Here’s an image for those of you curious about what exactly Mountain Top Removal is. This photograph was taken on a recent flyover of MTR sites with Southwings, at Mountain Justice Summer Camp. The photographer, Liz Veazey, has a whole slew of photos on her flickr site.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the definition of mountaintop removal is:
“Mountaintop removal/valley fill is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal. Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal. The earth from the mountaintop is then dumped in the neighboring valleys.”
From the EPA’s Website: Why Should We Be Concerned?
Mountaintop removal began on a small scale in West Virginia in the late 1960s. Beginning in the 1990s it became the dominant coal-mining technique for several reasons:
*Americans’ demand for electricity has jumped 70 percent in the past 20 years;
*The demand for clean-burning, low-sulfur coal by utilities shot up after Congress passed the 1990 Clean Air Act; and
*The development of massive “drag line” equipment has made it possible to shear off mountaintops to get at multiple seams of coal.
The impact of mountaintop removal on nearby communities is devastating. Dynamite blasts needed to splinter rock strata are so strong they crack the foundations and walls of houses. Mining dries up an average of 100 wells a year and contaminates water in others. In many coalfield communities, the purity and availability of drinking water are keen concerns. Blasting and shearing mountains have added to the damage done to underground aquifers by deep mines.
Appalachia’s waterways are among the regions’s most valuable tourist attractions. Canoeists and fishermen come for the pleasures of rivers meandering under umbrellas of green or dancing in sunlight. The valley fills bury streambeds and contaminate streams with sediment from the mines.The forests covering the Mid-Atlantic region are unique – the largest contiguous temperate forest in the world. The land is rich with wildlife and native plants. But in mountaintop removal areas, the native plants are being destroyed, and the wildlife chased away.
~From the EPA’s Website.
