What is Mountaintop Removal Mining?

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. Primarily, mountaintop removal is occurring in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Coal companies in Appalachia are increasingly using this method because it allows for almost complete recovery of coal seams while reducing the number of workers required to a fraction of what conventional methods require.

Mountaintop removal involves blasting up to 800 vertical feet of mountain apart with millions of tons of explosives and dumping the loose rock into the adjacent valley creating a valley fill. These valley fills cover up headwater streams, a major source of drinking water in the United States. The chemicals in the loose rock, previously locked underground, are leached into water systems,and can create a toxic environment for local residents and wildlife. This picture is of an enormous valley fill near Coal River Mountain.

After mining, most native plants will not grow on the land. Some of the most diverse and productive forest in the world are being turned into rubble and weeds. According the the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, a coal company is supposed to remove and store the fertile topsoil and replace it on the post-mined land. However, a loophole in the law allows for a “topsoil substitute” to be used. this is usually rock exposed during the blasting process. This rocky land does not support substantial plant growth and will therefore be home to little more than snakes and exotic species of grasses, a drastic difference from the pre-mining state of the most biodiverse temperate forest in the world.

More details about the process of mountaintop removal mining and the laws & regulations governing mining permits can be found here and here on the Journey Up Coal River website.

Mountaintop removal mining is poisoning our communities. This mining practice leads to air and water pollution that causes cancer, gallbladder disease and asthma in communities downwind and downstream. A 2010 study found a statistically significant relationship between residence in a high coal mining area and increased human cancer mortality. Blasting cracks walls and foundations on houses. By removing soil and vegetation, mountaintop removal leads to erosion and increased risk of flooding during severe rains. Mountaintop removal is also displacing families and emptying communities across Appalachia. Energy companies aggressively seek to buy out homeowners living near proposed MTR sites. Many residents feel extreme pressure.

Our communities are further impacted by coal processing. After it is mined, 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 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. One local impoundment, the Brushy Fork Impoundment on Coal River Mountain, would kill hundreds if it failed, spilling seven billion gallons of coal slurry more than twenty-six miles downstream. A sludge dam breach in Martin County, KY, in 2000, sent more than 300 million gallons of toxic coal sludge into tributaries of the Big Sandy, causing what the EPA called, “The biggest environmental disaster ever east of the Mississippi.”