Mountain Top Removal

Sascha SeideEDU 290

T/Th 9:30 a.m.

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What IS Mountain Top Removal?

• Mountain Top Removal is a process where mining companies literally blow off the top of a mountain so as to gain access to the coal buried within.

• This process usually leaves ecosystems and communities in wrecks.

• It destroys ecosystems, wipes out the natural beauty of mountain areas, and leaves waste to further the damage.

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What is Mountain Top Removal?

• Also Called:– M.T.R. – “Strip mining on steroids.”– “Mountain Range Removal.”

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Purpose of Mountain Top Removal

• Why do it?– Mountain top removal has the aim of gaining access to

greater amounts of coal than in traditional ways.– Mountain Top Removal is a cheaper form of mining.– Mountain Top Removal requires less workers.– Not many Americans are aware of the process and how

hazardous it is.• Very little awareness or opposition.

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Steps and Effects

• Step One of Mountain Top Removal:– Forests are cut away and cleared.• Topsoil, herbs, and lumber are cleared out and

scraped away.

– Explosives are brought in. • Explosives blow up to 800 feet off the top of mountain

tops.

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Steps and Effects

• Step Two of Mountain Top Removal:– Machines with massive shovels dig up and haul

soil away from the site, often pushing it into nearby valleys. This creates what is called, “a valley fill.”

– “Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams, destroying natural watersheds, leaving no vegetation, and turning the terrain into unusable land.” (Source 4)

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Steps and Effects

• Step 3 of Mountain Top Removal:– Giant machines, called draglines, dig into the

ground and expose the coal.– Draglines are as tall as a 20-story building and can

weigh almost 8 million pounds.

•Step 4 of Mountain Top Removal:-Giant machines dig out the coal.

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Steps and Effects

• Step 5 of Mountain Top Removal:– After all of the coal has been removed from the

mountain, companies are supposed to work and pay for the Reclamation of the mountain.

– Companies are “supposed” to replant vegetation and promote the regeneration of the site.

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Steps and Effects

• Effects:– Even in the first steps of Mountain Top Removal,

wildlife habitats and vegetation are cleared away and ruined.

– Without any topsoil or vegetation to hold the structure of the mountain, floods and landslides occur more often.

Steps and Effects

• Effects– Coal Washing:• Coal Washing is seen as a way of making coal burn

more efficient and in a more clean manner. (Source 4)• Coal Washing grinds the coal into smaller pieces and

separates the coal from impurities. (Source 4)• Although Coal Washing may make the burning of coal

cleaner for the air, in actuality, there are other environmental repercussions. • The impurities left from coal washing end up in sludge

ponds left in the holes of Mountain Top Removal sites.

Steps and Effects

• Coal Washing:• Sludge ponds accumulate in

the holes where mountain peaks used to be placed before being removed.

• The sludge ponds contain gallons of contaminated water filled with toxic chemicals and heavy metals. (Source 1)

• These sludge ponds sometimes ominously hang over communities in the valleys below.

Steps and Effects• Effects on the Community– Many people that live in the areas and valleys of

where Mountain Top Removal takes place, leave for various reasons:• Rock that is blasted off the mountain could fall on top of a

house that is laying below.• The hazards of floods and landslides. Sludge ponds overflow

onto villages in the valleys. Without grounding top soil, landslides occur frequently.• Noise• Leaves native miners without jobs.

Steps and Effects

• Waste– Mining companies leave behind a lot of waste after they

complete their mining. They leave behind sludge ponds and debris, making living areas not appealing to reside in.

– Mountain Top Removal destroys diverse, one-of-a-kind ecosystems.

– Not only does it strip the land of any nutrients, mining companies ‘forget’ to promote reclamation. They also leave behind sludge ponds that can flood over, wash away, and ruin any future chance of developing forests in valleys below.

Where does Mountain Top Removal Take Place?

• It happens here in the U.S.• The Appalachian mountains are the main

target for Mountain Top Removal because of the abundance of coal.

• It happens in the states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Alternatives to Mountain Top Removal

• High Wall Mining– Requires more workers• Would supply more jobs for the already poor natives in

the area.

– Less invasive of the ecosystem. • Miners drill into the side of the mountain, creating a

tunnel, to gain access to coal.• A small percentage of the ecosystem is affected.

Sources

1. http://mountainjustice.org/facts/steps.php2. http://www.ilovemountains.org/resources3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/4468076

.stm4. http://melissa.olsonfarlow.com/

photography/mountaintop-removal/

Pictures• Slide 1:

http://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/appalachian-mountains-rock-ice-age

• Slide 2:http://free-extras.com/images/appalachian_mountains-12059.htm

• Slide 3:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/endangered-vacations-47060902

• Slide 4:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/mountaintop-removal-mining-video.php

• Slide 5: http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-mountaintops-cut-first-then-mountaineers-voices

Pictures• Slide 6: Valley Fill

http://www.wvgazette.com/static/series/mining/MINE0331.html • Slide 7: Dragline

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/MountaintopRemoval/• Slide 8:

http://melissa.olsonfarlow.com/photography/mountaintop-removal/

• Slide 14:http://www.allposters.com/-st/Photography-Posters_c623_.htm

• Sludge Pond: http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/06/