Mountaintop Mining
Hall, Madison A
Mountaintop removal mining involves removing the top of a mountain in order to recover the coal seams contained there. It creates an immense quantity of excess spoil (dirt and rock that previously composed the mountaintop), which is typically placed in valley fills on the sides of the former mountains, burying streams that flow through the valleys. Critics say that, as a result of valley fills, stream water quality and the aquatic wildlife hab...