To the litany of (mostly environmental) objections to mountaintop removal, the coal mining technique that involves blasting the top off mountains, add this one: it's probably linked to birth defects. "Mountaintop removal coal mining is bad for health and bad for business. Mountaintop Mining Is Destroying More Land for Less Coal, Study Finds Using satellite images, researchers tracked the scars spreading across Appalachia. From a regulatory and financial perspective this disastrous mining practice is too big of a risk for banks, and certainly too big of a risk to America's families," said Amanda Starbuck of Rainforest Action Network. After the coal companies blast apart the mountaintops, they dump the rubble into neighboring valleys, where lie the headwaters of streams and rivers, like the Kanawha, Clinch, and Big Sandy. Overseeing the repair of such damage is beyond the capabilities of any government agency; the most serious impacts — to streams — may be all but impossible to fix. Mountaintop removal is any method of surface coal mining that destroys a mountaintop or ridgeline, whether or not the mined area will be returned to what is legally described as the “approximate original contour.” Methods of mountaintop removal coal mining include, but … Describe the process of mountaintop removal and why it is controversial.? Was living in a coal-mining town bad for you? Over the past 30 or 40 years in the Appalachia region of the US, there’s been a rise in mountain top removal, where mining companies blast the … Mountaintop removal exposes toxic contaminants in the ground that are found along with coal. Mountaintop removal mining (MTR), also known as mountaintop mining (MTM), is a form of surface mining at the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. 9 years ago . Of course, none of this is to blame the miners – they need the income. Michael Hendryx: Mountaintop removal is a form of surface coal mining. This destructive practice has serious health consequences for nearby communities, as well. Coal accounts for more than 20 percent of the U.S. energy supply. Mountaintop-removal mining is devastating Appalachia, but residents are fighting back This article was originally published in Orion Magazine. Apr 15, 2016 - This isn't about keeping mountains looking pretty. Tweet. Margaret Palmer, a biology professor … Primarily, mountaintop removal is occurring in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Mountaintop removal sites and underground mines engirdle Clintwood, creating untold volumes of toxic waste buried in unnamed patches of ground. In Appalachia, the practice of mountaintop-removal mining has damaged thousands of miles of streams and millions of acres of forests. Ending mountaintop removal is about keeping humanity alive. You probably already know that coal is not exactly eco-friendly. Rivera Sun . Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams.This process is considered to be safer compared to underground mining because the coal seams are accessed from above instead of underground. These toxic materials are often swept into the ecosystem by rain and streams that have been buried in the valleys. Mining coal is incredibly destructive to the environment. Deforestation and elimination of streams due to mountaintop removal can have a drastic effect on the ecosystem. The Future for Tennessee’s Mountains and Mountain Communities . Mountaintop removal mine in Pike County, KY. One of the most damaging forms of mining is mountaintop removal, where entire mountains are blasted to reach the coal seams underground. Mountaintop removal is a safer way of mining coal than digging a mine, but West Virginia should really consider the reasons why we should stop this process. Primarily, mountaintop removal is occurring in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. In Appalachia, mining companies literally blow the tops off mountains to reach thin seams of coal. Many of the toxins that pollute mountaintop removal sites are carcinogens, and cancer rates are twice as high for people who live near mountaintop-removal sites. Excess mining waste or "overburden" is dumped by large trucks into fills in nearby hollow or valley fills. It is cheaper than traditional ways of mining coal. Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal. Mountaintop removal is a process used by the coal industry to extract, well coal, from the hard to reach inner-sections of mountains. Surface coal mining methods in the steep terrain of the central Appalachian coalfields include mountaintop removal, contour, area and highwall mining. Answer Save. Mountaintop removal has done what no environmental group could ever do: it has succeeded in turning many local people, including former miners, against West Virginia's oldest industry. Mountaintop removal is done by surface mining the tops of mountains and ridge lines. Mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia visible from space. See more ideas about appalachia, coal mining, how to remove. Image: Dept. At his young age, he’s already an expert on everything about mountaintop removal: how companies blast the peaks with ... “Why does everything bad happen to West Virginia?” His question gibed Huge machines, called "draglines," push rock and dirt into nearby streams and valleys, forever burying waterways. 