Mountaintop Removal Mining Research Articles

Precipitation Patterns, Mountaintop Removal Mining, and the July 2022 North Fork Kentucky River Flood

ABSTRACT Heavy rain over eastern Kentucky during late July 2022 caused catastrophic flooding along the North Fork Kentucky River. A disproportionate number of the 45 deaths attributed to the flood occurred along or near Troublesome Creek, a tributary that has had 25 percent of its watershed affected by mountaintop removal coal mining over the last 40 years. Flood recurrence intervals at gages along the North Fork ranged from 94 years at Jackson to 2 years upstream at Hazard to 850–1,000 years farthest upstream at Whitesburg. The recurrence interval variability is consistent with the spatial distribution of rainfall during the event, which varied by a factor of 3 over the watershed upstream from Jackson. A topographically driven cumulative flux model based upon a cumulative precipitation map, a lidar digital elevation model, and absorption coefficients calibrated to streamflow and precipitation data show that Troublesome Creek contributed 35 percent of the cumulative discharge of the North Fork at the confluence from 28 percent of the upstream watershed area. Comparison of the calibrated model to a hypothetical model that assumes no mining-related reduction in absorption suggests the maximum increase in cumulative stream discharge during the flood potentially attributable to mountaintop removal mining is 22 percent along the North Fork at Whitesburg, 28 percent along the North Fork at Jackson, 41 percent along Troublesome Creek at its confluence with the North Fork, greater than 50 percent upstream along reaches adjacent to mined areas, and 50 to 150 percent in small tributaries emanating from mined areas.

Can Banks Save Mountains?

Abstract We study bank policies to limit lending to companies engaged in mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, a form of coal extraction that has raised many environmental concerns. Using the staggered introduction of these policies, we document that these policies did not lead to meaningful changes in average bank lending or MTR mining. However, larger banks, banks that are under media pressure, and banks operating in the affected states are more likely to reduce MTR loans. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that banks announced these policies under pressure and to improve their green credentials. (JEL G21, G28, G32) Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Flood fatalities in eastern Kentucky and the public health legacy of mountaintop removal coal mining

ABSTRACT Heavy rains at night caused severe flooding in eastern Kentucky on 28 July 2022, resulting in 39 deaths. Using publicly available information, we assembled a database of these fatalities, including demographic characteristics and location of death. We perturbed fatality locations and plotted them on a topographical map highlighting mountaintop removal mining with valley fill sites, where mountaintops were excavated to mine thin seams of coal. This map reveals many flood fatalities occurred along rivers or streams near such sites. Previous research suggests that surface mining has contributed to the majority of land cover change in this region, and this has increased storm water runoff. The legacy of coal mining in Central Appalachia could thus present immediate challenges to public health and safety beyond more frequently studied health outcomes associated with occupational and environmental exposures. A review of prior surface mining legislation to assess its effectiveness is warranted.

The Road to Blair Mountain: Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

The Road to Blair Mountain: Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

Mines to forests? Analyzing long‐term recovery trends for surface coal mines in Central Appalachia

Mountaintop removal mining, and other surface mining operations have severe, large‐scale impacts on the communities and ecosystems of Appalachia. The impact of this disturbance surpasses that of other land clearing events, such as fire or timber harvesting; mines remove both established vegetation and soil, but also alter landscape topography. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act legally mandates restoration of former mines after the end of mining activity, yet the long‐term outcomes of restoration efforts across Central Appalachia are unknown. We conducted the first regionwide analysis of the lands mined between 1985 and 2015 in Central Appalachia, and explore post‐mining ecological trajectories. Pairing mine‐footprint and remote sensing data, we characterize the vegetation trends and site health at 71,140 mine sites across Central Appalachia. We use first order autoregressive models to describe the rates of recovery, expected long‐term ecological state, and probability of recovery to reference state for former mines. We found that only 7.9% of sites recover to 95% of the forest reference condition in all remote sensing indices. Overall only 0.10% of sites have a 95% probability of reaching or exceeding reference forests in all remote sensing indices. While much of these mined lands are intentionally not being reforested, 19% of mines in Kentucky, 81% of mines in Virginia, and 46.5% of mines in West Virginia have declared forestry as the primary land use for post‐mining operations. Our results indicate that post‐mining forests are not recovering to a level that is consistent with average forest conditions in similar unmined sites.

