One of the most common and destructive coal mining practices used is calling mountaintop removal. Mountaintop removal is used on steep terrain, such as the Appalachian Mountains, to uncover large deposits of high-quality coal that lie beneath the surface. The environmental impacts from this monstrosity of a coal mining practice are immense and will have lasting consequences for decades to come. The first step of mountaintop removal is to clear-cut forests on the mountain, which destroys habitats for animals and lumber resources across the terrain. The next step involves using large explosives to break up the rock that covers the desired coal deposit. The consequences of blowing up these mountains and dumping waste into streams is detrimental. The EPA estimated that by 2012, mountaintop removal had destroyed 1.4 million acres of Appalachian forest. This means not only lost wildlife habitat, but also the steady disappearance of a forest system that naturally captures and holds carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, what scientists call a “carbon sink.” One study argues that rapid deforestation in the southern Appalachian mountains could convert the region from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source by 2025 to 2033. In addition to this, the Appalachian mountains contains “one of the most diverse assemblages of plants and animals found in the world’s temperate deciduous forests.” (Appalachian Voices). The use of mountaintop removal is killing off wildlife, destroying habitats, and creating abnormalities in the waters that are destroying all sorts of marine life. Water downstream of mountaintop removal mines has significantly higher levels of sulfate and selenium, and increases in electrical conductivity. These changes in water quality can directly kill aquatic species, or disrupt their life cycles so severely that populations diminish, or even disappear (Appalachian Voices).
In addition to the various environmental impacts that mountaintop removal has on its surroundings, the multiple health impacts on humans plague communities that are located around mining sites that utilize this mining technique. A lot of these health impacts can be and are fatal and are a result of mountaintop removal mining. Higher cancer rates, respiratory diseases, heart attacks and cardiovascular diseases, and shortened lives are all serious conditions that residents around these mine sites often contract. More statistically, 60,000 cases of cancer in Appalachia have been directly linked to mountaintop removal. Additionally, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Appalachia coal mining communities and overall mortality rates are significantly higher in areas with mountaintop removal (Appalachian Voices).
The specific value of all these environmental and health impacts cannot be specifically pinpointed, however, the cost of mountaintop removal is of immense amounts. Back in 2016, the Obama administration adopted and implemented the Stream Protection Rule. This rule required coal companies to monitor and restore streams to their natural and healthy state before they were impacted by mountaintop removal mining. After a government-funded study, it was found that it would cost 52 million dollars to implement the rule (Coal Mine Next Door). Since then, this rule has been repealed by the Trump administration, however this type of law is what we need to keep these coal mining companies responsible for their actions. Although it may raise the price of the resource because of the companies extra money going into replenishing the ecosystems after damaging them, the greater picture will be worth it when we are able to live more sustainably by keeping these ecosystems intact and healthy. These consequences from mountaintop removal mining obviously have detrimental results. The least these companies can do is to fix what they have damaged.
“Community Impacts of Mountaintop Removal > Appalachian Voices.” Appalachian Voices, appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/community/#:~:text=The%20impacts%20on%20communities%20of,cancer%20and%20other%20health%20issues.
“Ecological Impacts of Mountaintop Removal > Appalachian Voices.” Appalachian Voices, appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/ecology/.
“Human Health Impacts > Appalachian Voices.” Appalachian Voices, appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/health-impacts/#:~:text=Living%20in%20heavily%20mined%20areas,mountaintop%20removal%20and%20lung%20cancer.
Stanley, Kenny. “A Mountaintop Removal Site near Pikeville, Kentucky.” EcoWatch, 2017, www.ecowatch.com/coal-mine-solar-farm-2368328309.html.
“The Coal Mine Next Door.” Human Rights Watch, 27 May 2020, www.hrw.org/report/2018/12/10/coal-mine-next-door/how-us-governments-deregulation-mountaintop-removal-threatens.