Mountaintop Removal

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
~Albert Einstein





The following comes from a speech I recently wrote after researching mountaintop removal and clean coal.  The sources for the information follow as well as resources for more information and ways you can get involved.

Where does our energy come from? 
Most Americans probably don't realize the process of coal removal and "clean coal" involves blowing up mountains, destroying communities, and contaminating the water for the residents of Appalachia.  The fact is, every time we turn on the lights, we support these devastating practices. You probably know coal-fired power plants cause a lot of pollution and you’ve heard stories about the coal miners in the Appalachian Mountains who put their lives on the line to extract the coal.  I’m sure you’ve heard the campaigns for “clean coal” and how it will help lessen our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen our national security.  I am going to share with you what you probably won’t hear or see in the major media.  A relatively new form of strip mining, called mountaintop removal, has Appalachian communities and environmental advocates battling the big coal companies and “clean coal” propaganda.


Kayford Mountain
Photo by coalriverwind.org

     Because of mountaintop removal, residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio are dealing with the degradation of their homeland, flooding, contaminated water and fear for the lives of their children.  I would like to make you aware of the environmental degradation and human rights violations happening in Appalachia as well as the alternatives.  We will look at three components:
First, Mountaintop Removal and “Clean Coal”
     According to the American Lung Association, “An analysis released in 2004 attributed 24,000 premature deaths each year to power plant pollution.  In addition, the research estimates that over 550,000 asthma attacks, 38,000 heart attacks and 12,000 hospital admissions are caused annually by power plant pollution.” 
The idea of “clean coal” generally means that air pollution is reduced.


 
However, the extraction, washing, and burning of coal is far from clean.   
   According to the website coal-is-dirty.com, managed by The DeSmog Project, Rainforest Action Network, and Greenpeace USA, the process of mountaintop removal begins by clearing the land.  Forests, topsoil and vegetation are swiftly removed.  Trees may be burned or dumped illegally into valleys.



Once the land is cleared, millions of pounds of explosives are used to blow off the mountaintop, exposing the seams of coal underneath.  500-800 feet of elevation disappears.  Fly rock, ash and debris threaten communities below.



  The third step utilizes a $100 million machine, called a dragline, to dig the coal out.  This machine can replace hundreds of jobs.  While digging, the “overburden” or “spoil” is dumped into nearby valleys, burying streams.  In as early as 2001, the EPA had permitted 1,000 miles of these streams to be buried.

 

After the coal is extracted, it is washed and treated.  The water remaining after creating “clean coal” is stored in coal impoundments.  It is called sludge or slurry; a mixture of water, coal dust, clay, and toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic, lead, copper and chromium.



  The final stage of mountaintop removal is reclamation when the coal company is supposed to replant grass or trees.  A spraying of grass seed or planting a few trees does not make up for the desecrated mountain, destroyed animal habitats, polluted waters, and communities below left prone to flooding.



Second, Environmental Dangers
     Now that you know the process of mountaintop removal, imagine you live in a community nearby.  Imagine your six-year-old son covered in bright red rashes after taking a bath.  Imagine his little teeth rotting even though your family practices good oral hygiene and he doesn’t eat sweets.  Jennifer Hall-Massey, a resident of Charleston, West Virginia, cannot understand why her family has access to high speed internet but not clean water.  In the New York Times article “Clean Water Laws are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering”, Charles Duhigg explains that coal companies have pumped more than 1.9 billion gallons of coal slurry into the ground in the eight miles surrounding the family’s home in the past 5 years.  “Tests show that their tap water contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese, and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system.”



     West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Regulations claims their regulators have assessed $14.7 million in fines over the last 3 years against over 70 mining companies.  Keep in mind that the parent companies of these businesses collect that amount every 10 hours!  Besides water contamination, coal slurry impoundments pose a serious threat to people.  The most recent spill happened in December, 2008. 



Michael Reilly of Discovery News states that 525 million gallons of coal slurry flooded 400 acres of land and at least a dozen homes when the earthen wall collapsed at a Kingston Fossil Plant impoundment in Tennessee.



