Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

“Environmental rape, that’s all you can call it.”

Mountaintop removal (MTR) is a form of coal mining that uses explosives to blow up the tops of mountains. They dump the rock and debris into the valleys, completely burying streams. More than 470 mountaintops have been blown up and 1,200 miles of streams have been buried. What’s left behind is a moonscape - 1 million acres have been flattened.

This isn’t an issue isolated to the Appalachian region. People all across the U.S. use electricity generated in part by mountaintop removal coal. This same energy could easily be produced by cleaner sources. The coal companies say MTR is more economical. Of course it is! They can take equipment and a few men and accomplish in a matter of months what an underground mine would take years to extract. But at what cost? MTR is a one-shot deal. The mountains that are blown up, the streams that are buried; they’re gone forever. Is this the cost we want to pay for cheaper energy? MTR accounted for less than 5% of US coal production as of 2001. At the rate of current rate of production the coal beds will only last one to two decades. In the meantime, coalfield residents are subject to flooding caused by MTR and valley fill; blasting 24 hours a day; and leaky sludge dams that contaminate water supplies and are known to fail completely. One might think they are somehow compensated by increased employment and booming economies. In fact, the opposite is true. MTR is designed to remove labor force costs. The Appalachian coal counties remain some of the poorest in the nation despite being coal rich. In addition, MTR is happening in one of the nation’s main hotspots of biological diversity. How can we calculate the loss of that?

What’s your connection to MTR coal?

What can you do about it? Write to your representative to support The Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 2169.

“In 1977, The Clean Water Act was enacted by Congress to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,” and prohibited the dumping of material into waterways for the purpose of waste disposal. In 2002, the current Administration made a rule change which redefined “fill material” in order to include mining waste. Since debris from mountaintop removal is now acceptable “fill material”, coal companies are dumping millions of tons of mine waste into nearby streams using a streamlined permitting process. As its designers intended, this has greatly facilitated the practice of mountaintop removal.

Representatives Frank Pallone and Christopher Shays introduced a bill that reestablishes the original intent of the Clean Water Act: to protect our waterways, not give industry permission to pollute and bury them.”

The problem in your neighbor’s backyard is also your problem. This region is at the headwaters of the drinking water supplies of many US cities, including Cincinnati, Charleston, Louisville, Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans. And all the places between. Think about it the next time you turn on your tap.

Resources:

• iLoveMountains.org
• Wikipedia: Mountaintop removal mining

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