Mountaintop Mining Is Destroying More Land for Less Coal, Study Finds. Using satellite images, researchers tracked the scars spreading across Appalachia. They found 3 times more land being ...

Clark, Elyse V. ; Zipper, Carl E. ; Soucek, David J. et al. / Contaminants in Appalachian Water Resources Generated by Non-acid-forming Coal-Mining Materials. Appalachia's Coal-Mined Landscapes: Resources and Communities in a New Energy Era. editor / Carl E. Zipper ; Jeff Skousen. Cham : Springer, 2021. pp. 217-243

It is important to analyze the spatial correlation between coal mining and health factors because it shows the importance of reducing dangerous excavation …

Though it's hard to put a dollar sign on the human toll, Hendryx estimates that costs associated with the higher mortality of Appalachia's coal-mining regions between 1979 and 2005 totaled $50 ...

Layers of rock and dirt above and between the coal seams are removed. Coal seams are removed with excess soil and rock placed in an adjacent valley. Large scale earth moving equipment is used to excavate and remove coal from lower layers. The equipment used depends on the method and scale of the surface mining method being …

southern Appalachian coalfields. The area has experienced both deep and surface mining for coal, and surface mining has expanded in recent years. In 1974, there were 157 active surface mines, which produced 11.2 million tons of coal [U.S. Bureau of Mines 1975]. Permits for surface mining of 21,500 acres were active as of March 31, 1976.

This problem was exacerbated in 2002 when the Bush Administration changed rules in the Clean Water Act, allowing waste material to be considered “fillâ€, effectively legalizing the dumping of toxic mining waste directly into Appalachian waterways. Once coal is extracted, it is then washed and treated, resulting in waste …

Coal is the world's largest energy source for electricity generation and is mined on 6 continents. Sulfate contamination of surface and ground water from these mining and processing operations is well recognized and commonly monitored as a primary indicator of coal mining impact to surface water and groundwater. However, under …

Mountaintop mining is a widespread practice in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. It involves removing forests, clearing topsoil and using explosives to expose buried coal. Excess rock is pushed into nearby valleys, disturbing habitats and blocking streams. Regulations require minimizing environmental impacts on …

Reading Time: 6 minutes. The U.S. Geological Survey has found high levels of toxic compounds in soil and water around mountaintop-removal mining sites in central Appalachia, a potentially groundbreaking finding with human health consequences. After a year of testing air, water and soil, researchers concluded that people in mountaintop …

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is the term for drainage that is low in pH (<6.0) and contains excessive concentrations of metals and sulfate. Estimates of stream miles impacted by AMD in Appalachia range from 17,000 km (10,500 miles) (ARC 1969; USEPA 1995) to 62,700 km (39,000 miles) (Hansen et al. 2010 ). Not all drainages from coal …

The map pictured above represents the surface and underground coal mines throughout the United States, focusing on the Appalachian region where most mining is known to have occurred. Each individual mine is represented by a green dot on the map which is layered over top of the life expectancy per county as of 2020.

Particulate matter pollution in the coal-producing regions of the Appalachian Mountains: Integrated ground-based measurements and satellite analysis. Viney P. Aneja., Priya R. …

In the process of coal mining, coal washing, and transportation, a large quantity of hazardous and toxic materials release in the form of coal ash (Hendryx et al. 2008). In addition, coal gangue ...

Mountaintop removal coal mines have changed the shape, altitude, and ecology of large areas of the Appalachian coalfields. This photograph shows part of the Kayford Mountain Mine in West Virginia on October 22, 2006. [© Vivian Stockman, Ohio Valley …

Fish and Wildlife Service, and. the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, issued an environmental impact statement looking at the impacts of surface coal mining and valley fills. This was done as part of a settlement agreement in the court case known as Bragg v. Robertson, Civ. No. 2:98-0636 (S.D. W.V.).

of toxic substances, including explosive residue, silica, and coal dust. These substances are filled with sulfur, lead, mercury, and other chemicals. Over 700 miles of streams in Appalachia have been contaminated by this dumping. Although the mining companies have built structures known as "sludge

Mountaintop Mining. Mountaintop removal coal mining — one of the most notoriously destructive forms of mining — has torn through over 500 mountains across Appalachia, even as coal's dominance over …

Mountaintop removal coal mining (MTM) is a form of surface mining where ridges and mountain tops are removed with explosives to access underlying coal seams. The crushed rock material is subsequently deposited in headwater valley fills (VF). We examined how this added water storage potential affects streamflow using a paired watershed …

Unfazed, the mining operation simply steered around their land, and dumped a mountain's worth of rocky debris into the Laurel Branch up to their property line. When mountains are demolished with explosives to harvest their coal seams, the millions of tons of crushed shale, sandstone, and coal detritus. Photo Gallery.

March 21, 2016. Central Appalachia's history is the story of coal. At its peak in the mid-20 th century, mining employed more than 150,000 people in West Virginia alone, mostly in the state's ...

Mining the Mountains. Explosives and machines are destroying Appalachian peaks to obtain coal. In a West Virginia town, residents and the industry fight over a mountain's fate

Mountaintop removal also produces coal slurry, which replete with mercury, arsenic, and other hazardous materials that, if not stored properly, poisons plants, animals, and people. Given the danger mountaintop removal mining possess, citizens in the Appalachian region and fought against the practice.

The practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining has been carried out on at least 500 Appalachian peaks. 1 MTR mining is controversial for its environmental impacts: …

Selenium: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining's Toxic Legacy - Coal Controversy In Appalachia - NASA. Germany knew coal mining wouldn't be financially sustainable. A report from 1946 details how coal production dropped when the second world war ended however and ecology of large areas of the Appalachian coalfields.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) continues to be a concern in coal mining because it reduces surface water and groundwater quality (Verburg et al., 2009) and may perhaps persist for several years. In the U.S. only, AMD pollutes over 20,000 km of streams (Skousen et al., 2019). Blasting and dewatering exposes sulfide minerals, posing threats …

The Trump administration has also both blatantly ignored and actively stopped scientific research into the potential hazards of mountaintop removal mining, for example by canceling a government-funded national Academy of the Sciences study investigating negative health effects caused by mining operations in Appalachia. Many …

This means that there's even more material left after the blasting. The mining companies dispose of this mining waste by dumping it directly into the neighboring streams and valleys. Approximately 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried with coal mining waste. A valley fill in southwestern Virginia.

Appalachian coalfield AMD is similar to acidic mine waters found worldwide and typically contains elevated acidity; low or no alkalinity; elevated iron, …