What is Mountaintop Removal Mining?

Mountaintop removal mining is a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to blast as much as 800 to 1000 feet off the tops of mountains order to reach the coal seams that lie underneath. The resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt, and vegetation are then dumped into surrounding valleys, burying miles and miles of streams under piles of rubble hundreds of feet deep. Mountaintop removal mining harms not only aquatic ecosystems and water quality, but also destroys hundreds of acres of healthy forests and fish and wildlife habitat, including habitat of threatened and endangered species, when the tops of mountains are blasted away. This practice also devastates Appalachian communities and cultures that have existed in these mountains for hundreds of years. Residents of the surrounding communities are threatened by rock slides, catastrophic floods, poisoned water supplies, constant blasting, destroyed property, and lost culture. As a result, many have been fighting the practice for years. Mountaintop removal mining takes place in many states in the Appalachian region, including West Virginia, Kentucky, southern Virginia, and eastern Tennessee.

	How it's done
Mining companies first raze a mountainside, ripping trees from the ground with huge tractors. Brush is cleared and then the debris is set ablaze. Holes are dug for explosives, charges are set and mountaintops are literally blown apart. Huge draglines push rock and dirt into nearby streams and valleys, forever burying waterways.

Draglines

A dragline excavator consists of a large bucket scoop, which is supported and controlled by a boom and a series of ropes.  These massive machines are nearly a city block in size and their buckets scoops can lift nearly 100 tons a load- thats equal to about 65 pickup trucks.  The machines are so massive that they do not run on fuel, but rather are connected directly into a high-voltage grid.  During operation, the bucket is lowered onto material that is to be excavated and the drag rope is pulled to scoop material into the bucket.  Once the bucket has scooped up excavated materials, the hoist rope pulls the bucket up and the boom swings, allowing the contents of the bucket to be dumped into nearby streams and valleys.

	Maps of mountaintop removal sites
Coming soon!

	List of coal-fired plants in the U.S.
Coming soon!