Maternal proximity to mountain-top removal mining and birth defects in Appalachian Kentucky, 1997-2003.

Extraction of coal through mountaintop removal mining (MTR) alters many dimensions of the landscape. Explosive blasts, exposed rock, and coal washing have the potential to pollute air and water. Previous research suggests that infants born to mothers living in areas with MTR have a higher prevalence of birth defects. In this cross-sectional study, we further examine the relationship between MTR activity and several types of birth defects. Maternal exposure to MTR was assessed using remote sensing data from Skytruth, which captures MTR activity in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Active MTR area was quantified within a five-kilometer buffer surrounding geocoded maternal address captured on birth records for live births to Appalachian Kentucky mothers between 1997 and 2003 (N = 95,581). We assigned high, medium, and low exposure based on the tertile of total MTR area within 5-km, and births with no MTR within this buffer were assigned zero exposure. The presence or absence of a birth defect grouped into six major organ systems was identified using birth records alone. Finally, we applied conditional multiple imputation for variables with missing values before conducting separate multivariable log-binomial regression models for each birth defect group. Prevalence ratio (PR) estimates were adjusted for individual level covariates from birth records. The prevalence of gastro-intestinal defects was significantly higher in birth records with high and low active MTR exposure compared to records with no exposure. (High exposure: PR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.14–3.47; low exposure PR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.06–3.31). This study supports some of the existing findings of previous ecological studies. Research addressing the relationship between gastro-intestinal birth defects and MTR coal mining is warranted but should carefully consider temporal dimensions of exposure.

Toxic Discourse and Indigeneity in Strange as this Weather has Been

Ann Pancake’s novel Strange as This Weather Has Been is a fictional catastrophic disasters novel invoked upon the landscape and its inhabitants by mountaintop removal mining. The author blends elements of her own upbringing in Appalachia to tell the tale of a present-day coal mining family. “Toxic discourse” is a form of environmental literature, which aims to achieve ecological warning by telling the harm of man-made chemical poisons to people and society. In Strange as This Weather Has Been The author describes poisons throughout the whole text. The gradual spread of poisons in geographical space makes the protagonist realize the seriousness of environmental pollution, The severe crisis of surviving environment and the protagonist’s sense of “indigeneity” finally make her realize the awakening of ecological consciousness and take part in the way of environmental protection.

Linking mountaintop removal mining to water quality for imperiled species using satellite data.

Environmental laws need sound data to protect species and ecosystems. In 1996, a proliferation of mountaintop removal coal mines in a region home to over 50 federally protected species was approved under the Endangered Species Act. Although this type of mining can degrade terrestrial and aquatic habitats, the available data and tools limited the ability to analyze spatially extensive, aggregate effects of such a program. We used two large, public datasets to quantify the relationship between mountaintop removal coal mining and water quality measures important to the survival of imperiled species at a landscape scale across Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. We combined an annual map of the extent of surface mines in this region from 1985 to 2015 generated from Landsat satellite imagery with public water quality data collected over the same time period from 4,260 monitoring stations within the same area. The water quality data show that chronic and acute thresholds for levels of aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, conductivity, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, pH, selenium, and zinc safe for aquatic life were exceeded thousands of times between 1985 and 2015 in streams that are important to the survival and recovery of species on the Endangered Species List. Linear mixed models showed that levels of manganese, sulfate, sulfur, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, and zinc increased by 6.73E+01 to 6.87E+05 μg/L and conductivity by 3.30E+06 μS /cm for one percent increase in the mined proportion of the area draining into a monitoring station. The proportion of a drainage area that was mined also increased the likelihood that chronic thresholds for copper, lead, and zinc required to sustain aquatic life were exceeded. Finally, the proportion of a watershed that was mined was positively related to the likelihood that a waterway would be designated as impaired under the Clean Water Act. Together these results demonstrate that the extent of mountaintop removal mining, which can be derived from public satellite data, is predictive of water quality measures important to imperiled species-effects that must be considered under environmental law. These findings and the public data used in our analyses are pertinent to ongoing re-evaluations of the effects of current mine permitting regulations to the recovery and survival of federally protected species.

