — Many Appalachian coal seams lie deep below the surface of the mountains. Accessing these seams through surface mining can require the removal of 500-800 feet or more of elevation. Blowing up this much mountain is accomplished by using millions of pounds of explosives.
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	DIGGING — Coal and debris is removed by using this piece of machinery, called a dragline. A dragline stands 22 stories high and can hold 24 compact cars in its bucket. These machines can cost up to $100 million, but are favored by coal companies because they displace the need for hundreds of jobs. .
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	DUMPING WASTE — The waste from the mining operation, also known as overburden or spoil, is dumped into nearby valleys, burying streams. According to an EPA environmental impact statement, more than 1,000 miles of Appalachian streams were permitted to be buried as of 2001.
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	PROCESSING — The coal is washed and treated before it is loaded on trains. The excess water left over from this process is called coal slurry or sludge and is stored in open coal impoundments. Coal sludge is a mix of water, coal dust, clay and toxic chemicals such as arsenic mercury, lead, copper, and chromium. Impoundments are held in place by mining debris, making them very unstable. .
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	RECLAMATION — While reclamation efforts such as stabilization and revegetation are required for mountaintop removal sites, in practice, state agencies that regulate mining are generous with granting waivers to coal companies. Most sites receive little more than a spraying of exotic grass seed, but even the best reclamation provides no comfort to nearby families and communities whose drinking water supplies have been polluted and whose homes will be threatened by floods for the hundred or thousands of years it will require to re-grow a forest on the mined site.
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The steps outlined here alluded to some of the problems with MTR. When I have more regular internet access, I will go into greater depth about these cultural, social, environmental, and economic problems with MTR, and elaborate on what people are doing to stop it.