What’s at Stake
Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia is now under assault by Massey Energy, the nation’s fourth-largest coal company and the worst offender when it comes to mountaintop removal coal mining.
Mountaintop Removal (MTR)
Mountaintop removal coal mining is the most outrageous of all coal mining methods. In mountaintop removal, a mountain is first cleared of all vegetation. Destroying acres of the nation’s most biologically diverse hardwood forests.
Next holes are drilled and filled with explosives similar to those used in the Oklahoma City Bombing, but with up to 100 times the explosive force. In West Virginia alone, nearly three million pounds of explosives are detonated per day. Put another way, in one year, 27 times the explosive force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima is detonated in West Virginia. These powerful blasts have been known to crack foundations of nearby homes. In addition to the property damage caused by blasting, the silica dust is a health hazard to people living downwind.
After a blast is set off, the rubble (called overburden) is picked up by giant machines and dropped into nearby valleys creating valley fills. These fills can be a mile wide and hundreds of feet high and usually bury waterways, leading to contaminated drinking water. Along with the destruction of the valley ecosystem and the stream, Valley fills also run the risk of collapse. Due to their steep slope, a heavy rainfall can cause failure.
Coal River Mountain and its Clean Energy Potential
Aside from the obvious environmental disaster, the mining of Coal River Mountain means the death of an alternative energy project that would be a win-win for the community of Coal River Valley. You see, Coal River Mountain has the highest peaks ever slated for mining in the state of West Virginia. According to a 2007 study conducted for Coal River Wind, this mountain is an ideal location for a commercial-scale clean energy project that would protect the environment while providing more jobs than Massey’s coal mining operation. The wind potential study and the following economic study found that it is possible to place 328 MW of wind energy on Coal River Mountain. That’s enough to power 70,000 West Virginia Homes, provide permanent jobs and $1.7 million in taxes to the county every year. But a leveled mountain means the loss of elevation that would power those wind turbines.
To date, West Virginia’s governor, Joe Manchin, has rejected the pleas of local residents to save the mountain by supporting the wind project. Other elected officials have also side-stepped the controversy. Given that the Obama administration has taken tentative steps toward curtailing mountaintop removal in Appalachia, perhaps the last, best hope for Coal River Mountain lies in Washington, D.C.