Diet composition: A proximate mechanism explaining stream salamander declines in surface waters with elevated specific conductivity

Changes in land use, such as mountaintop removal mining with valley fills (MTR-VF), often results in headwater streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Stream salamanders appear to be particularly sensitive to elevated SC, as previous studies have shown occupancy and abundance decline consistently among all species and life stages as SC increases. Yet, the proximate mechanism responsible for the population declines in streams with elevated SC have eluded researchers. We sampled salamander assemblages across a continuous SC gradient (30–1966 μS/cm) in southeastern Kentucky and examined the diet of larval and adult salamanders to determine if the ratio of aquatic to terrestrial prey (autochthony), total prey volume, aquatic prey importance (Ix), and body condition are influenced by SC. Further, we asked if threshold points for each diet component were present along a gradient of SC. Larval salamanders experienced a 12–fold decline in autochthony at 153 μS/cm, a 4.2–fold decline in total prey volume at 100 μS/cm, a 2.2-fold decline in aquatic Ix at 135 μS/cm, and a rapid decline in body condition as SC increased. Adult salamanders experienced a 3–fold decline in autochthony at 382 μS/cm, no change in prey volumes, a 2-fold decline in aquatic Ix at 163 μS/cm, and a decline in body condition as SC increased. Our results indicate that SC indirectly affects stream salamander populations by changing the composition of diet, which suggests that food availability is a proximate mechanism that leads to reduced population occupancy, abundance, and persistence in streams with elevated SC.

The Presence and Impacts of Pollutants On Central Appalachian Crayfishes

Cambarus veteranus and Cambarus callainus are federally endangered and threatened crayfish, that live in the coalfields region of central Appalachia. The dominant industry and land use in this region is coal mining. Currently, the most common form of coal mining in this region is surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal mining. There is a lack of data on the specific impacts of pollutants from mining on crayfish and their congeners. Chemical pollutants along with increased sedimentation from industrial sources are known to cause adverse effects in crustaceans and can even be lethal. It is crucial to better understand how these pollutants are affecting crayfishes inhabiting coalfield streams. This study will assess the bioaccumulation of the metals arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and selenium (Se) in non-imperiled cambarid crayfish that are being used as surrogate species for C. veteranus and C. callainus by analyzing the hepatopancreas and gill tissues. Physical maladies, such as deformed dactyl and gill melanization, will also be quantified. This data, as well as species abundance at each site, will be analyzed to better understand the effects of mining on crayfish.

The Role of Drones in Anti-Mountaintop Removal Activism

This research project examines the usefulness of drones in environmental activism, especially within the fight against mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. The paper examines the tactics of Coal River Mountain Watch and the Appalachian Mountain Patrol, anti-MTR activists that use drone surveillance to enhance their fight against this destructive practice. The use of drones increases the complexity of strategies employed by Appalachian activists and challenges many of the traditionally held, but continually critiqued, stereotypes present in Appalachian research. Beyond a deeper understanding of Appalachian activism, this paper investigates the ways in which knowledge production and epistemological assumptions are challenged by less costly and more accessible technologies such as drones.

The role of mountaintop removal mining in the opioid crisis

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between mining practices in Central Appalachia and opioid use. Central Appalachia, known for coal mining, has one of the highest rates of opioid use in the U.S. Of particular interest is Mountaintop Removal Mining (MTR). MTR is a form of surface mining that requires clearcutting the mountain’s forest before detonating explosives to reveal a coal vein. The vein reveals coal that would not have been accessible using traditional underground mining methods. MTR has been shown to be connected to many adverse health effects, including increased rates of cancer, serious illness, and substance abuse related hospitalizations. The researchers of this study hypothesize that the adverse health effects of MTR may influence opioid abuse. The results of this study revealed a relationship between mining practices in Central Appalachian counties and opioid-related hospital discharge rates and prescription rates.

