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*Note from web master* It has been brought to our attention at wvcoalhistory that we are just another web site that
preaches the sinful act of Strip Mining. This web site tries to state facts regardless of who it may offend or angers. Mountain
Top removal mining does in fact hurt our sensitive ecosystem and anyone who looks deeply at it can not deny it, it is simple
common sense. What viewers of this and other sites need to realize is, Mountain Top Removal is not going to be outlawed. It
provides needed natural resources and much needed jobs. This site tries to stress the need for a more strict and more responsible
way of reclamation. Now something no one has either bothered to blog or protest about is other forms of ecosystem destruction.
Ever look at a strip mall? One near the town of Logan was built after an entire mountainside was blown away. No one complained
when Wal-Mart went in. How about all the drainage systems on these parking lots that empties huge quantities of parking lot
rain run off into our streams without being treated? Gallons of motor oil, gasoline and trash is deposited into our streams
daily. How about the much needed interstate highway system? Have you ever heard anyone complain about getting from Man,WV
to Charleston, WV faster? Nope. So there are numerous ways that we are destroying our ecosystem, only strip mining gets center
attention. The owner of this site does not like strip mining simply because our gorgeous mountain landscape is removed.
It will not stop until the need for coal is gone. But this site has not been created to cry about this type of mining but
rather help us better understand how we continue to mine coal and the processes we use to do it. Happily, many coal companies
are now re-seeding natural hardwood tree saplings on abandoned mine lands and wvcoalhistory.com applauds them for it. VERY
SPECIAL NOTE !! Our photo library of strip mining is extremely limited.We are extremely interested in photos of the equipment
used and other photos that DO NOT conflict with company policies or reflect the mine practicing illegal operations. We welcome
anyone who may have taken photos while at work or four-wheeling to submit them to us for posting on this site. You shall receive
credit for the submission and you do not have to submit your name or the mine location if you do not wish to do so. Web master
address is cybermanweb@wmconnect.com .
Never, since the 4 years during the Civil War has anything or any topic divided people
as mountain top removal. Once again man is angry with their fellow man. Brother against brother, father against son and neighbor
against neighbor, often in extremely heated debate and at times ending in violence.
As during the Civil War, people on both sides of the issue stand firm, neither side wanting or planning on understanding the
other sides view. In truth both issues can be seen and understood. On one side you have the miners and their families and
on the other you have concerned citizens. With the concerned citizens can be found the environmentalist and those who trek
into the state just to voice an opinion about this controversial method of coal mining but actually have no stake in its outcome.
For many, the beauty of the mountains that have been home since man first stepped foot in West Virginia is taken away ridge
top by ridge top, never to return. Most have legitimate reasons for hating mountain top removal. Other than complete mountain
ranges being taken down or blown away, there are other issues. Hollows either directly above their homes or in some cases
where their homes once stood are being cleared away and used for valley fills. Sediment ponds to help settle dirt and debris
from water run off before it enters the public streams frequently overflow and flood homes located below them.
The continued hatred for coal company and company owners escalates into hatred for those who depend on this method of mining
for the survival of their families. But there are those who enjoy making things a little worse as in the days of the Civil
War. Those who seem to enjoy instigating the hatred with taunts of "We love valley fills" and "If you don't like strip mining,
then leave." These folks only make things worse. But hatred for the coal company or their employees is misdirected at best.
It makes no sense to be angry at a company that is only doing what the "law" states that it can do. Anger for mountain top
removal should be directed at politicians, those who do not have homes in the hollows or have to drink contaminated water.
We seem to elect and vote the same characters into office year after year. And the state continues to get worse and worse.
Now on the other side of the issue we have the miners. Different than their underground counterparts but coal miners none
the less. And just like their underground counterparts, these people have one reason for doing the jobs that they do, simply
provide a living for their families. If you ask, the majority of coal miners who work on a strip mine site will tell you that
they do not truly like what this type of mining does to the land but it is better than welfare. Isn't it?
Is underground mining a better way to mine coal than mountain top removal? Again, it is debatable. Coal is a valuable natural
resource which should not be wasted, this is true. Lying inside the mountains of West Virginia are many different coal seems.
