Putting Things in Perspective

Julian Martin’s Compendium on Mountain Top Removal Stripmining

L Over 400,000 acres of West Virginia mountain tops have been removed, this is over three times the land in WV state parks.

L Over 80,000,000 board feet (and climbing) of hardwood timber lost every year, forever, to Mountain Top Removal Stripmining

L 1000 miles of streams have been permitted to be buried in Valley Fills.

L Mountain Top Removal blasts are set off that are 10 to 1000 times the force of the Oklahoma City bombing.

L Mining jobs dropped 29% between 1987 and 1997 while production of coal went up 32%.

L The mining industry has destroyed over 100,000 coal mining jobs in the last forty years.

Listen to Bill Maxey, retired director of the Division of Forestry:

"The rate of decapitation of our mountains has increased to 30,000 acres annually, It will take 150 to 200 years before trees will become re-established following such a drastic mining practice."

"All native plant and animals are practically eliminated.

"This irresponsible excavation of coal makes the landscape so unsightly that it ruins tourism."

"It is a sad irony that mountaintop removal actually destroys more coal mining jobs than it creates; union miners are expediently replaced by relatively few heavy-equipment operators.

"I think mountaintop removal is analogous to serious disease, like AIDS..."

Julian Martin is a director of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.