Alliance Operating Expenses

Why We Fight Mountaintop Removal

There’s a common saying in Appalachia: what we do to the land, we do to the people. Twenty-one peer-reviewed scientific studies conducted from 2007-2012 confirmed the truth of those words. The studies showed that not only has mountaintop removal permanently destroyed more than 500 Appalachian mountains, but people living near the destruction are 50% more likely to die of cancer and 42% more likely to be born with birth defects compared with other people in Appalachia.

Mountaintop removal is a type of coal mining that began in Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of conventional strip mining techniques. Primarily, mountaintop removal is occurring in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. Coal companies in Appalachia are increasingly using this method because it allows for almost complete recovery of coal seams while reducing the number of workers required to a fraction of what conventional methods require.