Blog 8: Mountaintop Removal/Mining

              I actually chose to blog about this mountaintop removal mining article because over Spring Break I had the opportunity to go to West Virginia and volunteer/provide service at a place called the Southern Appalachian Labor School. While there, I worked with people whose homes were literally falling apart because of the state government giving these coal mine workers such poorly built homes. The effects of coal mining and mountaintop removal in the Appalachian region of the US alone have been so destructive. According to this article, over a million acres of forest have been destroyed, and over two thousand miles of streams completely buried. Neither humans nor surrounding wildlife can afford to lose both above-ground and underground water supplies because of mining. Also, post-mining land is said to “go right back to the way it was before it was mined”. What the corporation won’t tell people is the fact that it may take hundreds of years for the reforestation process to complete itself. There are many negative sociological effects caused by this type of coal mining, especially on the people living in communities near the mining sites. I had the privilege to hear testimonies of the local people in WV about how much their lives have changed ever since the 1970’s, when coal-extraction through mountaintop removal became such a large industry. These Appalachian citizens could no longer drink their well-water because of the amount of coal dust/particles in it due to coal seeping into underground water supplies. They cannot hunt certain animals such as squirrel, turkey, deer and more because they simply do not inhabit areas with constant mountain-blasting and destruction to their environment. Tree logging and deforestation is another issue in areas of coal mining, because before they blow up the mountain, they remove all trees large enough for logging. Hence, there has been a decline of birds in the region as well. Mountain Lions had long since left the area; every now and again one may catch a glimpse of a coyote in the hills, but even they are scarce animals to come by. The change in wildlife biodiversity certainly has had a drastic effect on the people of the surrounding area. Another aspect of mountaintop removal in Appalachia is the fact that these coal industries have such power that the citizens feel as if they have no power to stop the companies from taking their land and blowing up their side of the mountain to exploit all resources possible. In the eyes of the citizens, they have no voice to speak up about this issue, and even if they did, who would listen? Awareness needs to be raised, so that these Appalachian people can stop worrying if they will be land-owners or even home-owners in a few years. They need reassurance that this country is not made up of only consumer-driven, selfish people, but also people that truly care about the well-being of other citizens and the environment of which they live.


http://www.csjboston.org/Earth-Mountain_Top_Removal_and_Mining%5B1%5D.pdf