Mountain Top Removal

[pinehill...@verizon.net]

Welcome to WVCOALHISTORY.com blog page. This forum is for the
discussion of Mountain Top Removal or Strip Mining. The controversy of
this type of coal mining has pitted neighbor against neighbor and
brother against brother. Environmentalist document the apparent and
evident damage that this type of mining does. This fact can not truly
be disputed. Along with Mountain Top Removal mining practices, current
timber practices do similar damage. Coal companies and certain leaders
tell workers that those who complain about the practice are attempting
to take jobs from them and food from their families.
The administrator of this blog site and wvcoalhistroy.com web page IS
NOT against coal mining. Having been an underground coal miner for
over 25 years. But feels strongly that the method is extremely
destructive to our land, our communities and our ecosystem. Law makers
should change the way that it is done or better yet, change the
current method of abandoned mine reclamation. Law makers seem to have
a financial interest more than an interest in the well being of those
they have been elected to serve. But, why should they care what
happens to our lands? Why should they care if your drinking water is
tainted with numerous chemicals? Why should they care if a glass of
cold water in the summer looks brown, red or black? They live in
Charleston, Richmond, Frankfort, Nashville, Columbus, Harrisburg and
Washington, DC. Environmentalist and fed up community leaders
seek answers from the coal companies, they attempt to get them to
understand the massive problems, safety and health issues. But,
perhaps, we are talking to the wrong people. If the road in front of
your house is posted as an 85 MPH speed zone, why get mad at me for
driving 85 past your home where your children are playing. Anger would
be better directed at the law makers who felt it good and right to
have that road past your house posted at 85 MPH.
One other note from Ole Rob the site Administrator. Please DO NOT USE
HARSH OR PROFANE LANGUAGE in this forum. Be adult and mature about
this issue. You can not change folks views by cussing them. This type
usage will be removed from the site and the user WILL BE banned.

[rob...@wvcoalhistory.com]

The other day as I pulled into Wendy's, I saw a sticker on the back
glass of a pick-up truck. It simply read, "I love valley fills." I
began to wonder if the owner of the truck really understood the damage
that these fills cause. Now do not get me wrong and start with the
hate mail. I am a coal miner, from a family of miners. I have no
problem with coal mining as long as it is done with respect to
"HUMANS" as well as the environment. The facts are there and
documented by many educated folks. Heck fire I even did a few studies
and had changed my mind regarding the way we reclaim our abandoned
mine lands. I understand that we need coal. No one seems to be doing
anything else to find other means of cheaper and cleaner energy.
Besides, if they started making cars that ran on water, not everyone
could afford to trade in the ole gas-mobile, we will still need
gasoline for generations to come. But what becomes of a once pristine
mountain after we blow the hell out of it? It is reclaimed, according
to current legislation, it must be pleasing to look at, not an eye
sore, have a few bushes planted on it for the birdies. It has to
detour water from eroding the, uh, "dirt", (cant really call it soil),
away. But what then? What can we possibly do with it after anything
valuable is gone? Turn it into a tourist attraction like the Hatfield
McCoy Trail System? Now I am not knocking the trail system, after all,
they took trails we once we allowed to ride ATV's on and hunt on,
charge folks a few bucks then let flatlanders who think they know how
to ride ATV's in mountainous terrain kill themselves. Yea, dont get
mad at me, check records at Logan General Hospital in Logan County.
Their ER business has more than tripled since the tourist came to
town. But what can we do after all this? The land is useless after
mining and reclamation, I mean useless. Current legislation allows for
the over burden to be removed and dumped into streams and hollows
where life was once abundant, all gone forever. We do not care about
future generations or what is currently happening to our own
communities. Well water that many in West Virginia communities depend
on is ruined and contaminated by acid run-off from these sites. Yea we
can rebuild Iraq but we can not seem to find the cash needed to
provide our own people good clean drinking water. Each time a mountain
is blown away, that area is seriously affected, and, whether you agree
with it or not, everything downstream of that area all the way to the
Gulf of Mexico. You don't think so? Ok,,,If you live in West Virginia,
you are blessed. Very few areas of the state have to be concerned
during tornado season, right? I do not think any of us have had to
evacuate our homes when a Cat. 3 hurricane came bearing down on the
coast. But, how did the hurricanes of 2008 affect West Virginians? Gas
prices shot up over 50 cents. Lumber prices went up simply because
lumber supplies were either stuck in port on the coast or the majority
of lumber supplies had to be redirected to the coast for rebuilding.
Price of food changes dramatically when specific parts of the US are
hit by bad weather affecting crops. Anyone see a pattern here? When
something bad happens, eventually we all feel the pain. Hundreds of
species of plant life are wiped completely off the planet when an area
is strip mined. Hundreds of animal life forms are killed or forced to
migrate elsewhere to survive. These are never reclaimed, the plants
never return. The animals never come back to the area because the
habitat has been destroyed. Nature will not reclaim itself, this has
been proven time and time again. Our ecosystem is very delicate, and
we blow it all away daily. I honestly believe that there will come a
day when those who laugh and mock, will say, "The environmentalist had
a point, sadly and way to late, they were right".