The Human and Environmental Cost of Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia... ... and how to reduce it Matt Wasson, Ph. D. Director of Programs Appalachian Voices

But there’s a tremendous price paid by some for so-called “cheap energy.” Might need to assure people this shot is not doctored - it’s so stark that it can appear fake. The fact that it looks fake, however, says a lot about how radically mountaintop removal is transforming the landscape.

Coal Seam in the Powder River Basin This image is used all over the place to convey the message that coal is endlessly abundant.

Coal Seams at a Virginia Mine But here’s a much more realistic picture of Appalachian coal seams – this one from Wise County, Virginia. Many newer MTR mines are blowing up 20-25 tons of mountain for every ton of coal produced.

How Is Coal Supply Related to Mountaintop Removal? “… coal mines of the future will encounter a range of new or more difficult mining and processing challenges as more easily accessed coal seams are depleted and the industry turns to less accessible reserves. Surface operations will mine deeper seams that require increased stripping ratios and multiple benches...” - National Academy of Sciences, 2007

"The Mud River ecosystem is on the brink of a major toxic event… if waterborne selenium concentrations are not reduced, reproductive toxicity will spiral out of control and fish populations will collapse.'' - USDA Forest Service fisheries biologist A. Dennis Lemly

“Clearly, current attempts to regulate [mountaintop removal] practices are inadequate. Mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses.”

Photo by Melissa Farlow; printed in Time Magazine on 23 March, 2008.

We face a clear choice when it comes to the energy future of our country. Mountaintop removal mining increases pollution and health risks, destroys the economies of local communities, and pollutes our land and water for generations to come. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar create good-paying jobs, protect our environment, and enable local communities to make the most of their natural resources. It's time to stop selling out to the oil and coal companies and their record profits and to invest in renewable energy sources.

Coal mining has been an integral part of our region for more than 100 years and is a vital part of our history and our economy. Those who want to protect our environment must acknowledge the central role that mountaintop removal mining plays and work with the coal companies and local communities to find solutions that work for everyone rather than seeking to outlaw activities that are central to our economy and our way of life.

MACED study "The coal industry takes $115 million more from Kentucky's state government annually in services and programs than it contributes in taxes” “only one percent of state-wide employment” “Eastern Kentucky still includes 20 of the 100 poorest counties in the United States measured by median household income” While the coal industry likes to tout all the jobs they create and how much wealth it brings to coal country, the facts just don’t support that. After 50-60 years of increasingly large scale strip mining in Appalachia, the jury is in: there is an astounding relationship between coal mining, and particularly strip mining, with poverty rates in Appalachia. After more than 100 years of total economic dominance by the coal industry, these are some of the poorest counties in the country.

The Appalachian Regional Commission: “…Unlike all other regions in the U.S., current and persistent economic distress within the Central Appalachian Region has been associated with employment in the mining industry, particularly coal mining.” - Appalachian Regional Commission report: “Trends in National and Regional Economic Distress: 1960-2000” by Lawrence E. Wood, Ohio University, April 2005