1. Mountaintop Removal Mining
Consequences
*Statistics are either direct quotes or paraphrased information

2. THE LAND

3. Mountaintop Removal Mining Site
Mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia have demolished an
estimated 1.4 million acres of forested hills.
Source: Sierra Magazine’s “The Cost of Coal”

4. Manmade Mine Crack
Mine cracks form in the land within miles of mtr sites due to the strength
of the mining blast.
Source: Danny Chiotos, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

5. THE WATER

6. Effects on Streams
Mountaintop removal mining waste has buried 1,200 miles of streams.
Source: Time magazine’s “In West Virginia, a Battle over Mountaintop Mining”

7. Not a Waterfall
Mtr has exacerbated mine drainage because there is too much pressure
put on the land to filter out the chemicals:
arsenic, cadmium, boron, mercury, selenium, chromium, and nickel.
Source: Elise Keaton, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

8. Remediation Pool
Lined remediation pools are used to help filter the heavy metals to drop
out of the water; however, they are not always used. Old underground
mines are used as well, and they are not lined.
Source: Elise Keaton, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation

9. THE PEOPLE

10. Mechanized Mining & Unemployment
Mtr mining reduces the amount of jobs in the coal mining industry. MTR
mining replaces manpower with machinery, which lowers the coal
companies’ overhead cost.
Source: Mountaintop Removal Mining and You website

11. Poverty Rates
High levels of unemployment, low incomes, and educational deficits keep
many mtr mining counties among the poorest 10 percent of counties
nationally.
Source: Earthjustice’s “The Poverty of Mountaintop Removal Mining”

12. Larry Gibson’s Grave
Larry Gibson, who died of a heart attack in September 2012, was the
founder of the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. Over 123 acts of
violence were committed against Gibson during his lifetime.
Source: Interview with Larry Gibson