EcoFocus Newsletter, volume 4 issue 1

              Paul Corbit Brown
ECOfOCUS CARY INSTITUT EfO F ECOSYSTEM STUDIES
The science behind environmental solutions Vol. 4, Issue 1, February 2010
"Current attempts to
regulate [this mining
practice] are inadequate."
CARY SCIENTISTS CALL FOR MORATORIUM
ON MOUNTAINTOP MINING IN U.S.
by Lisa M. Dellwo
Three scientists associated with the
Cary Institute are among a group of the
nation's leading environmental scientists
who are calling for a moratorium on
mountaintop mining permits.
President William H. Schlesingep
President Emeritus Gene E. Likens,
and Dr. Emily S. Bernhardt of Duke
University are among the coauthors
of a paper in Science, published
on January 8, calling on the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
to stay all new mountaintop mining
permits. Bernhardt's Ph.D. research was
conducted at the Institute under the
mentorship of Likens.
On January 7, Schlesinger and Bernhardt
participated in a press conference at the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C.,
in which 25 reporters were briefed on
the paper. Extensive coverage resulted
in media including the New York Times,
Washington Post, the Associated Press,
McClatchy Newspapers, National Public
Radio, ABC News, and the Huffington
Post.
The twelve scientists who authored the
article based their recommendation
on their analysis of the latest scientific
findings that document irreversible
environmental effects and serious human
health impacts from this form of surface
mining.
In mountaintop mining, forests at
the tops of mountains are cleared and
stripped of topsoil, and explosives are
used to break up rocks in order to access
coal buried below. Much of this rock is
pushed into adjacent valleys where it
obliterates streams. Mountaintop mining
with valley fills is widespread throughout
eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and
southwestern Virginia.
The Science paper outlines the severe
degradation taking place at mining
sites and downstream, including the
destruction of deciduous forests and burial
of small streams that contribute to the
health of large watersheds. Contaminants
from the mines enter streams below the
valley fills and are transported to larger
bodies of water.
The authors also describe human health
impacts associated with this mining
practice, including elevated rates of
mortality, lung cancer, and chronic heart,
lung and kidney disease in coal-producing
communities. Miners are typically men,
but these diseases are prevalent in women
in surface mining regions as well,
indicating that the effects are not just due
to direct occupational exposure to mines.
Although mining companies are required
to mitigate the impacts of this practice,
there is ample evidence that mitigation
practices are ineffective: reclaimed
soils have low organic and nutrient
content and are so compacted by heavy
machinery that they do not drain well.
Replanted vegetation does not grow back
well. And streams below mining sites still
carry high levels of toxic material.
The paper's authors say, "Clearly,
current attempts to regulate [this
mining practice] are inadequate. Mining
permits are being issued despite the
preponderance of scientific evidence that
impacts are pervasive and irreversible
and, that mitigation cannot compensate
for losses."
They also express the urgency for the
U.S. to take leadership on this issue, since
"surface mining in many developing
countries is expected to grow extensively
in the next decade."
HIGHLIGHTS
• From the President's Desk
3# Fifth-Grade Teacher,
• YES Conference
^ * Spotlights
5. Ecology in Winter,
• Environmental Monitoring
Supporters'Corner,
Cary Ecology Festival
7 * Event Calendar