This past Monday and Tuesday I helped facilitate an education panel at two local Universities. The panels, which were attended by over 70 students at The University of Maryland and American University, aimed to educate student activists about the challenges facing opponents of a Mountain Top Removal; a common form of strip mining occurring throughout Southern Appalachia. Attending students were given perspective as to why this form of resource extraction is highly contested by environmentalists and advocates for community rights alike.
I will do my best to provide some information that I learned by attending these events.
To date this form of strip mining has leveled over 500 mountains in the coal fields of Appalachia. As the nomenclature conveys, this form of mining displaces the portion of a mountain located above coal seams by using explosives. The thin seams of coal laden within the mountain are then extracted by using drag lines. Using bulldozers, the rubble of mountain that remains is pushed into adjacent valleys, a practice known as valley fills, burying vital head water streams. It has been estimated that 1500+ miles of headwater streams have been buried in Appalachia since this form of strip mining began.
In order to prevent toxic particulates from entering our atmosphere when the coal is burned, the extracted coal is washed on site before it is shipped to regional coal burning power plants. This washing produces "slurry ponds" which are either stored behind earthen dams or injected into the earth through abandoned mine shafts. This injection of coal slurry deep into the earth is responsible for polluting the well water that so many Appalachian communities are dependent upon for quenching their thirst. The slurry ponds sit precariously overlooking Appalachian communities.
The panelists cite occasions when these dams have breached and buried communities. Last January, a coal fly ash pond in Tennessee burst open burying over 400 acres and 12 homes. This fly ash is slightly different from MTR slurry ponds as to how it is generated, but essentially it is the same toxic soup laden with mercury, arsenic, iron, and sulfates. This begs the question that even if we prevent toxics from coal entering the atmosphere, does it make sense to concentrate these chemicals in water when they are a direct threat to community health? It also begs me saying in bold: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL!!!!!!
Mountain Top Removal mining not only provides a maximal yield of coal (estimated that 98% of coal is effectively removed), but it is also the most profitable for coal companies. Companies that fight tooth and nail to ensure Mountain Top Removal continues. Companies that finance the campaigns of Appalachian politicians to ensure "cooperation" from local and federal government. Companies syphon the wealth derived from natural resources out of appalachia undermining local economic stimulus. Simply put, these coal companies exploit the health of appalachian communities and ecosystems for the sake of their own profit.
The panel was a small act done by The Harvest Collective to bring attention to this issue in the most powerful city in the nation. By reaching out to other concerned citizens we will build a more comprehensive and informed movement around Mountain Top Removal. University of Maryland students have already set up a lobby meeting with Senator Barbara Mikulski to talk about an end to Mountain Top Removal. They are also drafting a letter to Lisa Jackson that voices their concerns with EPA priorities that we hope to hand deliver at a local event in Edmonston, Maryland next Tuesday.
As one of our esteemed panelists, Andrew Munn, noted the movement to end mountain top removal needs multiple facets. The Harvest Collective and UMD for Clean Energy are two local groups committed to ending this form of strip mining and will take the neccesary means to organize our communities in coordination with the Appalachian efforts to end this practice. If you would like to get involved in the DC area to end Mountain Top Removal, please send me an email at davidrogner@gmail.com. I will get you plugged in!!
I'd like to thank our panelists Kate Rooth, Andrew Munn, Delta Merner, and Joe Overton for their time and information. Below is a picture of Joe performing a fantastic song called "Black Water" at American University.
If you would like to learn more, please visit the following organization's websites.
Appalachian Voices- ilovemountains.org
Mountain Justic Summer- mountainjusticsummer.org
Coal River Mountain Watch- crmw.net
Rain Forest Action Network- ran.org
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