Coal Mining

[jeromeowen]

A controversial method of coal mining is mountaintop removal, in which the entire top of a mountain is blasted away to expose a coal seam that runs through the mountain or the ridge. As with other surface mining, there is a significant amount of overburden placed in nearby valleys and valley streams that can have a considerable impact on the landscape and surrounding ecosystem. This method of removal was challenged in the courts in the late 1990s. The result was a settlement in which the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Corps of Engineers agreed to develop an environmental impact statement on the mining process. Once completed, the statement recommended that agencies work more closely to reduce the impacts from mountaintop removal and “valley fill.â€