As stated previously on this web site, coal is not found in veins like gold and silver. It runs the full length of the mountain
and each mountain may have as high as 16 different seems. The height or thickness of each different seem varies. Many seems
of coal in the state can not be mined by using the conventional underground method. Mountain top removal mining does allow
the coal company to extract the coal from all the seems that they legally mine.
The Civil War lasted for 4 years and it took decades for the hatred and ill feelings to fade away. The controversy of mountain
top removal will surely last much longer, until the need for coal is replaced by something else. And just like the war between
the states, anger and hatred that one family has for another simply because someone tries to provide for their family and
another wants their mountain beauty protected or can sleep at night knowing a sediment pond above their home will not burst
and wash them away. These issues will continue long into the future even after the coal is long gone.
Mountain top removal, or strip mining, is the method used to remove the over burden of rock and dirt to uncover the coal seam
below. It is used where deep mining isn't practical and in some cases, it allows a company to feasibly mine more than one
seam at a time.
When the over burden is removed, the refuse of rock and dirt must be put somewhere until the coal is collected. When you are
mining the very tops of mountains, the only place to dump the massive amounts of rock are in the hollows below the mountains,
this is called valley fill.
The strip mining companies have long been under attack by advocates against mountaintop removal. They are calling for the
state and federal governments to outlaw this method because they feel that it is seriously destroying or unbalancing our ecosystem.
As you can see by these photos,
a lot of material has to be removed before the mining company can use this hollow for valley fill. Everything is cut down
and either sold to timber companies or burnt. Sediment ponds are constructed in the streams so that run off from the fill
can be collected and dirt and mud can be
settled before the water is allowed to enter back into the natural streams. The mountains never do recover from this procedure
and everything that once grew here, grows no more.
I must caution those who love to explore. Please never go near a strip mine operation. Giant boulders can be dislodged from
the tops of these mountains and sent rolling down hill.
You may never be able to move out of the way before it hits you.
These areas are intended for employees only and security guards and company officials WILL escort
you from the property. This is for ones own protection, accidents do happen, especially to those who are unaware of the dangers.
The risk of being caught in
an explosion is also high in these areas. If you have no prior knowledge of the works and plans of the company you could easily
walk into an area that has been drilled and primed for blasting. So easy to be seriously injured at these mine sites. Even
the equipment operators are
aware of who and where everyone is located. It is part of their job to know the location so they can be careful not to hurt
a co-worker.
The heavy equipment used in mining the coal and hauling the rock from these sites are quit spectacular
in themselves. Trucks that are capable of hauling massive weights from one point to another travel the strip site like giant
worker ants moving mound after mound of dirt and rock.
One of the first phases of mountain top removal or strip mining is the complete removal
of all trees on the area to be mined or used as a valley fill. Valley fill is when the coal company
clears a mountain hollow to make room for the over burden or rock refuse that they will aquire when the blasting begins. Thousands
of acres of timber, plant and animal life down to the microscopic
level is wiped from existance. This happens daily.
Once the timber is remove, the task of removing the over burden begins. All that you see above
is now buried under tons of rock.
Slowly the hollow begins to be fill dup with refuse.
No more will the deer comb these hills.
These photos were taken of a valley fill
at Pioneer Fuels mine in Lynco, Wyoming County.
These and some of the following photos are of the same area as work on the valley fiil took
place. It shows the massive destruction that man makes when mountain top removal is done. This type of destruction is not
done by underground mining.
 
 
The sixteen photos above, show a transformation for one specific area in Wyoming County. The
transformation from a wooded mountain side that is completely
stripped of all trees. Timber companies may go into the area and harvest all trees that have a monetary value to them,
then the rest is cut down,
bulldozed into piles and burnt. Nothing is left. Refuse from the mine site is dumped into these areas and re-seeded with
grass. Studies show that
the area will never have the same plant life on it that it did prior to mining. Reclamation laws do not require native
plant re-seeding. It cost to much.
These two photos show an area that is being prepared for mining. The photos are nearly 5 years old. The
mountains you see here are
now completely leveled, looking more like the plans of North Dakota than the hills of West Virginia.
These two photos show what all the destruction was for. The valuable coal seam that lies hundreds
of feet under the tops of the mountains.
For more photos of Strip Mining click on the photo below.
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