Source: U.S.
Energy Information Administration, based on the Mine Safety and Health
Administration, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, and state agencies. Note: Production excludes refuse coal. Coal production data for 2014 are preliminary.
Coal
production from mines with mountaintop removal (MTR) permits has
declined since 2008, more than the downward trend in total U.S. coal
production. Total U.S. coal production decreased about 15% from 2008 to
2014. Surface production decreased about 21%, and mountaintop removal,
one type of surface production, decreased 62% over this period. Lower
demand for U.S. coal, primarily used to generate electric power, driven
by competitive natural gas prices, increasing use of renewable
generation, flat electricity demand, and environmental regulations, has
contributed to lower U.S. coal production.
Total U.S. coal
production includes both surface and underground mining activity. Types
of surface mining techniques include contour strip, area, open pit, and
mountaintop removal. In mountaintop removal, entire coal seams running
through the upper portion of a mountain are mined by removing all of the
overburden (rock or soil overlying a mineral deposit), creating a level
plateau or gently rolling contour. This type of mining is sometimes
considered a variation of contour mining.
In order to conduct MTR operations, a permit must be granted.
By identifying the mines that have MTR permits, it is possible to
estimate MTR production using mine production data. However, quantifying
the amount of coal produced from mountaintop mining is difficult,
because there are a variety of mining techniques that can be performed
on a mountaintop in addition to mountaintop removal. These techniques
include contour mining, where coal is mined on a hillside, and area
mining, where coal is mined from relatively flat terrain. Some of these
non-MTR methods may be used in conjunction with or following the use of
MTR, making attribution of coal production by mining method less
obvious. Consequently, production data in this article refer to total surface production at mines with MTR permits and provide an upper bound
of MTR production.
Source: U.S.
Energy Information Administration, based on the Mine Safety and Health
Administration, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, and state agencies. Note: Coal production data for 2014 are preliminary.
MTR
is prevalent mostly in Central Appalachia, specifically West Virginia,
Kentucky, Virginia, and, in the past, Tennessee. In 2013, Tennessee
legislators proposed bills
banning permits for specific coal mining operations more than 2,000
feet above sea level. While Tennessee has yet to pass legislation
definitively banning MTR operations, there have been no active MTR
permits in Tennessee since at least 2007. West Virginia accounts for
most domestic MTR production, and MTR production makes up most of the
surface production in the state (61% in 2013).
If the mining
operation will include a valley fill, which allows the overburden to be
deposited in intermittent or perennial streams, an additional permit must be granted. On May 27, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army finalized the Clean Water Rule
that more precisely defines waters protected under the Clean Water Act.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is
also working with EPA and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop
an environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing environmental impacts
of coal surface mining in the Appalachian region. OSMRE expects to
release an EIS along with a proposed stream protection rule this summer.
http://www.theenergycollective.com/todayinenergy/2247165/coal-production-using-mountaintop-removal-mining-decreases-62-2008