Mountaintop Mining

Mountaintop mining is a type of surface mining that involves removing the top of a mountain to access underlying coal seams. The practice has been controversial because it can cause significant environmental damage, including destroying forests and wildlife habitat, polluting water resources, and creating large amounts of waste.

Despite the controversies, mountaintop mining continues to be practiced in several countries, including the United States. In the U.S., mountaintop mining is primarily used in the Appalachian region for extracting coal deposits. According to some estimates, mountaintop mining operations in the U.S. have destroyed more than 500 mountains and buried more than 2,000 miles of streams.

The primary method of mountaintop removal mining is called “area” or “contour” mining. This approach involves using explosives to remove layers of rock and soil from a mountainside in order to reach the underlying coal seam. The removed material is then typically dumped into nearby valleys, where it can bury streams and disrupt ecosystems.

Another method of mountaintop removal mining is called “longwall” mining. This approach uses a large machine to cut long tunnels into a coal seam, which can be up to 1 mile long and 500 feet high. The tunnels are then used to extract the coal seam through an underground mine shaft system. Longwall mining can also cause environmental damage by releasing pollutants into groundwater or causing sinkholes when tunnels collapse.