[PCA] FW: Re: NEWS: The battle over Coal River Mountain (fwd)

Wed Oct 8 10:26:58 CDT 2008

And, of course, energy conservation and investments in increased efficiency
(e.g., LEDs) as well, in minimizing coal use.  LEM

Larry Morse
Washington, D.C.
larry.morse.dc at earthlink.net
(Larry.E.Morse at LEM-Natural-Diversity.com)
(202)-543-2488
< http://www.lem-natural-diversity.com/ >

> [Original Message]
> From: Olivia Kwong <plant at plantconservation.org>
> To: <native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>
> Date: 10/7/2008 4:26:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [PCA] NEWS: The battle over Coal River Mountain (fwd)
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Olivia,
>   Could you please pass this on to the PCA.
>
> I'm glad you included the article about Coal River Mountain in your
> circulation to the PCA. People, including the botanist community, should
be
> aware of the destruction of the practice of mountain top removal (MTR) and
> valley fills. This practice which is done in WV, eastern KY, TN, and a
part
> of western VA, not only destroys mountains and streams, it also destroys
> square miles of the richest deciduous forest ecosystem anywhere on this
> planet. There is no such thing as "clean coal technology". You only have
to
> drive as far as Appalachia to see that. Or you can look at Landsat data
and
> remote sensing imagery to view the vast and total destruction on a large
> scale, that this type of mining has on the planet.
>
> Restoration of these surface MTR coal mines does not work due to a number
of
> factors. A basic engineering concept for material placement called "the
angle
> of repose", limits any rebuilding of a sloped surface from earth
materials.
> The mountains can never be replaced. Different aspects and slopes add to
the
> complexity and diversity of these deciduous forestlands. In addition the
> chemistry and structure of the soils are so altered, they can not support
the
> regrowth of these diverse deciduous forests. The overburden and refuse
goes
> into a valley fill, which destroys miles of headwater streams. This
practice
> degrades the water system, from the upper watershed, all the way
downstream.
>
> Of course there are human consequences too. Many Appalachian communities
> suffer from devastating floods caused by sediment impoundments breaching,
> dumping toxic waters downstream into communities and streams. Many
> communities have been destroyed by these events. There is also increased
> flooding downstream caused by increased runoff from these large tracks of
> valley fill upstream. One only has to understand another basic engineering
> concept to understand this phenomena;
> the Rational formula. This formula is often used in the calculation of
> overland flow and water run-off, because of its simplicity and accuracy.
It
> is quite accurate for small watersheds (<100 acres) and reasonably
accurate
> for watersheds up to 2 square miles (Carpenter 1976). The run-off volumes
are
> computed directly by establishing relationships between rainfall
intensities,
> run-off ratios, watershed acreage and sometimes slope (Seelye 1954).
>
> The rational formula (Seelye 1954) can be expressed as:  Q = ciA.
> Where Q represents the run-off in cubic feet per second; c represents the
> rainfall/run-off coefficient which is a roughness factor of the ground
> surface affecting the rate of run-off; i represents Storm intensity which
is
> the intensity of rainfall in inches per hour for a period equal to the
time
> of concentration (storm event); and A represents the area of watershed
> drainage, measured in acres. The coefficient of run-off expresses how the
> texture of the surface material affects the mean velocity of water flow
> traveling across the surface of the ground. The rougher a surface texture
is,
> the slower water will move across the surface. Roughness coefficients are
> determined for different materials. The value assigned for each type
material
> indicates the relative protection the material provides from flowing
water.
> Larger values provide greater protection from flowing water.
>
> Energy policy and politics drive this critical energy issue. However, it
> comes down to our choice as individual energy consumers; do we continue to
> buy cheap energy from these destructive practices, or do we support
> alternative energy sources? What price are we willing to pay for coal
powered
> energy? How much are the Appalachian mountains and the richest deciduous
> forest ecosystem worldwide worth?
>
> Pamela Bailey
> Research Botanist and Landscape Architect
>
> Citations:
> Carpenter, J.D. 1976. Handbook of Landscape Architectural Construction.
The
> Landscape Architecture Foundation, Inc. Washington D.C. 772p.
>
> Seelye, E.E. 1954.  Data Book for Civil Engineers: Field Practice. John
Wiley
> and Sons, Inc. NY 394 p.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
> [mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of
> Olivia Kwong
> Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 9:01 AM
> To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
> Subject: [PCA] NEWS: The battle over Coal River Mountain
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/07/coal.river/index.html
>
> The battle over Coal River Mountain
> By Deborah Feyerick
> CNN's American Morning
>
> RALIEGH COUNTY, West Virginia (CNN) -- Lorelei Scarboro loves to talk
> about the wild turkeys and bears living on West Virginia's Coal River
> Mountain.
>
> She watches them from the home her husband built when they were first
> married. But Scarboro is convinced it could all become a casualty of
> blasting that could begin on the mountaintop which is just 100 yards from
> the family cemetery where her husband is buried.
>
> See the link above for the full article text.
>
>
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