mountain top removal ppt

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MountainTop Removal Sascha Seide EDU 290 T/Th 9:30 a.m. 1

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Page 1: Mountain top removal ppt

MountainTop Removal

Sascha SeideEDU 290

T/Th 9:30 a.m.

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Page 2: Mountain top removal ppt

What IS MountainTop Removal?

• Mountaintop Removal is a process where mining companies literally remove the top of a mountain so as to gain access to the coal buried within. (Source 2)

• This process usually leaves ecosystems and communities in wrecks. (Source 1)

• It destroys forest and water ecosystems, wipes out the natural beauty of mountain areas, and leaves waste to further the damage. (Source 1)

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What is Mountaintop Removal?

• Also Called:–M.T.R. – Valley Fill Mining– “Strip mining on steroids.”– “Mountain Range Removal.”

(Source 1)

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Purpose of Mountaintop Removal

• Why do it?– Mountaintop removal has the aim of gaining access to

greater amounts of coal than in traditional ways.– Mountaintop Removal is a cheaper form of mining.(Source 1)

– Mountaintop Removal requires less workers. (Source 1)

– Not many Americans are aware of the process and how hazardous it is.• Very little awareness or opposition.

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Steps and Effects

• Step One of Mountaintop Removal:– Forests are cut away and cleared.• Topsoil, herbs, and lumber are cleared out and

scraped away.

– Explosives are brought in. • Explosives blow up to 800 feet off the top of mountain

tops. (Source 1 and 2)

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Steps and Effects

• Step Two of Mountaintop Removal:– “Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams,

destroying natural watersheds, leaving no vegetation, and turning the terrain into unusable land.” (Source 4)

– Machines with massive shovels dig up and haul soil away from the site, often pushing it into nearby valleys. This creates what is called a, “valley fill.” (Source 1 and 2)

– There are many rivers and streams that run through the valleys of the Appalachian mountains, but because of Valley Fills, more than 1,000 rivers have been covered with soil and rocks from the top of mountains. (Source 2)6

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Steps and Effects• Step 3 of Mountaintop Removal:– Giant machines, called draglines, dig

into the ground and expose the coal.– Draglines are as tall as a 20-story

building and can weigh almost 8 million pounds.

•Step 4 of Mountaintop Removal:Other machines dig out the coal.

(Source 1)7

Page 8: Mountain top removal ppt

Steps and Effects

• Step 5 of Mountaintop Removal:– After all of the coal has been removed from the

mountain, companies are supposed to work and pay for the Reclamation of the mountain.

– Companies are “supposed” to replant vegetation and promote the regeneration of the site.

– They often skip this step. (Source 2)8

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Steps and Effects• Effects:– Even in the first steps of Mountaintop Removal,

wildlife habitats and vegetation are cleared away and ruined. (Source 1)

– Without any topsoil or vegetation to hold the structure of the mountain, floods and landslides occur more often. (Source 1 and 2)

Page 10: Mountain top removal ppt

Steps and Effects

Effects of Coal Washing:

-Coal Washing is seen as a way of making coal burn more efficient and in a more clean manner. (Source 3)

-Coal Washing grinds the coal into smaller pieces and separates the coal from impurities. (Source 3 and 4)

-Although Coal Washing may make the burning of coal cleaner for the air, in actuality, there are other environmental repercussions. (Source 3)

-The impurities left from coal washing end up in sludge ponds left in the holes of Mountain Top Removal sites. (Source 1 and 2)

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Steps and Effects

Coal Washing:• The sludge ponds contain

gallons of contaminated water filled with toxic chemicals and heavy metals. (Source 1)

• Coal sludge includes ingredients of water, coal dust, clay, arsenic, mercury, lead, copper and chromium. (Source 2 and 4)

• These sludge ponds are sometimes held by unstable mining –debris damns that ominously hang over communities. (Source 2 and 4)

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Steps and Effects• Effects on the Community–Many people that live in the areas and

valleys of where Mountaintop Removal takes place, leave for various reasons:• Rock that is blasted off the mountain could fall

on top of a house that is laying below.• The communities that they live, become more

hazardous areas. The risk of floods and landslides are high. • Noise.• Leaves native miners without jobs.• Drinking water is polluted.

(Source 2)

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Steps and EffectsWaste-Mining companies leave behind a lot of

waste after they complete their mining. They leave behind debris and trash materials, which makes sites toxic for future plant growth.(Source 2)

-Not only does it strip the land of any nutrients, mining companies fail to promote reclamation and make it impossible for the mountains to naturally return to their natural state. (Source 2)

-They also leave behind poisonous sludge ponds that, during rainy seasons, can flood over, wash away, and ruin any future chance of developing forests in valleys below. (Source 1) 13

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Where does Mountaintop Removal Take Place?

• It happens here in the U.S.• The Appalachian mountains are the

main target for Mountaintop Removal because of the abundance of coal.

• It happens in the states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

(Source 2)

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Alternatives to MountainTop Removal

• High Wall Mining– Requires more workers• Would supply more jobs for the already poor natives in

the area.

– Less invasive of the ecosystem. • Miners drill into the side of the mountain, creating a

tunnel, to gain access to coal.• A small percentage of the ecosystem is affected. (Source 1)

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Stop MountainTop Removal!

• Support the Clean Water Act.– Set up by the U.S. House of Representatives.

• Support the Appalachian Restoration Act.– Set up by the U.S. Senate.

• Follow the “First 100 Days,” a 4 Point Plan.– Set up by the Obama Administration.

(Source 2)

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The End!

Thank You!

Page 18: Mountain top removal ppt

Sources

1. Mountain Justice. 14 Feb. 2011 <http://mountainjustice.org/index.php>.

2. Appalachian Voices. iLoveMountains.org. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ilovemountains.org/index.php>.

3. BBC News. Clean coal technology: How it works. 28 Nov. 2005. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/4468076.stm>.

4. Olson&Farlow. Olson & Farlow: Mountaintop Removal. 2009. <http://melissa.olsonfarlow.com/photography/mountaintop-removal/>.

Page 19: Mountain top removal ppt

Pictures• Slide 1:

-http://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/appalachian-mountains-rock-ice-age

• Slide 2:http://free-extras.com/images/appalachian_mountains-12059.htm

• Slide 3:-http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/endangered-vacations-47060902

• Slide 4:-http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/mountaintop-removal-mining-video.php

• Slide 5:-http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-mountaintops-cut-first-then-mountaineers-voices

• Slide 6: Valley Fill-http://www.wvgazette.com/static/series/mining/MINE0331.html

Page 20: Mountain top removal ppt

Pictures• Slide 7: Dragline

-http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/MountaintopRemoval/• Slide 8:

-http://melissa.olsonfarlow.com/photography/mountaintop-removal/• Slide 9:

-http://mountainridgeprotectionact.com/appalachian-voices-and-environmental-groups-for-wind/why-does-appalachian-voices-support-mountain-top-removal-for-wind-turbines/

• Slide 11: Sludge Pond-http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/06/

• Slide 13:-http://www.onepennysheet.com/category/energy/page/2/

• Slide 14:-http://www.allposters.com/-st/Photography-Posters_c623_.htm

• Slide 15:-http://twilightandliteracy.webs.com/ifirstdayofschool.htm

• Slide 17:- http://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/appalachian-mountains-rock-ice-age