Mountaintop Removal. (For)

    Mountaintop Removal.

 Many could question, wonder, and break down the pros to mountaintop removal, but when it comes down to it, are they really worth it?

McCoy Brothers Mining, WV. 1940-1950

MTR site after.

     Coal has been around in the Appalachians since the turn of the 20th century. Recently, however, with the high demands of coal pushing in, coal companies are stressed to have fewer workers, while keeping up with the high demands. They've found a "solution" to mining coal differently.

     Rather than digging in the bellies of mountains, they remove the top of the mountain with explosives and "harvest" the newly exposed coal seam in which was not able to show with underground mining.

Before and after a reclaimed site.

     Mountaintop removal is allowed by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. The SMCRA states that coal mines must be reclaimed (restored) after they are done with the site. "The condition of the land after the mining process must be equal to or better the the pre-mining conditions." And that's exactly what they do. 

     After the mining is done, and the coal is out, many companies reclaim the land. Reclaimed land as in plant shrubs, grass, trees, and many other natural resources that were once there. Many mining site have allowed wet lands to become in many places that wet lands are rare or scarce. 

Beside the point of reclaiming the lands, who do you think has to do it? Mountaintop removal creates jobs. Coal mining is still a  job, believe it or not. Many people have built their families lives around this career. Carrying on the legacy and of course, bringing in money. Over 3 million people are employed just alone in our region (4-5 states) in coal mining. Whether it's be the actual coal mining, corporate, distributors, or shipping/handling. If the loss of this should happen many would be unemployed and even poverty could be a possibility. 

 Coal is a fuel that is found in the ground. It is made of the remains of plants that died millions of years ago. Soil piled up on top of the remains and that weight compacted it into a more dense material, called coal. The energy in the coal came from the sun and was stored in the plants. When the coal is burned, it gives up that energy as heat. The coal's heat energy can then be turned into electrical energy. This happens at a power plant. The very thought that coal is becoming more and more used to power anything, is over whelming. We would no longer need oil, maybe even gas. Coal is our future. Coal keeps your lights on. Without mountaintop removal a lot of coal could never be found thus be converted to energy needs. 

Speaking of cheaper energy needs... Mountaintop removal is also energy saving because it is one of the cheapest and fastest ways of extracting coal. Michael Shnayerson,  author of the 2008 book Coal River, states that miners are able to extract one hundred percent of the 
coal from the seams of rock as opposed to only seventy percent of the coal in underground mining.  Debra Glidden, in her Environmental Encyclopedia article titled "Surface Mining," suggests that capital costs of surface mines are at least half of what the development of underground mines cost. More coal for less money? That's a no brain-er. 

Mountaintop removal has been known for the reclaimed land. But not in the sense of what I talked about earlier, but for tourist attractions. Many other old mine sites have been turned into golf courses, leveled land for shopping plazas, museums, and other entertainment purposes. With these additional things being built it has benefited in numerous ways. Such as: The coal company got their coal, the city got to build a business/building, which then leads to more money and popularity attraction to the area/region.