Mountaintop mining, also called mountaintop removal mining (MTR), is a type of surface mining that refers to the removal of overburden covering a coal seam or seams on the top of a mountain.[1] The top of the mountain is excavated and changed topographically in order to extract the coal. Sometimes the removal of the mountaintop terrain is done with explosives, resulting in excess debris that is usually deposited into adjacent river valleys often called a valley fill.[2]
The environmental impact made by mountaintop mining is the center of controversial debate. Clear-cutting of hardwood forests situated on mountaintops is carried out to enable over 800 to 1,000 feet (244 to 305 m) of mountaintop to be blasted and removed. The excess waste from blasting is then dumped into nearby river valleys, covering and clogging up streambeds. The blasting also generates unnecessary noise pollution that affects surrounding communities. Another criticism is that the exposed land is left stripped and barren. Even if the land is reclaimed, the mountaintop very seldom returns to its natural state.[3]
[edit] History
The practice of mountaintop mining was first undertaken nearly 30 years ago in West Virginia’s Appalachian mountains as an extension of surface coal mining operations.[4] The first mountain to be mined this way was Bullpush Mountain in Fayette County in 1970. Over the next 30 years, the use of mountaintop mining in the state escalated. In the 1980s, draglines were introduced that further enabled the speedy extraction of coal by mountaintop removal. Mountaintop mining is now carried out in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.[5]
[edit] References
- ↑ Mountaintop Mining. MountaintopMining.com, 2008-09-30.
- ↑ Sanda, Art. Mountaintop mining, choreographed chaos. MountaintopMining.com, December, 1999. (accessed: 2008-09-30)
- ↑ What is Mountain Top Removal Mining? Mountain Justice, 2008-09-30.
- ↑ Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining. Appalachian Voices, 2008-09-30.
- ↑ Burns, Shirley L. Stewart. Brining Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004, 2005. (accessed: 2008-09-30)
