The Coal Conundrum

When you think of coal mining, what do you picture? Men with pickaxes? Lunch pails and script? Maybe the remnants of mine fires? 12 dead in the Sago Mine disaster…The suffocation of 13 in the Villa Mine fire. These are all things people could associate with coal mines, specifically in the Appalachian region of the United States. Coal was a lifestyle in the mountains, especially in the 1900s. However, with environmental regulations set in place during the 1970s due to the Clean Air Act, production has slowed.

This is a double-edged sword for a West Virginian like myself. The loss of jobs in my state since the 1970s has been detrimental to our structure. But on the other hand, the fall of coal has its benefits. When you mine coal, it releases high amounts of carbon dioxide, a known contributor to climate change. Coal mining leads to water and air pollution that harms ecosystems. This trickles down to industrial and urban degradation. Almost all West Virginia coal miners suffer from extreme lung diseases such as Black Lung, COPD, PMF, Silicosis, and many more. These are incurable due to the coal dust scarring inside the lungs.

The United States likes to showcase the “loss of coal” and this rise of Natural Gas and renewable energy by sharing how big fossil fuel companies are helping decrease carbon emissions and bringing a new economic light to our country. However, we aren’t talking about how companies sneak around behind the scenes. The lack of coverage on a lesser-known mining technique: Mountain Top Removal.

Mountain Top Removal is exactly what it sounds like. Big corporations such as Massey Energy, Patriot Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal, and many more take to the Appalachian Mountains (some of the oldest in the world). Along with surrounding areas, to clear all vegetation and bulldoze any habitats within the trees and all topsoil. Then the workers drill into the mountains and place upwards of three million pounds daily of heavy explosives into these newly drilled cavities. Igniting the explosives and blasting them hundreds of feet in the air. In turn, taking the history of thousands of years up with them. This is to expose the coal seams within the rock. Doing a process known as dugging, they excavate the coal. With all the excess rubble and waste this process accumulates, these companies dump the waste into the nearby valleys and streams. This ends up contaminating the water sources, towns and the air these nearby Appalachians need to survive.

With Mountain Top Removal, studies from an organization known as Appalachian Voices show that there are higher rates of not only cancer and cardiovascular issues but also respiratory and birth defects caused by this process. They have shared that this is the first time a direct link has appeared, not just a correlation.

Appalachian Voices also shared the ecological effects. The process has ruined over five hundred mountains and one million acres of Appalachia. Along with the endangerment of animals due to the removal of their habitats like birds, fish and aquatic animals such as salamanders. Our beautiful biodiversity, waters, and forests are struggling.

Terry Morgan (West Virginian coal miner) and Maeve Dowling.

The Yale School for Environment published an interview in 2017 documenting Micheal Hendryx’s research on the effects of Mountain Top Removal to the communities it surrounds. He shares his findings with the interviewer on excess deaths due to the explosions. At the time estimating 1,200 individuals per year, but in the past 9 years I can almost guarantee the increase. These are individuals who did not work in the mines, nor had anything to do with the removal itself.

It’s my belief that you cannot pride yourself on “clean energy” while secretly funding a dirty job. As an Appalachian, a West Virginian, and the granddaughter of a coal miner (who suffers from Black Lung), it is more important than ever to speak out on something ruining my home. Encourage those you know to stop supporting the use of Mountaintop removal for coal extraction. You never know who will be harmed by these processes.

Rachel Carson National Environmental Leadership Fellow Maeve Dowling

Maeve Dowling is a Junior at West Virginia University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies with a minor in Non-Profit Management. Her research currently relates to the effects of poverty due to governmental neglect and the overall wealth gap that many American individuals are acquainted with. Specifically those in her home state of West Virginia. Maeve’s passion for socioeconomic development stems from the high poverty rate of the world around her. She has spent her time in college focusing on food insecurity and has conducted multiple projects regarding the reduction of food deserts.