The Philadelphia branch of the Environmental Protection Agency has oversight of 16 possible mountaintop removal site permits in the Appalachian mountain range.
Mountaintop removal mining (MTR) is a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to blast as much as 800 to 1000 feet off the tops of mountains in order to reach the coal seams that lie underneath. The resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt, and vegetation are then dumped into surrounding valleys, burying miles and miles of streams under piles of rubble hundreds of feet deep. The sediment gets shaved off of the mountains, and gets dumped into the cities where thousands get their drinking water. This waste is now part of the water that is used for various things.
Activists believe there is a link between power plants in states such as Pennsylvania and mountain top removal in the Virginias. The Pennsylvania Coal Association indicates more than 50 percent of the electricity generated in the U.S. comes from coal-fired power plants. So what is the problem? Recently, a group of 40 concerned community members rallied outside the Region 3 EPA building on Arch Street in Philadelphia, where they demanded that the agency stop approving new permits for mountaintop removal mining. Philadelphia’s Region 3 office reviews MTR permits in Virginia and West Virginia. Activists have fought a losing legal battle against MTR. First, they claimed the practice violated Clean Water Act rules against dumping waste in waterways. But the procedures still go on today causing multiple effects on the health of people who are surrounded by MTR.
Health Effects
Selenium, a toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium, is one of the biggest toxins having negative effects on the environment today because of MTR. High levels of selenium threaten fish survival and reproduction. If they do reproduce, contaminated fish have offspring with serious birth defects. Scientists have found that newly hatched fish have crooked spines and deformed heads due to high levels of selenium. They cannot survive and reproduction will fail, along with an alarming warning that the fish population could potentially become wiped out. This is just one of the negative effects of MTR, many more of them being harmful to people and communities.
Along with the blasting comes an enormous amount of anxiety. Residents describe it as living in a war zone, never knowing when the blast will come and if it is safe to be outdoors. And the chemicals in the explosives have at times formed toxic yellow clouds that hover around people’s homes. Also, flooding is a more common thing due to the wiping out of vegetation and topsoil at the tops of the mountains. Health effects from flooding include the destruction of septic systems, poisoning of surface and ground water, anxiety, homelessness and loss of life.
The air in coal mining regions is frequently filled with coal dust from trucks and trains, as well as ozone and particulate matter from the many coal-fired power plants that are within the region. The most egregious heath effects of coal mining come from polluted water. Mountaintop removal operations have containment ponds that are part of a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System and they feed into streams throughout the region. Coal slurry impoundments and injection of slurry into underground mines leak into ground water. The result is drinking water contaminated with arsenic, iron, lead, selenium, barium and many other metals, plus dangerous organic compounds and chemicals used in the washing process. The health risks of exposure to these chemicals are tremendous, and can travel downstream for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles.
Philadelphia and numerous other cities are taking a stand in order to protect their health and the environment they have to live in. If Mountaintop Removal continues at this rate, there will be many more health risks and effects that will be a great distress to communities. In order to take a stand, and for more information, visit http://mountainaction.org/wordpress. Public policy must change in order to reduce or eliminate the health effects associated with this mining process.
Along with the blasting comes an enormous amount of anxiety. Residents describe it as living in a war zone, never knowing when the blast will come and if it is safe to be outdoors. And the chemicals in the explosives have at times formed toxic yellow clouds that hover around people’s homes. Also, flooding is a more common thing due to the wiping out of vegetation and topsoil at the tops of the mountains. Health effects from flooding include the destruction of septic systems, poisoning of surface and ground water, anxiety, homelessness and loss of life.
The air in coal mining regions is frequently filled with coal dust from trucks and trains, as well as ozone and particulate matter from the many coal-fired power plants that are within the region. The most egregious heath effects of coal mining come from polluted water. Mountaintop removal operations have containment ponds that are part of a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System and they feed into streams throughout the region. Coal slurry impoundments and injection of slurry into underground mines leak into ground water. The result is drinking water contaminated with arsenic, iron, lead, selenium, barium and many other metals, plus dangerous organic compounds and chemicals used in the washing process. The health risks of exposure to these chemicals are tremendous, and can travel downstream for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles.Philadelphia and numerous other cities are taking a stand in order to protect their health and the environment they have to live in. If Mountaintop Removal continues at this rate, there will be many more health risks and effects that will be a great distress to communities. In order to take a stand, and for more information, visit http://mountainaction.org/wordpress. Public policy must change in order to reduce or eliminate the health effects associated with this mining process.
Public Policy
There are ordinances and policies that the government has set up to prevent water pollution that could affect the area’s residents.
The Clean Water Act, signed in 1972, looks to protect the surface water quality throughout the country. At first the act only looked only to the main drop off points, like sewage plants and big industry. The EPA sets standards and regulations that big industry must follow when it comes to chemical release. The EPA does not allow chemical release into “navigable” waters if a permit is not obtained.
But then in the 1980’s they focused their attention on the pollution that occurs in run-off water. Water pollution from run-off water happens from many other types of industry, such as farming. These cases of pollution come from sources that do not use pipes.
The House of Representatives and Congress are looking to pass amendments to the Clean Water Act. The amendment now defines fill material as pollutants that “replaces a portion of the water of the United States with dry land,” and or if you
change the bottom of any body of water.
Another policy that is helping govern the water of Philadelphia is Model Municipal Water Resources Ordinance. The ordinance looks to protect the residents of the area by making sure the groundwater and surface water are clean. The ordinance looks to keep the conditions of streams and the water cycle as it was before development. The municipal is allowed to set higher water treatment standards for builders on land where pollutants may be higher.
The ordinance also looks to protect “buffer zones” which are areas of vegetation that absorb rainwater and filter out pollution that may be in the water before it enters water sources. Waste water is also looked at with the ordinance by exploring new technologies that can restore a higher amount of waste water and put it back into the water cycle.
This ordinance and others like it are continually being looked at by advocacy groups, such as the Clean Water Action. Recently the Clean Water Action has looked to strengthen these ordinances and lobbied their local government to place tougher regulations on water treatment in the area.
The Clean Water Act, signed in 1972, looks to protect the surface water quality throughout the country. At first the act only looked only to the main drop off points, like sewage plants and big industry. The EPA sets standards and regulations that big industry must follow when it comes to chemical release. The EPA does not allow chemical release into “navigable” waters if a permit is not obtained.
But then in the 1980’s they focused their attention on the pollution that occurs in run-off water. Water pollution from run-off water happens from many other types of industry, such as farming. These cases of pollution come from sources that do not use pipes.
The House of Representatives and Congress are looking to pass amendments to the Clean Water Act. The amendment now defines fill material as pollutants that “replaces a portion of the water of the United States with dry land,” and or if you
change the bottom of any body of water.Another policy that is helping govern the water of Philadelphia is Model Municipal Water Resources Ordinance. The ordinance looks to protect the residents of the area by making sure the groundwater and surface water are clean. The ordinance looks to keep the conditions of streams and the water cycle as it was before development. The municipal is allowed to set higher water treatment standards for builders on land where pollutants may be higher.
The ordinance also looks to protect “buffer zones” which are areas of vegetation that absorb rainwater and filter out pollution that may be in the water before it enters water sources. Waste water is also looked at with the ordinance by exploring new technologies that can restore a higher amount of waste water and put it back into the water cycle.
This ordinance and others like it are continually being looked at by advocacy groups, such as the Clean Water Action. Recently the Clean Water Action has looked to strengthen these ordinances and lobbied their local government to place tougher regulations on water treatment in the area.
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