6/18/2003

Pair wishes to save the Appalachian mountain tops

Modern coal mining technique endangers the environment

"I know a lot of people say: 'What does it matter to me? That's in Appalachia.' Well, every time you turn a light switch on, a mountain blows up in West Virginia."
Julia Bonds, 2003 Goldman Environmental Prize winner

By CHRIS FOREMAN

Staff Writer
cforeman@starbeacon.com  

ASHTABULA A common practice of removing mountain tops to reach underlying coal mines threatens the water quality and safety of residents in Appalachian states, two environmentalists said Tuesday.

In particular, more than 1,000 miles of streams in West Virginia have been covered by rubble blown from mountains and pushed into valleys during commercial mining permitted by the government, said Julia "Judy" Bonds, the 2003 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, and Lenny Kohm, conservation director for Appalachian Voices. Bonds and Kohm said they have begun a national campaign to draw support for proposed legislation that would amend the federal Water Pollution Control Act and cease this type of coal mining.

Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Christopher Shays, R-Conn., introduced the resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives Feb. 12, and it was referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, R-Madison, is a member of the subcommittee but was not immediately available Tuesday to comment on the status of the resolution or his opinion of it.

"I know a lot of people say: 'What does it matter to me? That's in Appalachia.' Well, every time you turn a light switch on, a mountain blows up in West Virginia," Bonds said during an interview Tuesday at the Star Beacon.

The practice, which has been used for about 25 years, is akin to "strip mining on steroids" in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and parts of Tennessee, Bonds said. Where strip mining involves slicing around the sides of a mountain and extracting the coal within, the mountaintop removal process opposed by Bonds and Kohm might lop off as much as 800 feet from the top of a mountain.

Earlier this year, a U.S. appeals court overturned a West Virginia federal court's ruling that would have prohibited companies from filling rivers and streams with waste rock and dirt from mountaintop removal operations. Bonds said families in some Appalachian communities sleep in full clothing because of the flooding that occurs during heavy rains on some of the blocked waterways.

Bonds and Kohm said the process not only destroys the natural landscape, but also pollutes drinking water and surrounding land and sends debris flying toward residents' homes. Bonds said it's not only environmentally insane, but also socially evil. She said she'd prefer companies practice conventional deep mining, which would leave the mountain intact.

"We have a saying in West Virginia," Bonds said. Instead of 'Almost Heaven,' it's 'Almost Level.'" Kohm said mountaintop removal has flattened 400,000 acres of mountains in West Virginia. This type of coal mining is almost on a level with terrorism, given the way it places people in danger, he said.

"We just can't treat people that way," said Kohm, a North Carolina resident. "We're not saying stop coal (mining). We all use electricity. But these things aren't coming from a far-off land. This is coming from our own country, and my feeling is we don't have a right to declare them a sacrifice."

Thirty-four representatives have attached their names to the resolution as co-sponsors, including Democrats Sherrod Brown and Dennis Kucinich, both of Cleveland, and Timothy J. Ryan of Niles.

A spokesperson for the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment did not return a telephone call Tuesday requesting a hearing schedule.