More than 200 congressional allies supported the effort over the years, but it was ultimately unsuccessful due to industry lobbying.
The president and federal agencies
also have the ability to halt mountaintop removal mining through strict mine permits and strong federal rules.
Who is responsible for mountaintop removal?
For 20 years, coal companies blasted off the mountaintops around the house of
Rick Bradford
, a retired teacher in Edwight, West Virginia, to excavate thin coal seams buried hundreds of feet deep.
How did mountaintop removal start?
Mountaintop removal is a relatively new type of coal mining that began in
Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of conventional strip mining techniques
. … Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal.
Is mountaintop removal regulated?
Mountaintop removal is also
regulated at the federal level by the Clean Water Act (CWA)
, which applies to a broad range of activities that affect water quality.
Who enforces the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977?
This Act establishes a program for the regulation of surface mining activities and the reclamation of coal-mined lands, under the administration of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement,
in the Department of the Interior
.
Why is mountaintop mining so controversial?
The most controversial mines are known as mountaintop removal mines
because coal companies literally remove the tops of mountains with dynamite and earth-moving machines, called draglines, in order to reach coal seams
. … The scale of these mines is matched by the social and environmental problems they create.
What is a problem associated with mountaintop removal mining?
This destructive practice, known as mountaintop-removal mining, sends
carcinogenic toxins like silica into the air
, affecting communities for miles around. … It also destroys beautiful, biodiverse forests and wildlife habitat, increases the risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities.
Does mining destroy mountains?
Tragically, mountaintop removal
mining has already destroyed more than 500 mountains
encompassing more than 1 million acres of Central and Southern Appalachia. …
How does blasting affect the environment mountaintop removal?
Contaminants from mountaintop removal
even poison the drinking water of downstream communities
. And this form of mining makes a twofold contribution to climate change: The forests destroyed in the process no longer store carbon, and the burning of the coal that’s mined releases carbon into the atmosphere.
Is mining destroying the Earth?
Mines that cut through
underground streams and aquifers
can cause the depressurisation and drying out of water tables. … This can impacts both underground aquifers and bodies of water at surface level, which either vanish into the earth or become contaminated with toxic materials from the cracked rock layers below.
What will happen to an abandoned strip mine over time?
An abandoned strip mine
will partially recover over time
. Without human intervention, however, its recovery will be minimal. Explain why mining has such a large impact on the environment. Mining has a large impact on the environment because minerals are contained within the Earth.
Which laws oversee reclamation in the US?
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA)
is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands.
Is mountaintop removal mining still happening?
Since the 1970s, the coal industry has blown up more than 500 of the oldest, most biologically rich mountains in America and destroyed more than 2,000 miles of headwater streams. Despite an ongoing citizen movement to end the destruction, and despite the decline in coal,
it’s still happening
.
Which agency regulates surface coal mining operations and reclaims abandoned mines?
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
is the primary regulator of coal mining under SMCRA until a State or Indian Tribe demonstrates that it has developed a regulatory program that meets all of the requirements in the SMCRA and implementing regulations issued by OSMRE (30 CFR Chapter VII).
What power did National Reclamation Act give the federal government?
The Reclamation Act (also known as the Lowlands Reclamation Act or National Reclamation Act) of 1902 ( Pub. L. 57–161) is a United States federal law that
funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of 20 states in the American West
.
Is mountaintop removal the same as strip mining?
Mountaintop removal mining devastates the landscape, turning areas that should be lush with forests and wildlife into barren moonscapes. … Mountaintop
removal coal mining
, often described as “strip mining on steroids,” is an extremely destructive form of mining that is devastating Appalachia.
Why is mountaintop removal legal?
The 1972
Clean Water Act
empowered the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate pollutants in “waterways of the United States.” The US Army Corps of Engineers shares authority in enforcing the Clean Water Act and, since 1989, it has been responsible for issuing permits for mountaintop removal valley fills.
How can mountaintop removal be prevented?
- 1 Be Energy Efficient. One answer is that opportunities for energy efficiency in the US are huge. …
- 2 Invest in Renewable Energy. …
- 3 Stop Exporting Coal.
How is coal extracted from mountaintop removal mines?
