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Negative and positive impacts of coal mining
Positive and negative impacts of coal on people and the environment
Negative and positive impacts of coal mining
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Appalachia, a vast, beautiful panoply of lush green mountains. At least, most of the thin line of peaks that make up the Appalachian Mountains used to be that way. Currently, the continued spread of a method of coal extraction known as mountaintop removal mining has plagued areas of the eastern United States, mainly including the state of West Virginia. Throughout its increasing stages of implementation, mountaintop removal mining has caused numerous hampering effects, including causing serious harm to nearby residents, and polluting a once-pure environment. Because of this, mountaintop removal mining needs to be limited in order to preserve the natural state of the Appalachian Mountains.
Mountaintop removal mining has been around for several decades—it started to become prevalent in Appalachia in 1985. 1,2 The general overview of the process of mountaintop removal mining goes as follows: Miners select a mountain to extract coal “seams” from, and clear its surface of major obstructions, mainly trees. 3 Next, either by explosives or machinery, the surface rock and soil of the mountain is removed. As the coal begins to become visible throughout the mountain, miners scoop out the coal. Throughout the process, many tons of rock and dust are displaced into neighboring areas, most often called “valley fills”. As the title implies, valley fills are what once used to be a peaceful vegetated valley that has now been filled with rubble. The coal itself goes through a cleaning process to remove some materials which make for a cleaner burn cycle. After all of the coal is extracted, the mountain goes through a reclamation process which is intended to stabilize and re-vegetate the now-crippled peak. 3 Unfortunately, coal companies tend to s...
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... Gunnoe. Firefly Pix, 2008. DVD.
"Learn More About Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining." ILoveMountains.org. Web. .
"Mountaintop Mining Leaves Massive Scars in Appalachia." USA Today 27 Oct 2009: A.10. SIRS Researcher. Web. 13 February 2010.
Reece, Erik. "Death of a Mountain." Harper's April 2005: 41-60. SIRS Researcher. Web. 15 February 2010.
---. "Moving Mountains." Orion Magazine Jan 2006. Web. 15 Feb 2010.
Shnayerson, Michael. Coal River. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Print.
Slavin, Peter. "The Coal Mine Next Door." American School Board Journal. March 2006: 16-21. SIRS Researcher. Web. 13 February 2010.
“What is Mountain Top Removal Mining?” Mountain Justice. 13 Feb. 2010
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Daumeyer, Rob. "Beware of Too Much Business" Cincinnati Business Courier (June 1996): 9pars. 28 June 1996
The Powder River Basin coal beds are some of the thickest in the world helping to make the basin one of the top producers not only nationally but globally as well. Although the coals are low rank and therefore not ideal for producing electricity, the sheer amount of coal in the basin makes it very economical to mine these coals. The low ash and low sulfur content of the Powder River Basin coals also make the coal ideal for the current marketplace. The low ash and sulfur content helps to make these coals relatively environmentally friendly in comparison to coals that are mined from places like Illinois, which have higher sulfur contents. The vast amount of resources that the Powder River Basin contains makes this region of the United States a major player when it comes to supplying energy for the next century.
Drury, Bob and Calvin, Tom. The Last Stand of Fox Company. 1st ed. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009.
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
Removal of the mountaintops causes environmental impacts from blasting. The blasting has caused rocks to be deposited into valleys on the hillsides, burying almost 2,000 miles of streams which feed the Mississippi River. Slurry, the residue which is used to clean the coal can wash into groundwater and may contain arsenic, lead, manganese, iron, sodium, strontium, and sulfate. A recent research study is beginning to link these environmental impacts to the grave health concerns in the Appalachian communities. During most of the Mountaintop removal mining’s history coal industries have been able to obtain permits easily to operate, but once under the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) those permits now take more time to obtain. The permit process requires all applications to be reviewed before being given out to coal
The sharp differences in elevation between the Badwater Basin and the surrounding mountains that include the highest point in the continental US (Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet) stand as a representation of the regions violent tectonic past. The mountains themselves are considered fault block mountain ranges meaning that they were formed when blocks of rocks were squeezed through the Earth's crust along parallel faults or were loosened from the crust when it separated at a fault. In the valley, both of these methods not only were the cause of the current mountains formation less than four million years ago, but also are causing the mountains to be uplifted while the valley floor drops even further. This phenomenon is one of the reasons why the lowest and highest points in the continental...
Norris, Floyd. "Bausch & Lomb and S.E.C. Settle Dispute on '93 Profits." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 1997. Web. 16 May 2014.
McManus, Doyle. “Drawing Budget Battle Lines.” Editorial. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 5 June 2011. .
In order to define the music of Appalachia, one must first define the area in which the Appalachians encompass. This mountainous area extends 1500 miles and covers an area that extends from Maine to Georgia. There are eighteen states which make up the Appalachians. According to most Europeans, they consider the Appalachians to be only the southeastern region of the United Stated. However, the Appalachians are actually a combined combination of states that include all eighteen states. During the 1920’s these areas were considered 1“Back Country” areas.
New York Times, p. 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/business/economy/09leonhardt.html?_r=1 Lipman, Marc. A. A. Personal Interview. March 21, 2010. Marano, Hara E. (2004).
You would not buy a home, car or other large purchases without researching what product offered you the most for your money. The same is true when investing in a company. Investors do avid research on multiple companies to find what company matches the investors' criteria. In this paper Team C will research both AT&T and Verizon's financial documents. Team C will compare selected ratios, cash flow and make recommendations how both companies can manage cash flow for the future.
"More Companies Turn to ABC."Journal of Accountancy, July 1994, p. 14. 11. Ness, J.A. and T.G. Cucuzza. " Tapping the Full Potential of ABC."
Burning and mining coal for fuel is harmful to the environment but because how cheap and easy it is to find many people are unwilling to give it up as a fuel source. One of the problems with coal is that they are limited and are non-renewable so once it has been used we won’t be able to use it again.
As a result of this process, the mine sites "do not develop normal soil structure or support the establishment of a plant cover". Many mine sites have...
Mountain top removal mining has been in practice since the 1960’s. In order to reach the coal around 400 to 500 feet of the mountain top is blasted off to expose the seam. All the excess material from blasting and bulldozing is piled up in the surrounding valleys and streams. The landscape is a pitiful sight resembling a moonscape. There are no trees, no wildlife, just rocks, dirt and mud. However, in 1983 the Federal Government took notice of environmentalist’s actions aga...