[cig107]

CO87: Since no industry keeps up with total land being mined. You may want to contact the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation, I'm sure they should have that number somewhere. Everyone has to keep in mind that not every mountain top or ridgeline has mineable coal reserves. I've seen several instances where there would be 5 foot of coal one ridge and less than a foot on the next ridge over. Coal seams are very sporadic especially around the top of the mountains.

CO87: Less People Mining ????

CO87: Contour Surface Mining rarely used today and doesn't play an important role in this discussion. Several companies mine by the Contour method, really the majority of companies that use MTR are the larger ones like Massey, Arch etc., the company that I work for has 5 surface mines all of them use the Contour mining method.

CO87: highwalls can not be filled in and just remain there. You got to be kidding me, Where did you come up with tis information, FYI Federal Law passed in 1977 requires highwalls to be reclaimed, if you see any old highwalls along the hillsides then it had to be mined before 1977 or someone forfeited their bond if it was mined after 1977.

CO87: Home Values First if there is anyone out there that lives within a 3/4 mile radius of a surface mine they should have a Pre Blast survey on their house before mining starts or as soon as possible. Coal companies will pay a independent contractor that is licensed to preform a pre blast survey to come to your home, during this survey they will examine the interior for any defects (cracks, water leaks, doors that don't shut well, etc.) pictures or video's will be shoud be taken. The outside of the house will be examined they should pay special attention to the foundation and roof. I would strongly recommend this to anyone living near a mining operation where there is blasting, this can help the home owner prove the damage has been done since blasting started or it can prove the damage was already there prior to blasting. The ATF requires that companies record the amount of explosives and what is used in each shot, the certified blaster will either shoot by scaled distances (houses or building are located on a map with the permitted area) the blaster will use a GPS unit for his location and a distance is then determined to the nearest house or protected structure, or a box is set up at the nearest house to measure the ground vibrations this reading is recorded in the box. If a person calls in a blasting complaint to the state office, all they have to do is to either check the box or the blasting logs and if the company is out of compliance they will be liable for damages.

CO87: 90% of mined land is not used I have no idea where you came up with that number? Must be from a environmental web site.

The waters in Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia are polluted, they are not as bad as they once were, but I think the biggest problem with the streams is the fact that there are still to many sewer lines that run straight into them. Just the other day a man who owned a septic cleaning service was caught dumping raw sewage into the Big Sandy River a few miles above the water plant intake, and he had been doing this for months.
Am I understanding you to say that mining is to blame of all of the chemicals in the streams and rivers?

I researched and tried to find the total area of land mined, I couldn't. I read several articles that gave an estimate, which is 1.2 million acres since 1980, 5% of the total land mass, so according to you coal companies should only mine 1% more of the land, thats just not true. (these stats are from the UK department of agriculture.)

Reclamation You can say they are filled in and reclaimed, and I wont argue that some are, but a lot aren't. All I can go by is pictures of the land before and after mining, a lot of the pictures I see just show brown, barren land. Gravity works against you, you cant completely put the land back, it's impossible.

Home values[B]I know the procedure that a homeowner can take when around a blasting site, i've studied it all. You can give me all the crap you want about coal companies paying to fix the damages. It does sound nice, and the coal companies have got a good setup, everything would seem to work right, but it doesn't. In a lot of cases, when coal companies set up small subsidiaries, they file bankruptcy after mining, and whatever damage they caused is left unattended. This happens a lot, and in the other cases calling in a complaint gets you no where, it's just an endless cycle. Coal companies don't care what damage they cause, all they care about is getting money, no matter who, or what the damage in the process.[/B]

[B]I dont know why you put ??? for less people mining, you even admitted that was true, but just to restate, mining jobs have decreased by 50% in eastern ky and West Virginia.[/B]
90% of mined land not used[B]I figured you would try to slam my stats, I hate to break you're heart but it didn't come from an environmental site, although I'm sure they have the stats too. The statistics I got came from the UK department of agriculture.[/B]

The sewage running into the water could have been an issue 20 years ago, but not now. The majority of people now have running water, a few rural homes may not have it, but most do. What is found in the water is mercury (found just underneath the surface, which is released during blasting), zinc, lead, ammonium nitrate ( which is used in blasting), and others. Some of this does come from waste running into the water, but not all of it. If all of that was coming from human waste, there shouldn't be anyone alive in eastern ky. It's really sad that people here are poor and some don't have the luxury of sewage and running water. The coal companies use that fact to blame others for their mess.

Here are some good sites that aren't by environmental "whackos" that have some really good information and stats about the coal counties. I know you will just glaze over them, throw them off, and go back to your "coal websites", and bash me for using so called environmental sites.

Did you know that coal mining is responsible for burring and damaging more streams than any other form of pollution? That doesnt stack up well for your argument.

http://windpub.com/dirtymoney.htm
http://arri.osmre.gov/KYResearch.htm

TREEHUGGER!!!