Background
Mountain top removal mining is one of the types of surface mining. It is generally done at the summit of a mountain or sometimes at the summit ridge. Mountain top removal mining aims to extract the coal seams covered by the land at the top of the mountain. To gain access to the coal, the miners must remove the mountain top, hence the process’s name. There is a consensus that this mining method is safer than the traditional way the coal is accessed from underground. Mountain top removal mining is mainly used in the United States in the Appalachian Mountains. The mountain top is removed by blowing it up using explosives. These explosives can blow away up to 120 meters of earth.
The rock and soil removed from the top of the mountain are then dumped in the surrounding valleys. While the practice has generated many controversies, it is also much more viable than traditional underground mining (Hendryx 765). A lot of the concerns raised about the process revolve around the environmental and health impact it has. Environmentalists have pointed to the degradation of the mountain landscape and the gaping mountain tops as issues of concern (Hendryx 767). However, going by the high costs of underground mining and the risk to miners when they have to access the coal underground, most mining companies feel justified in using the method in mining coal.
The Need for Mountain Top Removal Mining for Coal
The world economy is still very heavily reliant on fossil fuels to meet the energy demand. The rapid rate of industrialization also continues to increase the energy demand. These factors have conspired to push the prices of oil higher. Because of the demand for energy and the high oil costs, there has been a growing demand for coal. It is this ever-increasing demand for coal that has necessitated mountain top removal mining for coal (Woods 809). Since 2006, the price of coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains has more than tripled as the country’s appetite for coal energy continues to rise (Woods 810). The same can be said about the United States’ coal exports which have also more than tripled. Because of all this demand for coal, it became apparent that there was a need for a faster and more economically viable way to mine coal.
If coal could be mined faster, the demand for coal could also be met more quickly. Ensuring that the mining process is as cost-friendly as possible meant that the mining companies could maximize profits due to increasing the prices of coal and reducing mining costs. Mountain top removal is the most economically viable method to mine coal and guarantees high yields (Woods 810). Mountain top removal mining is also much safer for coal miners than traditional mining methods. There is a lesser risk of mines collapsing on miners and killing them. It is also much more efficient and less labor-intensive than underground mining. Because of the lack of alternative clean oil technologies, mountain top mining is still needed.
Pros and Cons of Mountain Top Removal Mining for Coal
There has been a lot of controversy around mountain top removal mining. Most of the concerns surrounding the process are about the impact on the environment and its health risks. Among the pros of the mountain tops, the removal of mining for coal is the economic benefit to the mining companies. The mining process is cost-effective and reduces the mining costs significantly. It is also much safer than underground mining and prevents the deaths of miners. It is also a faster way of mining and cuts the mining time significantly (Maigret 90). Among the cons of the process is the devastating impact on the environment when the overburden covers streams. There have been 1.4 million acres of forest cover that have been decimated by the process. Areas where mountain top mining upstream have seen rivers downstream have a lot of heavy metal presence in their waters (Maigret 89). The contamination happens because of the mining upstream.
Mountain top removal mining has also diminished biodiversity and ecosystems that rely on the streams that are covered by the overburden. Residents who stay in the vicinity of mountains where mountain top removal mining is done suffer from health complications caused by the air pollution from the mining (Hendryx 770). Because the water in the area is also contaminated, residents consume water with heavy metal deposits. Residents with homes in the coalfield regions are more likely to suffer from cancer than those who do not live within the coalfield regions (Hendryx 767). It does not just stop at cancer, the residents in the coalfield regions have a lower life expectancy rate when compared to other residents who do not live in the coalfield areas (Woods 811). There are many cases of landslides, erosion, and flooding in the areas where mountain top removal mining is done. These are not acts of God, there is a direct link between the mining and their occurrences.
References
Hendryx, Michael, et al. “Mountaintop removal mining and multiple illness symptoms: A latent class analysis.” Science of The Total Environment 657 (2019): 764-769.
Maigret, Thomas A., John J. Cox, and Jian Yang. “Persistent geophysical effects of mining threaten ridgetop biota of Appalachian forests.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 17.2 (2019): 85-91.
Woods, Brad R., and Jason S. Gordon. “Mountaintop removal and job creation: Exploring the relationship using spatial regression.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101.4 (2011): 806-815.