Mountain Top removal is just as it sounds, the removal of the top of a mountain to retrieve the coal under the surface.
This coal is mined by removing the top soil and placing it aside so it can be reused for reclamation later. Then they blast the rock above the coal seam and push the dirt and rock into nearby valleys in a process which is called Valley Fill. An excavator then scoops up the exposed coal and it is transported to a processing plant where it is washed and transported elsewhere. The waste water left from this process, which is called Slurry, is stored in ponds held back by man-made earthen dams.
Since Coal is usually in several seams underground this process is repeated a dozen times or more on a single mountain which can lower the mountains’ elevation by hundreds of feet in some cases. There are many downfalls to this type of mining; streams and tributaries are filled during valley fills, water supplies are compromised, wildlife habitats are destroyed and......

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Title: Mountain Top Removal
Approximate Word Count: 617
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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