It is easy to say that one wouldn’t do something that hurt others to make a living, but actually not doing it is another thing. Every day people by items that are made under conditions that cause harm to others either directly or indirectly (e.g, clothing from sweatshops or child labor, etc.) because those items are made more cheaply or we prize them. As Americans, we hardly ever concern ourselves with where our stuff comes from as long as it is relatively “safe”. West Virginians may laugh at a person from New York City who has no real concept of where and how the steak on their table got there, but is it really different with electricity?

It would go a long way with miners if the government (and it pains me to say this) would spend some money on developing industry in the coal fields that could actually compete with coal for the available workforce.

The best thing that we can do as individuals (beyond power conservation), is get informed , stay informed, and stay involved (vote, write letters, talk to others, etc.). And above all keep things civil. No one is going to be swayed by name calling or hostility, but a little empathy can go a long way.

Also: the coal mining now occurring in the Appalachian mountains is similiar to the area mining that was done in western Kentucky and throughout the midwestern states from the late 1950s through the 1980s — by Gaint Earth Movers (GEM), electic-powered shovels and draglines — though impacts are much greater in the mountains.

A lot that is being said by all sides are empty words meant only to fuel emotional conflict instead of meaningful results — that needs to stop.

My best wishes to all. (This still has a long ways yet to go so keep your powder dry.)

Note: I’m a retired USGS scientist who was with OSMRE (1978-1995) after being an Ohio reclamation specialist (1975-1978).

I could be wrong, but I don’t think the “rubble” that’s left after the coal is taken from a MTR and that goes into valley fills is much different from mine spoil from earlier countour mines, so there should be some longer-term data. I get the impression that the sheer volume of the spoil from a MTR mine is significant, also the prevalence of the spoil areas is some watersheds.

To see some really ghastly stream death from mine drainage that will last for hundreds of years, and is way too costly to treat, come on up to Monongalia or Preston County and see some bright orange streams where nothing lives. Long-time activist Cindy Rank probably has the figures at her fingertips for the number of gallons per day of highly acidic, toxic-mineral-laden drainage that flows into West Virginia streams and rivers from mining in sulfur-containing sandstones. I know that it’s many millions of gallons per day and has poisoned hundreds of miles of streams. Coal companies and taxpayers are spending millions (Cindy will know that amount, too) to treat some drainage to reduce the degree of pollution — it’s a long-term environmental nightmare.

The takeaway message for folks talking about drainage and MTR: toxic mine drainage is not a temporary issue. Once it gets going bad, it’s here to stay.

Clear water that runs all the time does not equal clean water. Toxic metals like Selenium, Arsenic, Mercury, et.al. can be in the clearest water. And changing a stream from an ephemeral or intermittent that discharges clean water with low ionic concentrations (conductivities below 50) into a perennial one that continuously discharges water with conductivities over 1000 is not a good trade-off.

Selenium is not just some new scare tatic, it is just one of the many toxins that is a result of MTR. While it is a necessary nutrient in very small does (e.g., vitamins), but it can become toxic very quick. If people are becoming alarmed by the reports about Selenium, it is because they should be. While MTR may not go away for a long time, it should be known by all what the consequences of it are and mining industry should be held more accountable to properly reduce and mitigate the damages caused by their actions.

The forest of course does much more than feed his family. It puts dinner on the table of the fisherman, the hunter, the ginseng collector, the mushroom picker and countless others who have made a living of the forest. It also provides clean drinking water for our largest cities, absorbs atmospheric carbon at no cost, and shelters our wildlife. Do we really want to trade all of this for a few short term jobs?

Randy Huffman should be ashamed of himself for putting so many people out of work and for destroying so much of West Virginia’s forest just to appease the coal industry. That’s not his job,. His job is to protect West Virginians and they should demand his removal.