Bringing Down The Mountains

Bringing Down the Mountains:
The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004

by Shirley L. Stewart Burns

Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History.

“In 1970, 45,261 West Virginia jobs were supplied due to coal mining and 143,132,284 tons of coal were produced. Thirty-two years later, in 2002, 15,377 people were employed by the coal companies and together they produced 163,896,890 tons of coal.“

“Surface mines destroyed people’s lives on a whole different level, and left them virtually helpless to stop it. Mountaintop removal mines polluted streams and filled in valleys. Some of these valley fills are among the largest man-made earthen structures in the world.“

“The massive machines on mountaintop removal sites have ensured that more coal can be obtained with less human labor and greatly increased productivity.The expansion of mountaintop removal in West Virginia since its inception in the 1970s has grown at an accelerated pace from forty-four permits covering 9,800 acres throughout the 1980s to the granting of permits covering 12,540 acres in a nine-month period in 2002 alone.“

http://kitkat.wvu.edu:8080/files/4047/Stewart_Burns_Shirley_dissertation.pdf

The above three passages copied with permission.

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I’m bringing this information to you for a couple of reasons. One of those is although I talk a lot on the subject of mountaintop removal rant style on this blog - everything I say is based in fact.

Something I have mentioned here before - one reason I feel so comfortable talking and ranting about mountaintop removal is because the reader doesn’t have to take my word for anything. The facts are there - all you have to do is look. The dissertation is full of facts with sources. If you are serious about learning the facts about mountaintop removal coal mining - the dissertation is a must read.

Shirley also wrote a book with the same title. (clicking the photo will take you to Amazon)

The other reason for bringing all this up - I want to introduce two new co-authors to the Stop MTR blog - Matthew Burns, a Wildlife Management Specialist, and his wife Shirley Stewart Burns who has her PhD in history.

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I love the way the Stop MTR blog is taking on a personality and a presence of its own. From its creation, I have been a little worried about the blog being directly connected to this blog. When I say that I mean most traffic to it was coming either from here or just a couple of other blogs. Although I am very fond of voicing my opinion - my opinions are not enough no matter how many blogs I author.

The Stop MTR blog now has five authors. It is ranking high in Google for MTR related search info and has been referred to a few times already as the best new source for mountaintop removal related info out there. Although that is a wonderful thing to hear from someone - being the best was not my intention. The intention was to supply the reader with all of the proof available. Nothing myself or anyone else tells you has to be taken at face value - it is easy research and we supply the research material. That was my intention. We are there to make the reader aware of all the devastating aspects of mountaintop removal coal mining and we have proof of what we tell you.

I hope you stop by and welcome two new co-authors to the Stop MTR blog and new to the blogging community but definitely not new in the battle against mountaintop removal coal mining.