Kilby
Active Member
Last week I took a trip to West Virginia. My wife has a lot of family down there and this was my first chance to meet them. One thing that was very interesting to me was a story I heard about the coal mine industry through out WV. I guess the easy coal has pretty much all been mined, and to save money and go after the last bits of coal, they have employed a new technique... mountain top removal. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. They basically blow up large chunks of the mountain and sift through the remains looking for coal.
A distant part of my in-law family was actually being forced to sell off their family home (has been in the family for over 100 years) and embarked in a legal battle of epic proportions. In the end, they went all the way to the supreme court of WV and won. They got to keep 33 acres of their property, but EVERYTHING around them has been mined and practically leveled.
I got this shot below and I think it sums up the story nicely. You can see off in the distance how the mountain just behind the property is near being leveled. National Geographic actually came to the property back in 2006 (when the family was in the midst of legal battles) and wrote a great story about it.
I wanted to share this with you guys, but knew it needed a little explanation. If you care to read more about it, the Nat Geo story is here with details about the family's Mud River farmhouse on page 5. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/03/mountain-mining/mitchell-text
A distant part of my in-law family was actually being forced to sell off their family home (has been in the family for over 100 years) and embarked in a legal battle of epic proportions. In the end, they went all the way to the supreme court of WV and won. They got to keep 33 acres of their property, but EVERYTHING around them has been mined and practically leveled.
I got this shot below and I think it sums up the story nicely. You can see off in the distance how the mountain just behind the property is near being leveled. National Geographic actually came to the property back in 2006 (when the family was in the midst of legal battles) and wrote a great story about it.
I wanted to share this with you guys, but knew it needed a little explanation. If you care to read more about it, the Nat Geo story is here with details about the family's Mud River farmhouse on page 5. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/03/mountain-mining/mitchell-text