Surface mining and low birth weight in central appalachia

BackgroundSurface mining has become a significant method of coal mining in the Central Appalachian region of the eastern United States alongside the traditional underground mining. Concerns have been raised about the health effects of this surface mining, particularly mountaintop removal mining where coal is mined upon steep mountaintops by removing the mountaintop through clearcutting forests and explosives. MethodsWe used a control group design with a pretest and a posttest to assess the associations of surface mining in Central Appalachia with low birth weight and other adverse birth outcomes. The pretest period is 1977–1989, a period of low surface mining activity. We consider three posttest periods: 1990–1998, 1999–2011 and 2012–2017, with 1999–2011 as the primary analysis and the other periods as secondary analyses. Surface mining in Central Appalachia increased after 1989, partly resulting from the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 which made surface mining in Appalachia more financially attractive. For the primary analysis, we fit a logistic regression model of the primary outcome (low birth weight, <2500 g) on dummy variables for county and year; individual level maternal/infant covariates (maternal race, maternal age, infant sex and whether birth was a multiple birth); and the amount of surface mining during the year of the birth in the maternal county of residence. ResultsOur analysis sample consisted of 783,328 infants -- 482,284 infants born from 1977 to 2017 to women residing in substantial surface mining activity counties and 301,044 infants born from 1977 to 2017 to women residing in matched control counties. Compared to the pre-period of low surface mining from 1977 to 1989, for the primary analysis posttest period of 1999–2011, there was an estimated relative increase in low birth weight in surface mining counties compared to matched control counties that was not statistically significant (odds ratio for a 5 percentage point increase in area disturbed by surface mining: 1.07, 95% confidence interval (0.96, 1.20), p-value: .22). For the secondary analysis posttest period of 1990–1998, there was no increase (odds ratio: 0.91, 95% confidence interval: (0.74, 1.13), p-value: .41). For the secondary analysis posttest period of 2012–2017, there was a statistically significant relative increase (odds ratio: 1.28, 95% confidence interval: (1.08, 1.50), p-value: .004). Qualitatively similar results were found for the outcomes of very low birth weight, preterm birth and small-for-gestational age. ConclusionsWe examined the hypothesis that surface mining activity in Central Appalachia contributes to low birth weight using an observational study. We found evidence in secondary analyses that surface mining was associated with low birth weight in the 2012–2017 time period and potentially beginning in the early to mid 2000's. Evidence for an association was not found prior to 2000. A potential explanation for this pattern of association is that surface mining caused an increase in low birth weight but its onset was delayed. Future research is needed to clarify the findings and if replicated, identify the mechanism necessary to mitigate the impacts of mining on adverse birth outcomes.

Reclamation : Exposing Coal Seams and Appalachian Fatalism with Digital Apparatuses

The mountainous geography of Appalachia has been shaped by the coal industry since the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era of the United States. Mountaintop Removal (MTR) is a controversial and highly destructive surface-mining method flattening the mountains of Appalachian since the 1970s. The rise in massive energy consumption correlated to consumer electronics, automation, and technocratic neoliberalism have irrevocably flattened the surface and culture of Appalachia. Reclamation is the final act in MTR mining in which the mine operator is obligated to ecologically restore the land. Where MTR sites were once hidden away, and even photographing them is considered an act of trespassing, today I can bear witness to the destruction of the mountain topology by connecting to Google's Earth (not to be confused with earth-Earth). Despite the remote locations and inaccessibility of the sites, the data is particularly rich due to the economical advantages of mapping the region for the coal industry. In this exposition, I make my own reclamation as one in the generation born after the boom of coal production and its inevitable decline. I am reclaiming the 3D geospatial data of MTR and mining disaster sites, extracted from the servers of Google Earth. I recontextualize these geospatial assets to compose a visual prosopography of those surfaces.

