Mountaintop removal Coal Mining
Mountaintop removal is a form of strip mining where coal companies remove trees from the ground, pour explosives into holes in those mountains and explode them. Draglines are then used to remove the rocks and dirt into nearby streams which bury the water paths. This process removes up to 800 feet off mountaintops. Draglines heavy and expensive machines which are used to remove the tops of mountains, they often cost around 100 million dollars. It is used to reach coal seams which are not feasible using other methods of mining and has been introduced during the 1970s in Appalachia as an addition to traditional strip mining techniques.
These draglines are very beneficial for engineers as they replace the need for a huge workforce of miners and produce more cost-effective results. This process helped increase the annual number of coal production. On the other hand, it brought some environmental problems with it as well. Destroying mountains and throwing the debris into waterways caused contamination in drinking water, more floods, and dangerous coal impoundments. For example, in 1972 an impoundment failed in West Virginia’s buffalo creek hollow. During this impoundment 125 people were killed, more than 1000 injured and more than 4000 were left homeless.These draglines are very beneficial for engineers as they replace the need for a huge workforce of miners and produces more cost-effective results. This process helped increase the annual number of coal production. On the other hand, it brought some environmental problems with it as well. Destroying mountains and throwing the debris into waterways caused contamination in drinking water, more floods, and dangerous coal impoundments. For example, in 1972 an impoundment failed in West Virginia’s buffalo creek hollow. During this impoundment 125 people were killed, more than 1000 injured and more than 4000 were left homeless.
In 2014, Kanawha County, West Virginia experienced a coal slurry spill at a processing facility. More than 10,000 gallons of toxic waste were released into Fields Creek. This blackened the water for up to 6 miles and polluted the Kanawha River. There have been several violations of the water quality code in many plants, which keeps on affecting the Appalachian people heavily, as more health issues arise. The federal government's regulation of mining was faced with plenty of opposition by companies within the industry.
Bibliography:
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Mountaintop Removal 101. (2021). Retrieved 13 November 2021, from https://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/mtr101/
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What Is Mountaintop Removal Mining?. (2021). Retrieved 13 November 2021, from https://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/what-is-mountaintop-removal-mining
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Ending Mountaintop Removal. (2021). Retrieved 13 November 2021, from https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/mining/mountaintop_removal/index.html