PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Mountain top removal is a method of mining that literally blows away the top of an entire mountain. It's a technique for mining that has been growing in use in the Appalachian region, especially in West Virginia.

Opponents of mountain top removal see this technique as a new front in the struggle against the coal robber-barons who have both dominated the region and exploited it since the 1800's. Residents of the mountain are forced off of their land, mountain streams are destroyed with contaminated by-products of the coal mining process, and mercury,arsenic, and many other toxins are introduced into the ecosystem.

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