The Hunt for the Black Diamond: The History and the Environmental Impact of Mountaintop Coal Mining

in Southern West Virginia

Keith Rakes

HIST 454

What's being covered

• History of Mountaintop coal mining

• Coal mining company organization and management structure

• Environmental effects on streams and aquatic life

• Government interests (laws and environmental agencies)

• Private conservation groups

• The company camp and town profile

Thesis…

• The effects of mountaintop coal mining has had a pronounced effect on the environment, the local residents, and the economy of West Virginia.

The State of West Virginia

• Few native tribes lived in the area, land was used as a hunting ground prior to European arrival

• Europeans moved from western Pennsylvania into the present day state

• Claimed and was a part of Virginia before statehood

• Statehood granted in 1863

• Major Industries: Coal, and Logging

The Southern Appalachian Mountains

History of Mining in West Virginia

• Mining began while still a part of the state of Virginia in the early 1800’s.• Mining increased significantly following the 1863 statehood, and during the civil

war.• The Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk & Western Railroads built lines purposely for

extraction of coal.• Shaft mining was used early to export coal out of the mountains.• Companies owned mineral rights to land, letting homesteaders live on the land

while miners worked underground.• Mining was seen as a way for to get out of poverty.• Companies built company camps and towns for the miners. These camps

contained company homes, hospital, schools, and the famous company store.• Unions start pushing into Southern West Virginia in the early 1900’s, touching

Mine Wars against the mining companies.– 1912-1913 and 1920-1921 were the bloodiest years of the wars– The Battle of Blair Mountain (1921) resulted in the deaths of many miners, company security

guards, local law enforcement, and US troops.– Unions were finally allowed into the area in the 1950’s.

History of Mountaintop Mining

• Started in the 1960’s due to an increase demand for coal.

• Increased during the 1970’s petroleum crisis.– Deemed more economically

viable than traditional shaft mining.

• Amendments added to the Clean Air Act in the 1990’s for the increase usage of low-sulfur coal which was more sought after than other types of coal. Lead to an increase in mountaintop mining in Southern West Virginia, as well as other states.

Legal Aspects

• Mountaintop removal mining has been allowed by the federal government in section 515(c)(1) of the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1973.

• Clean Water Act prohibits mining within 100 feet of stream, but the rule has been loosely enforced.

• Permits are needed for valley fill operations (through the EPA)

• 2008, the Bush Administration removed a Stream Buffer Zone rule, allowing mining companies to place debris directly on top of headwater waterways.

• The Obama Administration has recently strengthened rules and regulations regarding mining companies receiving permits for mountaintop mining operations.

So how does mountaintop mining work?

• Involved the removal of an entire mountain for easier access to coal.• Mountain is completely clear cut (trees shipped to lumber mills and yards)• Topsoil is removed and saved for reclamation after mining is complete, but

companies can receive waivers to place a topsoil substitute on the site.• Once topsoil is removed, explosives are used to remove rock and subsoil,

called overburden. This is saved for reclamation use.– If there is not enough storage facilities, nearby valleys are used and streams

are buried by the overburden.

• After the removal of overburden is complete, the extraction of coal begins.

• Once a coal pit is empty, the overburden is placed in the open pit, this process continues until coal extraction is complete.

• Generally, the overburden is used in rebuilding the mountain as it was, and revegitation.

Mountaintop Mining site

A Visual

Hebet Mountain 1984 Hebet Mountain 2009

Modern Mining Organizational Structure

Current Laws Governing Coal Extraction

• Prior to the 1940’s, Coal extraction focused on profit than mining safety

• Massive explosions in 1940 and 1941 led to a change in policy– Federal Coal Mine Safety Act (1941): Granted Bureau of Mines

authority to conduct annual mine inspections, but no enforcement powers.

– Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act (1969)- increased mine inspections and enforcement powers

– Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA)-Governing body on mine safety• Focus on monetary penalties for mine violations, and medical benefits

for miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, known as miner’s black lung.

• 1977, MESA moved to the Department of Labor and renamed MSHA.

Impact of Mountain Streams

• 2,000 miles of headwater streams are heavily polluted due to valley fills (EPA estimate).

• 2008 EPA study showed a significant increase of electricity-conducting metallic ions downstream from valley fills.

• Water that emerges from the base of valley fills contain high levels of toxic material of:– Sulfate– Calcium– Magnesium– Bicarbonate Ions that generate

sulfuric acid

Effects on Aquatic life

• Deformities of larval fish• Blackside Dace, a small

fish in West Virginia streams, are being threatened due to deforestation and polluted waters

• The Mayfly has been eliminated from streams due to valley fills, making it an indicator species of an mountaintop coal mining impact

More Effects on Local Fish

Blackside Dace

Current Conservation Efforts

• As stated earlier, coal mining companies are required to reclaim and revegitate the land once coal extraction is completed.

