Mountaintop removal mining

While there are economic benefits to this practice as well as important contributions to the availability of affordable energy, there are also concerns for environmental and human health costs.

Recognizing mountaintop removal as a "humanitarian crisis," members of Congress with the support of Appalachian residents introduced the ACHE ACT in 2012 to enact a moratorium on the mining practice until a health report could be undertaken.

The overburden from MTR is either placed back on the ridge, attempting to reflect the approximate original contour of the mountain,[4] and/or is moved into neighboring valleys.

[14] Although U.S. mountaintop removal sites by law must be reclaimed after mining is complete, reclamation has traditionally focused on stabilizing rock formations and controlling for erosion, and not on the reforestation of the affected area.

[19] The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI), established in 2004, works to promote the growth of hardwood trees on reclaimed mining sites.

In an effort to apply specific forest restoration practices, the FRA focuses on five main reclamation components: (1) establish suitable soil deeper than four feet to enhance root growth, (2) ensure non-compacted topsoil is present, (3) plan vegetative ground cover to support tree growth (4) include tree species that support local wildlife, as well as commercially desired products, (5) ensure that proper planting techniques are utilized.

[20] This group also facilitates restoration efforts by educating and training members of the coal industry on their role in promoting and adopting effective management practices.

Biotic indicators present within stream ecosystems impacted by valley fill (VF) activity and AMD are valuable assets to increase the cost efficiency of restoration efforts.

Thus, they can be utilized as an effective indicator species to quantify restoration progress through modeling efforts focused on mountaintop mining driven changes in adjacent ecosystems.

[36] The OSMRE (Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement), founded in 1977, allows states to create their own regulatory plans in accordance with the SMCRA.

Due to this ruling, mining companies found to be dumping waste into waterways would no longer be eligible to receive permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.

He also declared that the Army Corps of Engineers has no authority to issue permits allowing discharge of pollutants into such in-stream settling ponds, which are often built just below valley fills.

[37] On December 2, 2008, the Bush Administration made a rule change to remove the Stream Buffer Zone protection provision from SMCRA allowing coal companies to place mining waste rock and dirt directly into headwater waterways.

[42] On January 15, 2008, the environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to end a policy that waives detailed federal Endangered Species Act reviews for new mining permits.

[45] A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Interagency Action Plan (IAP) were signed by officials of EPA, the Corps, and the Department of the Interior on June 11, 2009.

Additionally, Alpha and other subsidiaries committed to spending $200,000,000 to create and upgrade wastewater treatment systems to reduce pollution discharge from mines in several Appalachian states.

[51] On Tuesday, April 9, 2019, the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing, "Health and Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining".

[60][61] A January 2010 report in the journal Science reviews current peer-reviewed studies and water quality data and explores the consequences of mountaintop mining.

[61] For example, the extensive tracts of deciduous forests destroyed by mountaintop mining support several endangered species and some of the highest biodiversity in North America.

There is a particular problem with burial of headwater streams by valley fills which causes permanent loss of ecosystems that play critical roles in ecological processes.

In addition, increases in metal ions, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids due to elevated concentrations of sulfate are closely linked to the extent of mining in West Virginia watersheds.

[62] A 2005 environmental impact statement prepared by EPA stated that streams near some valley fills from mountaintop removal contain higher levels of minerals in the water and decreased aquatic biodiversity.

[69] While aquatic ecosystems and resources are vulnerable to pollution and geomorphological changes due to MTM and VF leaching, the terrestrial environment is also negatively impacted.

Researchers have concluded that MTR has detrimental impacts on the aquatic system and the current assessments cannot adequately evaluate the quality of the constructed channels and failed to address the functional importance of the natural stream.

These defect rates were more pronounced in the most recent period studied, suggesting the health effects of mountaintop mining-related air and water contamination may be cumulative.

[82] PM samples collected from residential sites around the mining area had higher concentrations of silica, aluminum, inorganic lithogenic components and organic matter.

[83] Laboratory experiments on mice also suggested that PM collected from the Appalachian MTR site can damage microvascular function that may contribute to cardiovascular disease found in the area.

Surface water in MTM regions has higher concentrations of arsenic, selenium, lead, magnesium, calcium, aluminum, manganese, sulfates and hydrogen sulfide from overburden.

[90] Gunnoe and Lambert both organized and led grassroots efforts to educate their communities on the human health risks of MTM, with an emphasis on safe drinking water.

[91][92] With a specific focus on Appalachian and community-based movements, dispatches from the front lines on coal mining by author Jeff Biggers, collected from the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera America, The Guardian, Washington Post, Salon, The Nation, Public Radio International, Alternet, EcoWatch, CNN, MSNBC, Midwest Energy News, Yes Magazine, Common Dreams and other news sites, 2001-2021.