Is it the beginning of the end of surface mining in SW Virginia?

Wise Co., Va. -- Coal is a lifeline for much of Southwest Virginia, and mountain-top mining - or surface mining- represents about a third of coal industry jobs.

Since the beginning there's been a tug-of-war between mining companies and environmentalists.

In 1977, Congress enacted the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to regulate and require coal companies to restore the land impacted by mining.

In the decades since, environmentalists say it isn't good enough and they want more to be done to protect the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama Administration may do just that, but not without controversy. In an 11 Connects / Bristol Herald Courier joint investigation, we uncover both sides of the debate.

It's known as many things: surface mining, mountain top removal, even strip mining. But these Wise County neighborhoods know it as "trouble."

Osaka, Va. resident Margaret Hobbs and friend Mary Pace of Roda, Va. are all too familiar with the issues of strip-mining.

"I've lived here all my life, and this is the dirtiest I've ever seen it," said Hobbs.

Judy Needham, who lives in Andover, Va. pointed to the negative impact the dust has had on her health. "I have asthma and there's a lot of dust in this area,” she said, “a lot of dust."

Environmentalists with the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) say the destruction that comes from surface mining isn't worth the negative effects on the people living nearby.

"There's a better way to harvest the resources than destroying the environment, and destroying yourself in the process," said SAMS President Carl Pete Ramey.

But, over the years, Virginia Tech University’s Powell River Project has uncovered evidence that strip mining isn't permanently destroying the environment.

"We can't put back the exact same forest, but we can grow a forest," said Wise County's Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent, Amy Gail Fannon.

Through scientific research since 1980, scientists with the Powell River Project have experimented with how to best fix environmental issues brought about by surface mining. In almost thirty years, they've grown forests, and created fertile grazing land. They proved that with time, surface mined land is able to support life.

"We have deer out here right now," said Fannon. "We have birds, we have salamanders, I mean, and we have a lot of bio-diversity that's coming in."

They also work with plants and grasses on the property's 1,100 acres, determining the potential for which grows best, and which can be used for bio-fuels for diversified energy sources.

Mining companies use the research to reclaim land they've destroyed, in compliance with the law. With reclamation, land owners can choose to keep their hills and re-build forests. They can also choose to leave the mined land flat, which can help economic development.

"All of our local shopping centers in the area are built on land that had been surface mining," said Bill Bledsoe, president of The Virginia Mining Association. Without coal companies leveling the land, these developments would be much more expensive according to Bledsoe.

"The cost of grading and developing the land just for economic development," said Bledsoe, "in most in most cases would have made it cost prohibitive."

Danny Cantrell's property was strip mined, and he chose to keep the flat land, to raise cattle and goats.
"This land," said Cantrell, "as you can see around me, was nothing but mountains, which I couldn't do anything with it, because I like to farm it."

But not everyone sees flat land as a positive.

"It will do so much and destroy so much of our area," said Judy Needham, who is a member of SAMS, "the mountains, and natural beauty."

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