Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — On Tuesday, August 3rd, as part of the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) 95th Annual Meeting, a team of scientists will discuss the environmental impacts of surface mining in the central Appalachians. Home to some of the most diverse habitats on the continent, Appalachian forests and streams are being permanently altered by mountaintop removal and valley fill mining. This coal extraction procedure involves felling trees, stripping soils, blasting mountains, and filling valleys with mining debris.
Dr. William H. Schlesinger, president of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the organizer of the session commented, “While our nation’s attention is fixed on the oil spill in the Gulf, it’s important to remember that other North American ecosystems are being assaulted by our appetite for fossil fuel. Mountaintop mining is transforming landscapes in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and southern Virginia — to the detriment of forest and freshwater resources.”
The session will draw on current science to discuss what can be done to ameliorate the impacts of mountaintop removal and valley fill mining, in the face of growing national dependence on coal as an energy source. Among the ills associated with the procedure: the destruction of diverse, old growth deciduous forests and the burying of small streams that are a vital part of the greater Appalachian watershed. To date, more than 1,700 miles of Appalachian stream channels have been damaged by mining spoils. In some regions, as much as 35% of the watershed has been mined, and active mines cover 12-15% of the landscape.
Participant Dr. Emily Bernhardt of Duke University reports, “There are no examples of successful post-mining stream restoration. Headwater streams are buried in mining debris. They leak dissolved solids, such as selenium, proliferating disturbance effects downstream into seemingly pristine sites. Toxic runoff can persist for decades, compromising the health of wildlife and humans.”
Topics to be discussed at the ESA session include: surface mining and regional water quality; the transport of mining pollutants to major rivers; mining patterns and downstream flood risk; the shortcomings of current stream restoration techniques; and forest fragmentation and species loss. A full schedule can be viewed online at: http://eco.confex.com/eco/2010/techprogram/S5371.HTM.
In addition to Schlesinger and Bernhardt, presenters will include (in order of appearance): Dr. Philip A. Townsend, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dr. Keith N. Eshleman, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Dr. Petra B. Wood, USGS Fish & Wildlife Research Unit; Joseph R. Ferrari, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; and Margaret A. Palmer, University of Maryland.
Palmer, Bernhardt, Schlesinger, and Eshleman were authors on a January 2010 Policy Forum paper in the journal Science, which urged the Obama administration to put an end to new mountaintop mining permits because, “permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses.” In mid-June the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended the fast-tracking of new permits. Presently, a debate is raging about allowing the mining technique to proceed at Spruce 1, a 2,278-acre site in West Virginia that was permitted in 2007.
Dr. Margaret Palmer, lead author on the Science paper, comments, “We can no longer continue to risk the health of the environment, and by extension the health of humans, in our quest for cheap energy. Until science shows that negative impacts of mountain top and valley fill mining can be mitigated, we need to move away from practices that result in the wholesale destruction of Appalachian ecosystems. We need to set an example for the rest of the world.”
This release is also available here.
Link to the Science Policy Forum paper: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/327/5962/148.
IMAGES: Erasing an ecosystem; mountaintop removal mining exacts a lasting toll on Appalachian watersheds. Photo: Vivian Stockman and SouthWings.org. http://www.caryinstitute.org/press/mountaintopmining.jpg.
Cerulean warblers are among the species that decline following mining activity. Photo: Matthew Studebaker, www.studebakerbirds.com. http://www.caryinstitute.org/press/cerulean.warbler.2.jpg.
The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is a private, not-for-profit environmental research and education organization in Millbrook, N.Y. For more than twenty-five years, Cary Institute scientists have been investigating the complex interactions that govern the natural world. Their objective findings lead to more effective policy decisions and increased environmental literacy. Focal areas include air and water pollution, climate change, invasive species, and the ecological dimensions of infectious disease. Learn more at www.caryinstitute.org
The Ecological Society of America is the world’s largest professional organization of ecologists, representing 10,000 scientists in the United States and around the globe. Since its founding in 1915, ESA has promoted the responsible application of ecological principles to the solution of environmental problems through ESA reports, journals, research, and expert testimony to Congress. ESA publishes four journals and convenes an annual scientific conference. Visit the ESA website at http://www.esa.
