The N.C . State Environmental Concerns Organization marched in downtown Raleigh on March 31 to draw attention to price hikes that would accompany the merger of Duke Energy and Progressive Energy and how said merger could lead to an increase in the use of coal retrieved by mountaintop removal mining.
In December, the Environment Protection Agency created emissions standards against smog and mercury that would go into effect in 2015. Companies were given a choice to purchase equipment to meet the EPA set standards or to invest in newer forms of energy.
Most companies chose the latter option, but Duke would rather add cleaning equipment and keep all 14 coal plants in North Carolina open and up to date with EPA requirements. Most of the coal being supplied to the plants comes from mountaintop removal coal mining.
The process of mountaintop removal coal mining has been used to retrieve coal for a decades, having picked up in popularity in the late 19 90s .
“Mountaintop removal coal mining is the process by which coal is exposed by blowing off the top of a mountain,” Tara Beck, senior in anthropology, said.
Beck explains that the process destroys entire ecosystems living on top of the mountains and in the valleys. Rubble from the destroyed mountains is being dumped into the valleys, poisoning the rivers, and furthering environmental degradation.
“It’s the most destructive form of contour mining,” Ryan Thomson, graduate student in sociology, said.
According to ECO, in the Appalachians alone, 527 mountains have been leveled in search of coal. NCSU ECO represented these mountains when they dumped 527 pounds of coal on top of a banner outside of Progressive Energy during the demonstration.
The day started with a conference focused on the abolition of mountaintop removal and ways to shift off of coal energy.
“Coal in the ground is fantastic,” Beck said. “It acts as the liver of the world, straining out hard metals from the water table. But when you remove it from the ground, all hell breaks loose.”
The fight for cleaner energy sources has been fought for decades now, and many have tried to find cleaner ways of using coal as a way to placate the masses.
“Clean coal is a dirty lie,” Thomson said. “You can’t take sulfur admissions out of it.”
Cleaning coal itself presents a wide range of issues when it comes to the runoff produced by the cleaning process. Sludge ponds accumulate outside of coal plants, pitch black and toxic, with absolutely no way of being reused or disposed of.
And yet, coal has been historically the main product of Appalachia and the main source of income for many who live there. However, the heavy reliance on the mountaintop removal process has had terrible affects for the people of Appalachia. Thomson said that cancer rates and infant mortality rates have been rising steadily, and as this process takes so few people to complete, traditional coal mining jobs are becoming hard to come by.
The Appalachians boast a high level of biological diversity, and the beauties of the scenic region have been inspiring for years upon years. However, mountaintop removal processes have been changing the landscape for the worse.
Caroline Hansley , office support in the sustainability office, grew up in Asheville, surrounded by mountains. She recently visited the Appalachia to look at the leveled scene.
“It was heartbreaking,” Hansley said. “You just see this completely leveled area that used to be mountaintops, and all the trees and creeks have been pummeled by the rubble.”
The dynamite used to blow off the mountaintops is frequently left behind, and Hansley notes its poisonous effects were evident in the streams they had turned bright orange.
Students who want to get involved may attend NCSU ECO meetings held Mondays at 7:30 p.m . in Caldwell room G109 .
“Go online!” Beck said. “Get interested, and get involved!”
