COAL MINING IN THE SOUTH

The Appalachian region has long been burdened with the serious, long-term health and environmental problems that come with coal mining. Surface mines, even closed sites, leach heavy metals and other pollution into streams and groundwater. In recent decades, an especially destructive form of mining has grown prevalent in which the tops of mountains are blown off with dynamite to expose the coal, and the rock and dirt is dumped in nearby valleys, obliterating or severely polluting headwater streams. Called “mountaintop removal coal mining,” this practice has taken a heavy toll on the environment and communities of central Appalachia, including Virginia and Tennessee. SELC is pushing multiple legal levers to defend the region’s vital waterways from the impacts of coal mining.