Mountaintop Removal Research Paper

Mountaintop removal is a destructive form of mining that is leaving mountains (specifically mountains in Appalachia) in shambles. It is an awful mining method that not only harms the environment, but people as well when there are clearly safer and cleaner alternatives. Coal companies have almost completely obliterated the summits of scores of mountains scattered throughout Appalachia, permanently altering the landscape and environment forever. The process of mountaintop removal, also known as MTR, may seem simple at first. But this nasty process is what is destroying the mountains of Appalachia and harming the people who live there. In short, mountaintop removal is a form of surface mining at the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams. That means that part of the mountain is blown up to get the coal underneath. After the coal is collected, it is used to heat water to generate steam, which is then used to drive a turbine to generate electricity. …show more content…
The water seeps into the ground and contaminates the people and animals living in that area. The air is polluted by the coal seams. Statistics have shown that there are more leading causes of cancer and cardiovascular disease in areas surrounding MTR sites. Not to mention the constant threat for the workers of MTR. The artificially flattened land also increases the potential threat of tornadoes that mountains would be able to barricade. While many MTR supporters argue that mountaintop removal is necessary, it is actually not so. There are many cleaner, cheaper, and almost equally efficient alternatives to MTR. Many of these are renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydroelectric power, wind power, biomass, etc. These clean energy sources are actually the leading energy sources in America. The constant reliance on coal is almost