Appalachia has seen over 1,000,000 acres strip mined, and an estimated 470 mountains lost, in just 40 years [Butler & Wuerthner].  Yet, the ecological damage from mountaintop removal will not be fully realized for decades to come.

The Clean Air Act of 1990 succeeded in producing stricter air quality standards, reducing sulfuric emissions and acid rain.  Unfortunately, it spawned a surge in MTR for low-sulfur coal. 

In the wake of MTR, terrain that was once ruggedly mountainous and forested is replaced with artificial grassland.  Natural forest succession will take a long time to occur, due to higher soil pH [Mineral Information Institute], and proliferation of prairie rodents that damage tree seedlings [Burns]. 

(Photo: Johnny Kilroy)

The shift from woodlands to grasslands changes wildlife populations.  Birds like hawks and songbirds get replaced by harriers, sparrows, kestrels, and larks.  Forest fragmentation adversely affects many animals such as chipmunks and salamanders, by breaking up their habitat.  Deer and turkeys seem to thrive.  [Burns].

As of 2000, over 1200 miles of streams in Appalachia were severely impacted by MTR; that number is expected to have doubled by 2013 [Burns]. Clearcutting and strip mining both cause increased sedimentation (recognized in Appalachian mining since the 1920s), which alters stream ecology by raising temperature and reducing dissolved oxygen levels – both very bad for fish.  [Burns]. 

Runoff from waste rock in valley fills increases water’s acidity, mineralization, and sedimentation.  It also pollutes water with elements such as aluminum, manganese, and iron [Burns].

The Appalachians spawn the headwaters of rivers that flow out to the Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi River.  Most of the U.S. east of the Mississippi is tied to this watershed.

Wetlands creation comprises a part of the reclamation work that is done on MTR sites.  The EPA has said that many are not of high quality, although the Samples Mine wetlands done by Catenary Coal has earned high praise from Ducks Unlimited.  [Burns].

 

 

 

SOURCES

Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Career Guide to Industries.  Mining.  Table 1.  18 Dec 2007.  Accessed:  02 Dec 2009.  http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs004.htm#table1.

Burns, Shirley Stewart.  Bringing Down the Mountains.  West Virginia University Press.  Morgantown, WV.  2007.

Burns, Shirley Stewart.  Mountain Removal in Central Appalachia.  30 Sept 2009.  Accessed:  02 Dec 2009.  http://www.southernspaces.org/contents/2009/burns/1a.htm.

Charleston Gazette.  Mining the Mountains.  Feds to Probe Massey Mountaintop Mine Variance.  17 May 1998.  Accessed:  02 Dec 2009.  http://wvgazette.com/News/MiningtheMountains/200806250474.

Energy Information Administration.  Department of Energy.  Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Mine Type, 2008-2007.  http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/table1.pdf.

Environmental Protection Agency.  FPEIS.  Executive Summary.  2003. 

Hansbarger.  Mountaintop Removal Mining:  EIA. 

iLoveMountains.org.  National Memorial for the Mountains.  Accessed:  02 Dec 2009.  http://www.ilovemountains.org/memorial/.

Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection.  Macroinvertebrate Bioassessment. 

Mineral Information Institute.  Mine Reclamation.

Mountain Justice.  What is Mountaintop Removal?  Accessed:  01 Dec 2009.  http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org/facts/steps.php.

Physicians for Social Responsibility.  Coal’s Assault on Human Health.  18 Nov 2009.  Accessed:  01 Dec 2009. 

Urbina, Ian.  New York Times.  In Mine Country, Tears, Anguish, and a Brief Pause for Safety.  06 Feb 2006.  Accessed:  02 Dec 2009.  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E0DD163EF930A35751C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. 

U.S. Census Bureau.  State and County Quick Facts.  17 Nov 2009.  Accessed:  01 Dec 2009.
1.  Boone Co.  http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54/54005.html 
2.  Logan Co.  http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54/54045.html
3.  Mingo Co.  http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54/54059.html

U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.  http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/qc/pdfs/2007_state_activity.pdf.

Washington State University.  American Ginseng.  Accessed:  01 Dec 2009.  http://www.island.wsu.edu/CROPS/GINSENGI.htm. 

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.  Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease.  A State and National Problem.  September 2003. 

West Virginia Office of Miner’s Health Safety and Training.  2009 Coal Production by County.

Williams, Ted.  “Mountain Madness,” Audubon. May-June 2001. Accessed:  02 Dec 2009.  http://magazine.audubon.org/incite/incite0105.html.