Before "clean coal," there was mountaintop removal mining. In 1977, amidst an energy crisis and anxiety over the environmental effects of strip mining, legislation was passed defining all allowable mining practices, including a new technique—mountaintop removal mining—that was promised to be safer, more economical, and healthier for the environment.
Today, less than 6% of land mined in the U.S. is done so according to the provisions of the law.
Appalachian Export
2008
model reconstruction of a mountain near Marthatown, West Virginia, whose summit was levelled from mountaintop removal mining
foam, papier mâché, dirt, pallet
approx. 48 x 48 x 30 in.
- [ 1 ]
- [ 2 ]
- [ 3 ]
- [ 4 ]
Endless Mine
2006
West Virginia mine maps collage on paper
40 x 28 in.
- [ 1 ]
- [ 2 ]
Documents Series (Pages 198 and 199 from 'The Mountains of America' by Franklin Russell + Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement final policy document: 'Exceptions to Approximate Original Contour Requirements for Mountaintop Removal Operations and Steep Slope Mining Operations')
2007
book pages, policy document
- [ 1 ]
- [ 2 ]