• American Chestnut Foundation is revegitating lands with American Chestnut Trees, and a hybrid of American and Chinese Chestnut

• Concerning stream creation and restoration– Waterways are either manipulated and allowed to restore itself– Stream creation is almost no effective

• Conservation Organizations:– Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) aims to preserve the

environment of West Virginia– Blair Mountain Heritage Alliance: aims at protecting Blair Mountain, a

site of a historic 1921 battle between striking miners (unionized and nonunionized) against coal mining companies, hired security forces, and the US Army.

– Other conservation organizations in Virginia, and Kentucky

The Coal Town: Thurmond, WV

• Founded: 1900

• Not a coal mining camp, but flourished as a railroad town near the mines.

• Heyday: 1930 with a population of 462.

• Today: owned and operated by the National Park Service, but has a population of 7 people

The Company Town: Whipple, WV

• Founded in the early 1900’s near the Sewell seam of Coal in Fayette County, WV.

• Three companies worked the coal seam:– Whipple Colliery Co. (abt. 1890-1957)– White Oak Fuel Co. (1899- 1965)

• New River Coal Co. took over the mine till its closing in 1965.

– Two camps: Carlisle and Whipple were built to house the miners and their families (later merged into one community).

– Today contains many still livable company houses, a restored company store, and many ruins of the mine.

Images of Whipple, WV

Company Houses Company Store

Mine Ruins at Whipple, WV

Mine Tipple (what buildings were used for is unknown) Maybe a Repair Shop

Which theme of environmental history does mountaintop mining represent?

• 1. Environmental factors influence human history: Appalachian coal, the US needs coal for factories and homes, Mining companies commercialize to extract coal for profit.

• 2. Environmental “rebound effect”: coal miner black lung, mining disasters

• 3. History of human thought on the environment: explosion of grassroots conservation groups in protecting the Appalachian Mountains from further coal exploitation.

Too close to school…

Concluding Thoughts

• Mountaintop mining has had a hugely negative impact on the people, the water and the environment in general of West Virginia.

• Even though government regulations have increased to help the miners, the mining companies still have a large political hand and can greatly influence politicians for their needs.

• Since the country still relies on coal for fuel, mountaintop coal mining will continue for the foreseeable future.

Sources

• Salstrom, Paul. "Matawan before the Massacre: Politics, Coal, and the Roots of Conflict in a West Virginia Mining Community." Journal Of Southern History 76, no. 2 (May 2010): 483-484.

• Channell, Emily S. "Coal Miners' Slaughter: Corporate Power, Questionable Laws, and Impunity." North American Dialogue 14, no. 1 (April 2011): 12-22.

• Humphreys, John, H., Gibson, Jane, W., Oyler, Jennifer, D.: Upward Defiance in Organizations: management Lessons from the Battle of Blair Mountain.” Journal of Management History 19, no. 3 (2013): 304-326

• Wheeler, Hoyt, N., “Mountaineer Mine Wars: An Analysis of the West Virginia Mine Wars of 1912-1913 and 1920-1920” The Business History Review, 50 no. 1 (Spring, 1976): 69-91

• McQuaid, John. “The Razing of Appalachia: Mountaintop Removal Revisited” Yale Environment 360 (online publication) http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_razing_of_appalachia_mountaintop_removal_revisited/2150/ (accessed May 25, 2014).

• M. A. Palmer, E. S. Bernhardt, W. H. Schlesinger, K. N. Eshleman, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, M. S. Hendryx, A. D. Lemly, G. E. Likens, O. L. Loucks, M. E. Power, P. S. White and P. R. Wilcock. “Mountaintop Mining Consequences” Science Magazine vol. 327 (January, 2010) 148-153 http://www.sciencemag.org/content/327/5962/148.summary (accessed May 22, 2014).

•

• Fields-Johnson, Christopher, W., Evans, Daniel, M., Zipper, Carl, E., “American Chestnut Establishment Techniques on Reclaimed Appalachian Surface Mined Lands.” Ecological Restoration 30, no. 2 (November, 2012) 99-100

•

• Holl, Karen, D. “Long-term Vegetation Recovery on Reclaimed Coal Surface Mines in the Eastern USA” Journal of Applied Ecology 39 (2002): 960-970•

• Lutz, Brian, D., Bernhardt, Emily, S., Schlesinger, William, H., “The Environmental Price Tag on a Ton of Mountaintop Removal Coal” Plos One 8, no. 9 (September, 2013) 1-5. www.plosone.org (accessed May 20, 2014)

•

• Bernhardt, Emily, S., Palmer, Margaret, A., “The Environmental Costs of Mountaintop Mining Valley Fill Operations for Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachians” The Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1223 (2011): 39-57

• Unknown author: “Battle of Blair Mountain.” Wikipedia: 1-7, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_blair_mountain (accessed May 24, 2014)• Unknown Author: “Thurmond, WV.” Wikipedia: 1-6, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurmond,_West_Virginia (accessed May 25, 2014)

More Sources

• http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/index.html• http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/river/newriver.htm• http://www.coalheritage.wv.gov/coal_history/Pages/Comp

any-Towns.aspx• http://blairmountain.org/history/• http://www.pawv.org/news/blairhist.htm• http://www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal/007

/• http://www.wvcoalhistory.com/• http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvhs1503.html• http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvhs1502.html