In mountaintop removal, entire coal seams running through the upper portion of a mountain are
mined by removing all of the overburden (rock or soil overlying a mineral deposit), creating a level plateau or gently rolling contour
. This type of mining is sometimes considered a variation of contour mining.
What company was responsible for much of the destruction of mountains in Appalachia?
The Central Appalachia Mining Co.
planned to deforest and demolish several mountain peaks in order to excavate 7.3 million tons of coal — the technique known as mountaintop removal. The resulting debris would fill five nearby valleys, burying more than 3Â1⁄2 miles of streams under massive, sculpted piles of rocks.
What is a common criticism of mountaintop removal mine reclamation?
What is one common criticism of mountaintop removal mine reclamation? –
The Appalachian Mountains are a region of extremely high biodiversity and the reclaimed sites will not recover similar levels of diversity
.
How does mountaintop removal affect soil?
Mountains are stripped of their natural topography by
mass deforestation and land moving
, and waste rock, or overburden, is dumped into nearby valleys, killing wildlife, contaminating drinking water, and polluting the air and soil.
Does Ohio allow mountaintop removal?
Mountaintop removal mining involves removing the top of a mountain in order to recover the coal seams contained there. This practice occurs in six Appalachian states (Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Ohio).
What are the economic impacts of mountaintop removal?
Mountaintop removal not only whittles away underground mining jobs, it also creates
enormous barriers to economic development and diversification
, by making the area less attractive for other industries, due to the pollution of the land, air and water.
How much resources are left in the world?
A total of
61.1 billion tons of metal ores
, fossil energy, and non-metallic minerals are extracted from Earth a year (2020 estimate). On top of this comes 20.5 billion tons of biomass – trees, fish and so on (not included here).
What resources are extracted from the earth?
Ores recovered by mining include
metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay
. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory.
Is there still coal mining in Appalachia?
Surface coal mining methods in the steep terrain of the central Appalachian coalfields include mountaintop removal, contour, area and highwall mining. Coal mining operations are found in
Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama and Tennessee
.
Which type of mining is likely the least harmful to the environment?
Placer mining
can be less damaging to the environment than surface mines, as the sediment is returned to the water after the minerals have been extracted. Compare surface, subsurface, and placer mining in terms of damage to the environment.
What is the most likely consequence of open pit mining on plant life?
The soil looses it’s fertility. This converts the mining site into a barren land. Therefore,
the complete loss of plant life in the area occupied by the surface mine
is the most likely consequences of open pit mining on plant life.
Why is sand mining bad?
Disturbance of underwater and coastal
sand causes turbidity in the water
, which is harmful for organisms like coral that need sunlight. It can also destroy fisheries, financially harming their operators. … Sand mining is regulated by law in many places, but is often done illegally.
Is mountaintop mining bad?
The air and water pollution caused by this mining practice, which involves deforesting and tearing off mountaintops to get at the coal, is leading to increases in
cardiovascular disease
, lung cancer, pulmonary disease, and birth defects, his research shows.
How is coal extracted from mountaintop removal mines quizlet?
How is coal extracted from mountaintop removal mines?
Dynamite is used to break apart rocks and then draglines are used to remove the broken rock and reach the coal
. You just studied 9 terms!
What is the US Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation responsible for?
The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), an agency within the Department of the Interior (DOI), is responsible for
the management and development of many of the large federal dams and water diversion structures in the 17 conterminous U.S. states west of the Mississippi River
.
Why is it called Bureau of Reclamation?
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was created shortly after President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Reclamation Act on June 17, 1902. The law was
meant to address water scarcity and lack of settlement in far western states by improving water storage and transmission systems for irrigation projects
[1].
What does the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement?
The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement
protects populations and the environment during surface coal mining operations
. The Office also works to clean and put to good use abandoned mine sites. These missions are accomplished primarily through regulation and oversight of state programs.
Who enforces the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act?
This Act establishes a program for the regulation of surface mining activities and the reclamation of coal-mined lands, under the administration of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement,
in the Department of the Interior
.
Who regulates the coal industry?
The Department of Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
and delegated states regulate coal mining activities.
Is the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act successful?
This is the true success of SMCRA. About 29.5 billion tons
of coal have been
mined while SMCRA has been in place. Most of that, about 90 percent, was used to generate electrical power. During this same time, the coal mining industry has successfully reclaimed more than 2 million acres (2,238,560) of mined lands.
