Mountaintop Mining

Building a New West Virginia

West Virginia Coal Association

Presentation
March 11, 2009
Coal Production in United
States
The Basics

Two distinct coal regions:

Northern West Virginia

Southern West Virginia

 The Basics
West Virginia is:
The second largest coal
producing state in the nation
(161 million tons)
The largest underground coal
producing state (93 million tons)
The largest international coal
exporting state (@ 20 million
tons)
The Economics

Number of active mines:

Underground -- 308
Surface 244
Total employment:
Total of all types 34,527
Underground 13,053

Surface 6,154

Prep Plants 2,342

Contractors 12,978
The Economics
Wages and Benefits:
Average annual salary $62,700
Benefits include health, disability,
life and retirement, etc.

Production and Taxation:

Estimated production value --
$6.8 billion
Coal severance tax -- $418 million
Total taxes paid to West Virginia --
@$1 billion
 Types of Mining
Underground Surface Mining
Room and Pillar Contour Mining
Longwall
Auger Mining
Mountaintop Removal
Mining
 The Basics

Surface mining in general and mountaintop mining in particular, play an essential

role in keeping West Virginia coal competitive in the global marketplace.
Production from surface mine operations constitutes approximately 40 percent of

the total production of West Virginias coal mines (68 million tons of a total of
161 million tons).
 Mountaintop Mining
Surface mining methods are essentially the same as highway
construction
Valley fills are areas where the rock and dirt from mining excavation is placed
according to a plan designed by engineers and approved by government
agencies.
The fills usually occur in dry stream beds of what are known as ephemeral
or intermittent streams streams that flow only when it rains.
 Mountaintop Mining
MOUNTAINTOP MINING is simply coal
mining that occurs at or near the
topmost portion of a mountain.

A Diagrammatic Overview of the Process:

Courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency.
www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/process.html.
Step 3. Draglines excavate lower layers of
coal with spoils placed in spoil piles

Step 1. Layers of rock and dirt above the coal Step 4. Regrading begins as coal excavation
(called overburden) are removed continues

Step 2. The upper seams of coal are removed Step 5. Once coal removal is complete, final
with spoils placed in an adjacent valley regrading takes place and the area is revegetated
 Mountaintop Mining
Critical to the future of communities

Surface Mining Production

Selected Counties

County % Surface Mine Production Total Production

Boone 62 percent 34 million tons
Clay 95 percent 4 million tons
Fayette 43 percent 4 million tons
Kanawha 42 percent 12 million tons
Logan 69 percent 15 million tons
Mingo 53 percent 12 million tons
McDowell 50 percent 6 million tons
Nicholas 72 percent 4 million tons
Raleigh 46 percent 9 million tons
Wayne 55 percent 5 million tons
Webster 88 percent 5 million tons
Wyoming 46 percent 5 million tons
 Mountaintop Mining
REGULATION
Mining operations are regulated under the Clean
Water Act (CWA), including discharges of pollutants
to streams from valley fills (CWA Section 402) and
the valley fill itself where the rock and dirt is
placed in streams and wetlands (CWA Section 404).

Coal mining operations are also regulated under

the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 197
7 (SMCRA)
.

SMCRA addresses the necessary approvals for

surface mining operations, as well as inspection
and enforcement of mine sites until reclamation
responsibilities are completed and all performance
bonds are released. Only if it has been shown that
the proposed mining activities will satisfy general
performance standards applicable to all surface
coal mining operations.
 RESTORATION
The Facts in Photos
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

What you
always
see.

Active MTR
and Contour
Mining
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

The second
phase is
revegetation
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

Early Phase
3
reclamation

reforestatio
n
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

Mid- to late-
Phase 3
Restoration
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

Constructed
water features
enhance post-
mining wildlife
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

Another shot of
the
naturalization
of the land
 Surface Mining
The Facts in Photos

Pre- and
post-mining
appearance
of the land
Alternate Post-Mining
Land Use

and now, the rest of the

story
Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
SMCRA permits surface mined
lands to be left in various non-
original contour configurations if
an alternative use is part of the
planning (ie, recreation, industrial
development, education, etc.)
Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
MINING creates level land, land that has the potential
for many other uses. Properly planned,
mountaintop mining can truly be said to be
building a new West Virginia.

DEVELOPED SITES
West Virginia:
Pete Dye golf course
Mount View High School built in 1980
New Hope Village - homes for 70
families
Knights of Columbus Community Park
built in the 1980s by Buffalo Coal Co
Davis Cemetery
Robert Byrd High School built in the
1970s
Logan County Airport
Weirton housing development and
hospital
Anker Sports Complex
Twisted Gun Golf course
Hilltop hunting preserve
Hatfield-McCoy Trail
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story

Former
surface mines
can provide
the flat land
so essential
to industrial
and
community
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story
Logan
Airport is
built on
former
surface
mine lands
and
provides
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story
Post-mined
land can also
be used for
commercial
agriculture,
such as this
vineyard and
commercial
nursery
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story
The FBI
Center in
Fairmont is
built on a
former
surface mine
site. It
provides jobs
for hundreds
and served as
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story
The Twisted
Gun Golf
Course near
Logan is an
18-hole gem
that provide
British-style
play. It is on a
former
mountaintop
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story
A shopping
mall in
Bridgeport
shows the
wide range of
development
made
possible
across the
state by the
 Alternate Post-Mining Land
Use
The Rest
of the
Story
Former mine
lands provide
sites for
everything
from hospitals
to industrial
plants, golf
courses to
schools and
anything in