mountaintop removal
Summit strip mining
Mountaintop removal is a form of surface coal mining in which the summit of a mountain is blasted away to expose coal seams beneath.
The debris—rock, soil, vegetation—is typically dumped into adjacent valleys, burying streams.
The practice is concentrated in Appalachia and has become a focal point for environmental controversy: Mountaintop removal has transformed the landscape of eastern Kentucky.
- strip miningRemoving overburden for minerals
- mountaintopSummit of a peak
- coal seamsSubterranean fuel deposits
- coalfieldsRegions with extractable deposits
- reclamationRecovery of something lost
environmental justice · environmental impact · land restoration · blasting · blast zone · mineral rights · Appalachia · water pollution · deforestation · mining permits · mining safety · biodiversity loss · habitat destruction · habitat restoration · Clean Water Act · surface mining · erosion control · rural communities
- extractionmining, excavation, distillation, filtration, extraction
- Coal Miningcoal mines, miners, coal seam, coal miners, underground mines
- AppalachiaAppalachian culture, Blue Ridge, Appalachian Trail, Cumberland, hollows
- Surface Miningopen pit mining, strip mining, open pit, strip mine, quarry
- Environmental problemsair pollution, water pollution, climate change, global warming, habitat loss
- mininggold, mines, gold mines, mine, coal
mountaintop removalland conservation
Protecting terrain from exploitation
wilderness preservation · land preservation · wilderness conservation · mountain building · ecological restoration
mountain, removal, mount, mounting, mounted, mounts, mountainous, mountains, topped