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Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining
(4.00 out of 5)Posted by: NomadsLand Associate Editor
Posted on: November 20, 2009
Posted in: Environment, Health, North America, Video
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From a point high above the Appalachian mountains, the cranes look like tiny Tonka Trucks sprinkled on a barren landscape. But these so-called “draglines” are the size of city blocks, towering more than 20 stories… and they are voracious.
In a single scoop they move 100 tons of earth — enough to fill 65 pickup trucks.
They work around the clock, gutting some of the world’s oldest mountains to get at thin seams of coal buried deep below. Blown up rubble and rocks are shoved into creeks and streams, choking them with the pulverized habitat of many creatures — including people.
Welcome to mountaintop removal — a mining practice that always begins the same way: clear cutting mountain forests and placing tons of high explosives to disintegrate mountaintops. So far, coal companies have already flattened an area the size of Delaware across Appalachia, burying 2,000 miles of streams in the process.
Appalachian communities are suffering as a result of mountaintop removal mining. Earthjustice is working through the courts to protect Appalachian communities from this destructive practice and to ensure the Clean Water Act is enforced.
