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Mountain Top Removal Mining

Mountain Top Removal Mining. The Destruction of the Appalachian Mountain Range. . Cassie Whitaker Jason Spindler Jordan Moss. What is it?.

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Mountain Top Removal Mining

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  1. Mountain Top Removal Mining The Destruction of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Cassie Whitaker JasonSpindler Jordan Moss

  2. What is it? • Mountaintop removal mining (sometimes called strip-mining) is a form of surface mining that removes the summit of the mountain to extract the coal, thus changing the topography. • This process was being used in the 1960s but didn’t become widely used until after the petroleum crisis in the 1970s. • Used only in the Appalachian Mountains

  3. The Process • First: The mountain is clear cut and burned off. • Then the top 800 feet of the mountain is blown off with 2,500 tons of explosives. “Fly rock” threatens wildlife and homes in the radius of the blast.

  4. The Process Cont. • The “overburden” is hulled off and dumped into the nearby valleys and streams. In the process 1,200 miles of headwaters and streams are buried.

  5. The Process Cont. • Next giant machines are used to extract the coal from the exposed lines, called a dragline.

  6. The Process Cont. • Once the mining is complete the mountain is supposed to be recovered. More often than not the coal companies simply plant grass.

  7. So What’s the Problem? • The mountains are destroyed. And they can’t just be put back. • The people of Appalachia are loosing their homes and are watching their mountains vanish. This is a matter of heritage. • Wildlife, plants, people, and the mountains are under attack.

  8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgGSUfpJcOQ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZxVNnFXNpE&feature=related

  9. The Toll on the Mountains • An increase of minerals in the water– zinc, sodium, and sulfate. • This may negatively affect fish and microinvertebrates, resulting in less diverse and more pollutant tolerant species. • Streams are buried • Forests become fragmented • Grassland birds and snakes move in to take over the mined lands, amphibians are less likely .

  10. More Tolls on the Mountains • Re-growth of trees and woody plants may be slowed due to compacted soils in regraded lands. • Wetlands are, either accidentally or intentionally, created; these provide some aquatic functions, but are not generally of high quality. • The cumulative environmental costs have not been identified. • There may be social, economic, and heritage issues as well.

  11. How did it start? • After the 1973 and 1979 petroleum crises there was a call for other fuel types. • Surface mining was found to be more economical than the traditional underground mining, which requires hundreds of workers. • Who Benefits?……. The Coal Companies and the general populace who receive cheaper coal, but the people of Appalachia receive very little for the destruction of their lands. Most families get nothing.

  12. Why Continue? • The Coal Companies feel this is the most economical method of extracting the coal. • As the U.S. government looks for alternate fuel sources the demand for coal grows. • In 1998 the Dept. of Energy estimated that 28.5 billion tons of high quality coal was still in the Appalachian Mountain range.

  13. Good News for the Mountains! • EPA vetoed what would have been the largest Mountaintop removal project to date. • The Spruce No. 1 Mine • Solutions proposed? A return to the old practices of underground mining. • An alternate form of energy, wind farms on the mountaintops.

  14. Coal River Wind • A group trying to save Coal River Mountain by building a wind farm. • If they can be successful it could be hard proof that there is a viable alternative to Mountaintop Removal Mining. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3YwnN9WArk

  15. Web Sites • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining • http://mountainjustice.org/facts/steps.php • http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/mtr/ • http://www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/ • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032401607.html • http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/mtrm/fa02mtrm.htm • http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/abuses_of_science/mountaintop-removal-mining.html • http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41058244/ns/us_news/ • http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/coal-river-wind-alternative.php • http://crmw.net/coalriverwind.org/

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