     According to Coal River Valley resident and activist, Bo Webb, in a letter to President Obama, his family and neighbors live with “silica dust, fly-rock, boulders, mudslides, and floods” because of mountaintop removal.  Their community lies beneath Brushy Fork Impoundment and could be destroyed if it were to break.  He says they are in a state of emergency and is asking for federal assistance before Coal River Mountain is blasted.



     In a report titled “Coal Slurry Spill Investigation Suppressed”, the Union of Concerned Scientists say that in October, 2000 when a Martin County Coal Corporation slurry impoundment broke, 300 million gallons of toxic waste was released into area rivers.  Another spill had occurred there in 1994.
     Now imagine your child attends this elementary school, 300 feet below one of the largest coal impoundments! 



Billions of gallons of toxic slurry on top of underground mines is held back by a 950 foot tall dam.  If this isn’t scary enough, the firm that designed the dam also designed one in Martin County.  The worst part is that we have alternatives to coal.   

Third, Alternative Energy
     Since 2007, clean energy advocates and Coal River Valley residents have been fighting for the development of a wind farm
on Coal River Mountain.  The State Journal in West Virginia reported that clean energy advocates hired wind development consultants, WindLogics, to analyze the potential resources.  They found that Coal River Mountain had high-quality capacity for wind energy development with winds from class 4 through class 7.


 

     Jeff Biggers of Huffington Post stated that the Coal River Wind Project proposed a viable alternative to mountaintop removal and a source for clean, renewable energy while also providing jobs.  The mountaintop removal project would provide 200 hundred jobs for 14 years, whereas a wind farm would create jobs forever.



    The Project’s founder, Lorelei Scarbro, was born and raised West Virginia.  She is the granddaughter, daughter and widow of coal miners.  Lorelei talks about the beauty of her homeland and hope for clean, renewable energy to replace the coal industry jobs.  She says people ask why she doesn’t just move.  But this is her home. 
“We don’t live where they mine coal.  They mine coal where we live.”
Unfortunately, approval was granted and blasting began on Coal River Mountain, all but destroying the hope of clean energy and better health for the area’s residents.  They are still fighting, however.



     In conclusion, we have looked at the process of mountaintop removal and “clean coal”, the environmental hazards, and clean energy alternatives.  Although there still isn’t much information covered by the major media, thanks to the internet, you can find out what is really happening—what the coal companies and “clean coal” advocates don’t want us to see. 
The residents of Appalachia deserve better.  We can help.

ilovemountains.org
Resource to see the latest news, endangered mountains and communities, and how you can get involved.

JourneyUpCoalRiver.org
Educational site featuring interactive maps, interviews, photos and music by Aurora Lights nonprofit organization.  
You can also purchase a CD to help raise money for the fight to end mountaintop removal.

coal-is-dirty.com
The truth behind the "Clean" Coal propaganda

Burning the Future Documentary
See the devastation and hear from residents of Appalachia affected by mountaintop removal--A must see for all Americans!





Sources:

2007. American Lung Association. Nov 2009 <http://www.lungaction.org>.

"6 Ways Coal Destroys with Mountaintop Removal." Nov 2009. Coal-is-dirty. <http://www.coal-is-dirty.com>.

Biggers, Jeff. "Obama: A Mighty Wind Awaits You on Coal River Mountain." 9 July 2008. Huffington Post. Nov 2009 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com>.

"Coal Slurry Spill Investigation Suppressed." 26 May 2009. Union of Concerned Scientists. Nov 2009 <http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity>.

Duhigg, Charles. "Clean Water Laws are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering." The New York Times 13 Sept 2009.

Kasey, Pam. "Raleigh County Mountain at Center of Coal vs. Wind Debate." The State Journal 14 Aug 2008.

Reilly, Michael. "Tenn. Sludge Spill Challenges 'Clean Coal' Future." 25 Dec 2008. Discovery News. Nov 2009 <http://dsc.discovery.com/news>.

Scarbro, Lorelei. "Winning with the Wind: Hope for Coal River Mountain." Coal River Wind Project. <http://www.coalriverwind.org>.

Webb, Bo. "Dear Mr. President: We face a national security threat on Coal River Mountain." 26 Oct 2009. Grist.org. <http://www.grist.org>.

 

 

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