By: Olivia Santee, Justice Redman, and Cara Baldwin

If you are unaware about what mountaintop removal is, then here is a

wake up call: •Mountaintop removal is a way to inexpensively remove coal, from the mountain, using heavy equipment and explosives.•Coal companies spread their sites over a range of mountains when it may be more efficient, if it were concentrated to a smaller area. •Since coal is predicted to decrease over the next 250 years, the mountains should be even more valuable. They need to be preserved, instead the mountain tops are blown away in attempt to quickly gather the remaining coal.

• A major problem with mountaintop removal is that it may potentially lead to a corruption of tourism. Tourism is an advantage WV has because of its wonderful scenic views. If MTR continues tourism will decrease and cause many jobs to be lost. With the lost income from tourism, comes the increase of income for MTR companies; however, what if the MTR companies were going to shut down?

• Employed by the coal companies, miners and contractors, assisting with MTR, are the people earning the paycheck. Those workers have families to support just as any other citizen, but if their company was shut down how would they make an income?

One possible solution would be, to expand mining underground ensuring a paycheck to employees. It would also allow them to feel better about not destroying the mountain. Stanley Sturgill (former coal miner) said, “It's our most precious resource,” he says. “If the valley fill permits now pending for this mountain are approved, we stand a good chance of losing our water. And once we lose our water, we've lost everything.”

The expansion of underground mining, if approved, will also benefit tourism by allowing the beautiful scenery to continue growing unharmed. It would let wildlife flourish and bring in profit as well.

Mountains near Rawl, WVNew River Gorge

Another aspect about coal removal is the inexpensiveness of energy production mixed with the greed of coal company owners. When greed and money are mixed, the outcome results in carelessness. In this case, the land and environment are being destroyed, in the process.

Some of the many environmental destructiveness going on is:

• Polluting and covering up rivers with coal dust and sediment• Wildlife not being able to flourish as before• Clear cutting forest that have been around for many years, etc.

The environmental crisis affects more than the environment, it affects the community surrounding the mountain.

• The covering up of rivers disturbs marine life that has never been seen nor has ever been a problem, but what do the coal companies do, they cover them up.

• Even though covering up rivers is important, the pollution of water affects the community the most. Many families use the water running through the stream, but little do they know, 75% of WV water ways (rivers and streams) are polluted with coal and acid mine drainage that has been dumped in by the local coal companies

This family is unable to use the water from their faucet because of manganese.. Also, while a lawsuit was occurring the court had found that the coal company, located in Rawl, WV, was illegally injecting slurry into the water.

The sad part of all of the pollution is that The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, and was only followed for approximately 35 years. Now, coal companies dump coal , illegally, into streams as a quick way to dispose of excess material. Not only does this affect the people who depend on the streams for drinking water, but it affects the plant and animal life in the area. It also makes the affected areas less visually pleasing, which brings down tourism rates.

Dumping waste Kayford Mountain, WV into a valley fill

• Many solutions can be made about how MTR can be stopped, but the solutions must try to benefit everyone.

• Some considerable solutions are:• Expanding underground mining whileallow employees to continue working, as well as keeping the state a popular tourist destination. • Enforce the Clean Water Act of 1972 with severe consequences.• If MTR is to continue efficiently it should be in a concentrated area.

• http://www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal/007/ • http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org/facts/steps.php • http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/razingappalachia/mtop.html • http://groupsites.ius.edu/physics/e/reserves.html#Para%202b • http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2007/judge-dumping-mountaintop-removal-waste-into-streams-illegal • http://www.register-herald.com/business/x519060889/Continuing-growth-seen-in-W-Va-tourism-

industry/print• http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2009/12/kentucky-coal-miners-speak-out-against-

mountaintop-removal.html• http://wvhighlands.org/wv_voice/?p=2503 • http://melissa.olsonfarlow.com/photography/mountaintop-removal/• http://appvoices.org/2009/12/• http://www.thcrawford.com/pics.htm• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mining-technology.com/contractor_images/

marston/2-mining.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nbc.co.gp/keyword/underground%2520coal%2520mining&usg=__Xbgyv_F577XbcGAK_YPVH3lNDMw=&h=400&w=600&sz=45&hl=en&start=31&zoom=1&tbnid=NV37ujRWViKtkM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=207&ei=CLqyTfTcF4HegQfB9oDGCw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dunderground%2Bcoal%2Bmining%2Bphotographs%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D548%26rlz%3D1W1ADBS_en%26tbs%3Dic:color%26tbm%3Disch0%2C693&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=362&vpy=252&dur=1825&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=173&ty=45&page=3&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:31&biw=1259&bih=548

• http://www.ukcoal.com/down-a-modern-mine • http://www.ilovemountains.org • http://www.phongpo.com/2010/07/07/western-kentucky-mine-roof-plan-already-in-fatal-accident/

underground-coal-mining/• Clip art