End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Photo of mountaintop removal mining by Kent Mason
Since the 1970s, the coal industry has blown up more than 500 of the oldest, most biologically rich mountains in America and destroyed more than 2,000 miles of headwater streams. Despite an ongoing citizen movement to end the destruction, and despite the decline in coal, it’s still happening.
Mountaintop removal coal mining is a destructive form of extracting coal in which companies use heavy explosives to blast off hundreds of feet from an ancient mountain ridge to access thin seams of coal below. The massive amounts of dirt and rubble, what the coal industry calls “overburden,” is dumped into adjacent valleys, burying headwater streams.
To meet federal reclamation requirements, the mining sites and “valley fills” are often sprayed with non-native grasses, and gravel ditches are built as so-called restored streams. Many sites don’t meet the requirements, and even if they do, these measures do little to prevent toxic contaminants from poisoning the creeks and streams below.
Mountaintop removal has a devastating impact on the region’s economy, ecology and communities. Appalachian Voices is committed to righting these wrongs and protecting the mountains and communities. For more than a decade, we have worked closely with partner groups and citizens in the region, helping establish and guide The Alliance for Appalachia and building a national movement 100,000+ people strong through ILoveMountains.org.
We remain vigilant in our mission to defend the people and natural resources of the Appalachian region, and will raise a hue-and-cry against any regulatory rollbacks.
Latest News
To tell the truth
Last month, our director of programs, Matt Wasson, testified before Congress about the perils of mountaintop removal and coal ash pollution, and the failure of some state agencies to protect communities from pollution. While Matt had a rare opportunity to provide a reality check for elected leaders, it’s the people in coal-impacted communities who know this reality better than anyone.
Carl Shoupe: Seeing through the “War on Coal” smokescreen
“Instead of raging about a made-up war on coal and how to protect coal corporations, Congress should take a closer look at how to really support coal communities,” Kentuckians For The Commonwealth member and retired miner Carl Shoupe writes.
It’s still happening …
Since the mid-1990s, the coal industry has blasted the tops off of more 500 of the oldest, most biologically rich mountains in America, and destroyed more than 2,000 miles of headwater streams. Despite a growing movement of Appalachians and thousands of other citizens rallying to end the destruction, it’s still happening.
Mountaintop removal is the 800-pound gorilla at the SOAR Health Impact Series
Mountaintop removal’s health impacts were the number one concern of eastern Kentuckians that participated in the SOAR Health Impact Series, but the topic was barely addressed at a recent SOAR gathering in Hazard. If they hope to soar beyond political rhetoric, Rep. Hal Rogers and Gov. Steve Beshear must take those concerns seriously, and support more research into the connections between mountaintop removal and health.
Endangered Species are New Focus in Legal Case against Kentucky’s Water Quality Protections and EPA
Contact Appalachian Voices: Eric Chance, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org Kentuckians…
Study Shows Steep Decline in Fish Populations Near Mountaintop Removal
A study from researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey published in July provides strong new evidence that mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia is devastating downstream fish populations.
