Coal Mining and Reclamation in Appalachia
Coal is produced in Appalachia via both surface and underground mining. Mining methods have changed and advanced over nearly two centuries, improving worker safety and environmental performance. Reclamation was not practiced in the early days of mining, b
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Abstract Coal is produced in Appalachia via both surface and underground mining. Mining methods have changed and advanced over nearly two centuries, improving worker safety and environmental performance. Reclamation was not practiced in the early days of mining, but laws to regulate mining were enacted and performance standards have been developed since the 1960s. Today, mining operations are heavily regulated and the mining and reclamation processes are fully integrated. Mine planning and design, as well as reclamation procedures to establish a suitable post-mining land use, are now required. Reclamation includes landscape reconstruction, mine-site revegetation, and associated activities intended to avoid or mitigate environmental impacts. Today’s coal miners manage mine spoils to limit water contamination by acid mine drainage or other dissolved constituents. Reclamation of coal surface mines is intended to prepare the land for post-mining land use, usually hayland-pasture, forest, or wildlife habitat. Coal mining in Appalachia has had extensive impacts on the landscape and those impacts continue today despite federal and state reclamation regulatory requirements, but at far-reduced levels relative to early mining. Keywords Environmental disturbance · Mine spoil · Revegetation · Valley fill
1 Introduction Coal mining has contributed to the Appalachian coalfield economy for more than a century (Zipper et al. 2021). The coal mining industry provides good-paying jobs, often in places with otherwise limited economic opportunities. Coal mining also supports mining communities in other ways. Mining firms support mine-service and supply businesses; while employees of those businesses and the miners themselves spend money locally, supporting retail businesses, medical services, and other forms J. Skousen (B) West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA e-mail: [email protected] C. E. Zipper Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 C. E. Zipper and J. Skousen (eds.), Appalachia’s Coal-Mined Landscapes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57780-3_3
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of economic activity. Some mining firms have also been major contributors to civic and charitable causes in the communities where they operate. Coal mining, however, also influences coalfield communities in other ways. Despite significant worker health and safety advances, coal mining remains a hazardous occupation (Zipper et al. 2021; Gohlke 2021). Coal mining affects the environment both within and beyond the mine site’s borders, even when the best reclamation practices are used. Here, we provide a brief overview of coal mining, mine reclamation methods, and related activities in Appalachia.
2 Coal Mining In its essence, coal mining is a simple process. The coal lies beneath the ground, embedded among layers of sedimentary rocks. Surface miners remove the overlying or surrounding rocks and then remove the coal. Underground miners excavate the coal while leaving the overlying rock in place to the extent that
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