Mountaintop Removal

Forests are clear–cut and undergrowth removed. Explosives are used to reduce to rubble over 500 feet from the tops of mountains. The rubble is scooped up and dumped into nearby valleys and sludge ponds are created to hold in the waste coal sludge. This practice poisons waterways downstream, destroys wildlife habitat, increases run-off, erosion and flooding and erases entire communities. By 2005, mountaintop removal had buried and contaminated more than 1,200 miles of streams in Appalachia and by 2009, a forested area nearly the size of Delaware had been destroyed. 

-Sierra Club, NRDC

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Reduce your reliance on coal-powered electricity by choosing renewable energy options whenever possible

• Support legislation and local campaigns that ban or restrict mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.

• Support groups working to restore damaged Appalachian streams, forests, and communities affected by mountaintop removal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND HOW TO HELP

Visit:

• Appalachian Voices

• I Love Mountains

• Coal River Mountain Watch

• Sierra Club – Beyond Coal Campaign