WP: Appalachia Is Paying Price for White House Rule Change

[kskiska]

Tuesday, August 17, 2004; Page A01

Last of three articles

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- The coal industry chafes at the name -- "mountaintop removal" -- but it aptly describes the novel mining method that became popular in this part of Appalachia in the late 1980s. Miners target a green peak, scrape it bare of trees and topsoil, and then blast away layer after layer of rock until the mountaintop is gone.

In just over a decade, coal miners used the technique to flatten hundreds of peaks across a region spanning West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Thousands of tons of rocky debris were dumped into valleys, permanently burying more than 700 miles of mountain streams. By 1999, concerns over the damage to waterways triggered a backlash of lawsuits and court rulings that slowed the industry's growth to a trickle.

(snip)

As more mountaintops disappear and sometimes entire villages along with them, resistance has spread. Coal companies have offered to buy and demolish houses near the mines, effectively depopulating settlements. Residents who remain recite a familiar litany of complaints: dust, truck traffic, constant blasting that rattles nerves and sometimes damages houses. Even more jarring for many is the sight of the destruction of the ancient hills, familiar landmarks and touchstones for generations of families.

"I've been coming up through these mountains since I was 5 years old. Now the place looks like an asteroid hit," Bo Webb, a retired businessman and Vietnam veteran, said of the 1,800-acre mountaintop mine above his house in central West Virginia's Raleigh County. "A lot of us up here have fought for our country. To see what is happening now to our homes makes me so mad."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6462-2004Aug16.html

[aquart]

1. Will we even know where to look as we try to undo the damage?

The BushCo octopus has a million slimy tentacles reaching into everything.

[stepnw1f]

2. Yes... and Over-Reaching Weakens the Center

Its over. I am sooooo happy, because I truly believe they have sprung their own trap.

[jdj]

3. This damage is permanent.

Nothing can ever bring back this landscape.

All we can do is prevent more damage.

[aquart]

4. Well, if Kerry really wants to put people back to work...

A new CCC might be able to undo some of the damage.

[cmd]

6. You can only stop further damage

No one can rebuild those mountains. The basic structure has been destroyed. As one who grew up in the "strip fields" of Ohio, I see the pitiful attempts at reclaiming the land. Devoid of all trees and natural plants, the sterile atmosphere around these areas is depressing.

[aquart]

9. That's because they WERE "pitiful" attempts.

Ever seen what a GOOD landscaper can do?

[cmd]

12. Ever see the size of the fields?

Want to pay the bill for landscaping a mountain? There is not enough coal under the ground to pay for a landscaper. How about coming up with a practical solution.

[aquart]

14. I appreciate your bitterness. It would break my heart, too.

But you've just said there is no practical solution. However, making land green, useful, and productive is a vital national interest.

Btw, what did they do with the mountaintops?

[struggle4progress]

15. "Thousands of tons of rocky debris were dumped into valleys, ...

... permanently burying more than 700 miles of mountain streams."

[aquart]

16. Well, are the streams under the dirt?

It's good to know where the rocks are. Where did they toss the topsoil?

[hatrack]

21. There are no streams - they are permanently buried

Tons of rock and debris fill them from bank to bank, and they will not be back.

Maybe in a few centuries runoff and rainfall will begin to cut new channels through the remnants, but don't expect to see anything resembling restoration in the lifetime of anyone you know.

[WVhill]

22. The topsoil and anything that resembled life is gone.

In many cases buried under hundreds of feet of fill. Kerry voted against a measure that would have made it easier for mountaintop mining. Byrd of course went for the jobs. Mountaintop removal doesn't employ coal miners. It provides jobs for construction workers that can operate large pieces of earthmoving equipment.

Unfortunately Kerry is promising to increase funding for research into technologies to enable the cleaner burning of coal. That sounds great since it lessens pollution. The downside is the technology may increase the demand for coal which may lead to more mountaintop removals. West Virginia has provided resources to the rest of the country since before the last century. The hills were clearcut to provide lumber for the eastern cities. Following that coal fired the industrial age. None of it has been good for West Virginia. Some parts of West Virginia rival third world countries for the poverty and destruction left after the plunder. The last stage is the removal of the mountains that made West Virginia unique.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Thanks to WP for this excellent series: [e-mail]

All three articles were front-paged, and exposed under-the-radar chicanery that devastates our country, and endangers our peoples' health and safety, while putting millions in the pockets of Bush's contributors.

[aquart]

10. Uh, make that billions.

This ain't petty theft.

[dbt]

7. They tore out the timber and tortured the land.

They dug for their coal til the land was forsaken
And wrote it all down as the progress of Man.

:cry:
dbt

[luaneryder]

8. It's right to cry for these lands

I live in Appalachia and if it's not strip mining, it's strip timbering or CAFO's (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations; very cruel and a blight on the land). I'm driving along just in awe of our Mother, then I see what man has wrought and the tears just spring to my eyes. Now * has loosened timbering and ATV activities in the national parks. This man doesn't give a shit about the earth, the air, the water, the people. He HAS to go!!

[fishwax]

13. well said

I've found a lot of old John Prine lyrics to be very appropriate these days, especially the ones you quoted. (Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore is pretty topical right now to.)

[tlcandie]

18. As long as it's not prime repthug land and their kind aren't affected

they don't care period! Everyone and everything else is expendable!! After all the world will end soon and that's all it's here for is for OUR rape and depletion!!

[kwolf68]

11. Great journalism

Everytime I read stuff like this...the ethics and integrity of this administration my hatred of Dumbya gets more intense.

Ill be at a football draft party this weekend with nothing but wing-nuts...and I am sure to hear about the need to "get government off our backs" and tax cutting or the most important issues like keeping gay people from getting married. :spank:

[BlueCollar]

17. kick

:kick::

The washington post article needs to be spread around

[NewYorkerfromMass]

19. "Now the place looks like an asteroid hit"

Charming. Wonder what WV's tourism industry is like? They might cash in on those in search of the bizarre. Maybe a reality TV show could be done on before and after scenes.

[wildeyed]

20. We're going to have some 'splaining to do

to future generations about what happened to these mountains. This is a huge screaming wound on the land that will never go away. An eternal monument to the Bush Administaration and their legacy to future generations.