Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Across central Appalachia, the coal industry has been leaving a path of destruction in the wake of  “mountaintop removal” coal mining.  For the industry, this is a relatively cheap and expedient way to extract coal, but for the environment and nearby communities, the costs are staggering.

Forests and topsoil are stripped from mountain ridges, and then, using tons of explosives, coal companies blast the mountaintops off – sometimes 800 feet or more—to expose the underlying coal seams. The rock and soil, called “overburden,” are pushed into nearby valleys, called “valley fills.” The result:  loss of critical forest habitat and widespread destruction of mountain streams, many of which are critical headwaters for drinking water sources downstream. Researchers continue to find evidence of water contamination downstream from these valley fills as rainwater picks up exposed heavy metals and other contaminates in the rubble and washes them into the streams.

Amazingly, this mining practice is by-and-large allowed under current laws.

According to federal government estimates, mountaintop removal coal mining has obliterated more than 500 mountains and damaged or destroyed more than 1,500 miles of streams in four central Appalachia states, including Virginia and Tennessee (where it is also known as “cross-ridge mining”).

Although the coal industry must reclaim surface-mined lands, current reclamation requirements do little to stabilize the sites or regenerate a healthy forest.  In fact, a government report noted that it could take hundreds of years for large sites to become fully reforested.

SELC is collaborating with numerous national, regional and local groups to bring this destructive mining practice to an end. Our work to stop construction of old-style coal plants around the region, and our advocacy for strong energy-efficiency policies and programs will help reduce the demand for coal mined by mountaintop removal. In addition, we are pursuing litigation and policy changes to close the mountain-size loopholes that allow this practice to continue. See our other cases for more: Stream Buffer Zone Rule, Coal Mining in Alabama, and Fighting New Coal Plants.

More background on this case:
Mountaintop Removal Mining: Background >>