2. What IS Mountain Top Removal? Mountain Top Removal is a process where mining companies literally removethe top of a mountain so as to gain access to the coal buried within. (Source 2) This process usually leaves ecosystems and communities in wrecks. (Source 1) It destroys forest and water ecosystems, wipes out the natural beauty of mountain areas, and leaves waste to further the damage. (Source 1) 2
3. What is Mountain Top Removal? Also Called: M.T.R. Valley Fill Mining “Strip mining on steroids.” “Mountain Range Removal.” (Source 1) 3
4. Purpose of Mountain Top Removal 4 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.(Source 1) Mountain Top Removal requires less workers. (Source 1) Not many Americans are aware of the process and how hazardous it is. Very little awareness or opposition.
5. 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. (Source 1 and 2) 5
6. Steps and Effects Step Two of Mountain Top Removal: “Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams, destroying natural watersheds, leaving no vegetation, and turning the terrain into unusable land.” (Source 4) 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.” (Source 1 and 2) There are many rivers and streams that run through the valleys of the Appalachian mountains, but because of Valley Fills, more than 1,000 rivers have been covered with soil and rocks from the top of mountains. (Source 2) 6
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8. 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. They often skip this step. (Source 2) 8
9. Steps and Effects Effects: Even in the first steps of Mountain Top Removal, wildlife habitats and vegetation are cleared away and ruined. (Source 1) Without any topsoil or vegetation to hold the structure of the mountain, floods and landslides occur more often. (Source 1 and 2)
10. Steps and Effects Effects of Coal Washing: -Coal Washing is seen as a way of making coal burn more efficient and in a more clean manner. (Source 3) -Coal Washing grinds the coal into smaller pieces and separates the coal from impurities. (Source 3 and 4) -Although Coal Washing may make the burning of coal cleaner for the air, in actuality, there are other environmental repercussions. (Source 3) -The impurities left from coal washing end up in sludge ponds left in the holes of Mountain Top Removal sites. (Source 1 and 2)
11. Steps and Effects Coal Washing: The sludge ponds contain gallons of contaminated water filled with toxic chemicals and heavy metals. (Source 1) Coal sludge includes ingredients of water, coal dust, clay, arsenic, mercury, lead, copper and chromium. (Source 2 and 4) These sludge ponds are sometimes held by unstable mining –debris damns that ominously hang over communities. (Source 2 and 4)
12. 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 communities that they live, become more hazardous areas. The risk of floods and landslides are high. Noise. Leaves native miners without jobs. Drinking water is polluted. (Source 2)
13. Steps and Effects Waste -Mining companies leave behind a lot of waste after they complete their mining. They leave behind debris and trash materials, which makes sites toxic for future plant growth. (Source 2) -Not only does it strip the land of any nutrients, mining companies failto promote reclamation and make it impossible for the mountains to naturally return to their natural state. (Source 2) -They also leave behind poisonous sludge ponds that, during rainy seasons, can flood over, wash away, and ruin any future chance of developing forests in valleys below. (Source 1) 13
14. 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. (Source 2) 14
15. 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. (Source 1) 15
16. Stop Mountain Top Removal! Support the Clean Water Act. Set up by the U.S. House of Representatives. Support the Appalachian Restoration Act. Set up by the U.S. Senate. Follow the “First 100 Days,” a 4 Point Plan. Set up by the Obama Administration. (Source 2)
