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Trouble in Appalachia...

BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
I got sent to work in eastern KY a few months ago. While driving through some of the coal mining areas, I was completely blown away by what these companies are doing to the earth. They COMPLETELY LEVEL mountains to get the coal out. I have no issue with mining, you know, digging a hole in the ground and going in to get whatever you're after, but this practice of mountain top removal is just ridiculous. Anyone else know anything about this?
Im no hippie, but I do love fish and streams and the wildlife surrounding them, and this practice DESTROYS these ecosystems.
Horrible, eh?

http://www.appvoices.org/mtr/
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Just to add:
What got me thinking about this was El Presidente's comments about being addicted to oil and using more coal. **** coal. What is this 1822?
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Silver said:
It's kind of like strip mining, no? Except that it's hard to restore a mountaintop when you're done.
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You just cant. Theyre gone for good. All the mud washes away in the creeks and no one carse because its in Kentucky and WVa. Some of the prettiest areas IMO, if you dont mind the armed meth heads, that is.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,518
20,326
Sleazattle
I've seen it while flying over WV. I think they are required to put the mountain top back on but it takes hundreds of years to recover. During the process they end up burying streams or silting them up, killing off water habitat's far away from the mining operations.
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
The streams out there (which used to be prime brooktrout water 100 years ago, Im told) now run coffee brown at all times. Devoid of life except maybe some hardier trash fish and garbage eating possum and racoon.
 
Changleen

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
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Very sad. That happened a little over here back in the day (WAY before I was born even) but it's basically illegal now. Well, it's not, but you would never get a permit for it.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,518
20,326
Sleazattle
WV is a damn beautiful place. Awesome biking, skiing, climing etc....

The irony is this would never happen is California, which for the most part is a lifeless pile of rubble anyway.:rolleyes:
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
ohio said:
Friggin' hippy.
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Whoa there mr. tibetan sandals. I have no intention of lowering my current level of hygiene and I dont own the 1st picket post, but practially speaking, I am majoring in Biology and hoping to get a masters in fisheries managament/biology. Could help, I suppose.
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Changleen said:
12345
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Cant think of a better way into a tank, can you?
No seriously, I hate the ocean, I just like freshwater fish. There are too many Marine Biologists as it is, and few freshwater ones.
 
Changleen

Changleen

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Jan 9, 2004
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Well, good for you then. I have a friend in Oregon who works for the USGS in the water quality / biodiversity area. It seems like a fun job.
 
reflux

reflux

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2002
4,617
2
G14 Classified
BurlyShirley said:
Cant think of a better way into a tank, can you?
No seriously, I hate the ocean, I just like freshwater fish. There are too many Marine Biologists as it is, and few freshwater ones.
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"Is anyone here a marine biologist???"

Sorry, I had no other choice.
 
W

Wondermarmot

Chimp
Dec 11, 2004
12
0
Well I hate to break it to you people, but this has been going on for quite some time. Yes it sucks, but until we can come up with a better alternative thats the way its going to be. While you are sitting here reading this post your computer is probably using electricity that was created using coal fired plants. I think el presidente is actually right about shifting more focus to coal rather than oil. In this country we have maybe 30 years of oil at our current consumption. Our coal resources probably range 200-400 years at current consumption levels. Coal is by far this countries greatest natural resource.
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Still sucks tho. I want more nuclear reactor dammit! I only bring it up because I only recently learned of the situation. I though coal mining was like other mining. You know, a tunnel into the ground or side of a mountain that trucks drive in, load up, and go back out, fill it in when youre done. I have no issue with coal mining, just mountain removal.
 
ohio

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
24
SF, CA
Wondermarmot said:
Yes it sucks, but until we can come up with a better alternative thats the way its going to be.
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Revolutionary idea here: we could try to use less of it, and maybe slow down the literal chopping down of mountains.

People are all about change, unless they're the ones that have to do it.
 
Changleen

Changleen

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Jan 9, 2004
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Underground mining isn't problem free either. Aren't there some huge underground coal fires in the Appalachians somewhere? Like whole seams of coal that have somehow caught fire and are going to burn for like 1000 years? I remember reading about that somewhere.
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Changleen said:
Underground mining isn't problem free either. Aren't there some huge underground coal fires in the Appalachians somewhere? Like whole seams of coal that have somehow caught fire and are going to burn for like 1000 years? I remember reading about that somewhere.
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No form of taking fossil fuels out of the ground is going to be 100% great for nature, I know. But seriously, leveling mountains? I know that runoff and pollution from standard mining isnt great, but its not as devastating, I would guess. Havent heard of the fires, tho.
 
ohio

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
24
SF, CA
Changleen said:
Underground mining isn't problem free either. Aren't there some huge underground coal fires in the Appalachians somewhere? Like whole seams of coal that have somehow caught fire and are going to burn for like 1000 years? I remember reading about that somewhere.
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Centralia, Pennsylvania
 
Changleen

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
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BurlyShirley said:
No form of taking fossil fuels out of the ground is going to be 100% great for nature, I know. But seriously, leveling mountains? I know that runoff and pollution from standard mining isnt great, but its not as devastating, I would guess. Havent heard of the fires, tho.
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I agree, that's nothing compared to leveling mountains. That is wrong.
 
ohio

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
24
SF, CA
Changleen said:
I agree, that's nothing compared to leveling mountains. That is wrong.
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Whatever, if God didn't want us to use the mountains, he wouldn't have put them there and stuffed them full of coal. Besides, it's really harsd to build suburbs and freeways on hillsides. This kills two birds (and a whole lot of fish) with one stone.
 
The Amish

The Amish

Dumber than N8
Feb 22, 2005
645
0
F- that I like my mountains tall and my fish swimmin. Were much better off just gaffin oil from the A-rabs
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Hey, how do you please an Amish woman?























Two men-a-nite.

Haaaaaaahahahha!

Seriously tho. That is F-ed up.
 
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