The role of mountaintop removal mining in the opioid crisis

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between mining practices in Central Appalachia and opioid use. Central Appalachia, known for coal mining, has one of the highest rates of opioid use in the U.S. Of particular interest is Mountaintop Removal Mining (MTR). MTR is a form of surface mining that requires clearcutting the mountain’s forest before detonating explosives to reveal a coal vein. The vein reveals coal that would not have been accessible using traditional underground mining methods.MTR has been shown to be connected to many adverse health effects, including increased rates of cancer, serious illness, and substance-abuse-related hospitalizations. The researchers of this study hypothesize that the adverse health effects of MTR may influence opioid abuse. The results of this study revealed a relationship between mining practices in Central Appalachian counties and opioid-related hospital discharge rates and prescription rates.

Occupancy and abundance of stream salamanders along a specific conductance gradient

AbstractIn the Central Appalachians (USA), mountaintop-removal mining accompanied by valley fills often leads to streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Thus, the ionic composition of fre...

Constructing a More Closely Matched Control Group in a Difference-in-Differences Analysis: Its Effect on History Interacting with Group Bias

Difference–in–differences analysis with a control group that differs considerably from a treated group is vulnerable to bias from historical events that have different effects on the groups. Constructing a more closely matched control group by matching a subset of the overall control group to the treated group may result in less bias. We study this phenomenon in simulation studies. We study the effect of mountaintop removal mining (MRM)on mortality using a difference–in–differences analysis that makes use of the increase in MRM following the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. For a difference–in–differences analysis of the effect of MRM on mortality, we constructed a more closely matched controlgroup and found a 95% confidence interval

Increased Dementia Mortality in West Virginia Counties with Mountaintop Removal Mining?

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is elevated in areas of mountaintop removal mining (MTM), a practice that has been ongoing in some counties of West Virginia (WV) USA since the 1970s. PM inhalation has been linked to central nervous system pathophysiology, including cognitive decline and dementia. Here we compared county dementia mortality statistics in MTM vs. non-MTM WV counties over a period spanning 2001–2015. We found significantly elevated age-adjusted vascular or unspecified dementia mortality/100,000 population in WV MTM counties where, after adjusting for socioeconomic variables, dementia mortality was 15.60 (±3.14 Standard Error of the Mean (S.E.M.)) times higher than that of non-MTM counties. Further analyses with satellite imaging data revealed a highly significant positive correlation between the number of distinct mining sites vs. both mean and cumulative vascular and unspecified dementia mortality over the 15 year period. This was in contrast to finding only a weak relationship between dementia mortality rates and the overall square kilometers mined. No effect of living in an MTM county was found for the rate of Alzheimer’s type dementia and possible reasons for this are considered. Based on these results, and the current literature, we hypothesize that inhalation of PM associated with MTM contributes to dementia mortality of the vascular or unspecified types. However, limitations inherent in ecological-type studies such as this, preclude definitive extrapolation to individuals in MTM-counties at this time. We hope these findings will inspire follow-up cohort and case-controlled type studies to determine if specific causative factors associated with living near MTM can be identified. Given the need for caregiving and medical support, increased dementia mortality of the magnitude seen here could, unfortunately, place great demands upon MTM county public health resources in the future.

Why We Care about (Non) fictional Places

Cognitive ecocriticism draws on research in neuroscience and cognitive narratology to explore how literary reading can lead us to care about natural environments. Ann Pancake’s novel Strange as This Weather Has Been (2007) serves as an example of a novel that cues both direct and empathetic emotions for an actual environment—the Appalachian Mountains—that is wounded and scarred. I argue that the novel’s protagonists allow readers to imaginatively experience what it is like to love an environment and then witness its destruction by mountaintop removal mining. Pancake’s decision to relate large parts of the story through the consciousness of teenagers allows for highly emotional perspectives that have the potential to engage readers in the social and moral issues around resource extraction.

Earth–world–planet: Rural ecologies of horror and dark green criminology

This article responds to green criminology. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of the coal-producing region of Appalachia and the processes of mountaintop removal mining, the article engages contemporary philosophy, ecocriticism, and “dark ecology” to suggest that green criminology rethink its linguistic categories and epistemological assumptions. The article employs an analysis of some examples of horror cinema to suggest criminological engagement with “ecologies of horror” and the “horrors of ecology” that condition life in the shadow of harmful modes of resource extraction. It concludes with some thoughts on the potential of a “dark” green and green-cultural criminology.