4 Answers. They … In my opinion, this situation sounds a hell of a lot like natural gas mining via fracking (or hydraulic fracturing) in a lot of areas of the country. List of Pros of Mountaintop Removal . The 5,000-page document admitted that mountaintop removal is bad, and for the usual reasons: it buries headwater streams, causes erosion and flooding, degrades water quality downstream, kills aquatic life, shakes the walls and cracks the foundations of nearby homes, and wipes away huge portions of an extremely diverse ecosystem. According to the Sierra Club, over 240 species of wildlife are actively threatened by mountaintop removal.. None of these effects are exclusive to just mountaintop removal. In some counties, such as Wise County, Va., surface mining had … Most coal reserves are located deep underground, and accessing them is incredibly difficult. "Mountaintop removal mining" (MTR) is a form of coal mining that mines coal seams beneath mountaintops by first removing the mountaintop overlying the coal seam. Increases in demand for coal which was multiplied by the gasoline shortages of 1973 and 1979 contributed to coal companies searching for a more economical means of coal mining than the then standard underground operations. The solution? Mountaintop removal takes place primarily in eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. Mountaintop Removal. As the name suggests, it literally removes up to 800 feet off the tops of mountains to try to reach coal seams that are not accessible by other mining techniques because the terrain is too steep or the veins are too thin. 1. Rand Paul: Controversial Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Isn’t So Bad — It Enhances The Land! Explosives are used to break up the rock layers above the seam, which are then removed. Some methods used for extracting coal are coming under intense criticism lately from activists and the Obama-EPA alike. Damage to ecosystem. Why is coal so bad for the planet? They dump the rest into the vallys destroying streams. .. Relevance. While West Virginia has plenty of hills… Tragically, mountaintop removal mining has already destroyed more than 500 mountains encompassing more than 1 million acres of Central and Southern Appalachia. The message of the tour guide there was: unions used to be good but are now just a violent nuisance; and mountaintop removal is bad. Mountaintop removal mining devastates the landscape, turning areas that should be lush with forests and wildlife into barren moonscapes. It is a way for the coal companies to save money & time. In the process, small streams are buried under excess rock, water is polluted and habitat is destroyed. Mountaintop removal is a relatively new type of coal mining that began in Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of conventional strip mining techniques. Mountaintop removal does damage on both vast and microscopic scales, from hydrological changes over hundreds of square miles to effects on the life cycles of the tiniest stream microbes. Image: NASA. That’s why in this issue we are introducing Mountaintop, a virtual community that Coalition Snow (the big momma to Sisu Magazine) launched in the fall of 2020. They blow up the mountains with dynamite to get to the coal, a dragline,20 stories high (that takes away 150 jobs) scoops out the coal. Mountaintop removal also causes air pollution that affects communities for miles around. Appalachian Voices commissioned a study in 2009 that showed nearly 1.2 million acres had been surface mined for coal and more than 500 mountains destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining. American Rivers has listed several rivers threatened by mountaintop mining in our annual America’s … But just how detrimental this resource is, and the number of different ways it can harm people and the planet, will probably shock you. "Plain and simple, banks beware-mountaintop removal coal mining is a bad investment." Using this technique, operators remove entire mountaintops to reach the coal seam lying underneath it. Mountaintop-removal mining affects communities for miles around. The final method of surface coal extraction to be described here is aptly called mountaintop removal. It destroys the beauty of West Virginia. When Mountaintop removal mining (MTR), also referred to as mountaintop mining (MTM), has been utilized by the mining industry since the 1960’s. Anonymous. 1. “Mountaintop removal/valley fill is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal. 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