WHAT MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING LOOKS LIKE

Visualizing the Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Removal

August 24, 2012 (SkyTruth via EcoWatch)

“…[W]ith LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and digital elevation models (DEMs)…[it is possible] to create a profile of the terrain of a mountaintop removal mine before and after mining activity…[SkyTruth used] the controversial Spruce No.1 mountaintop removal coal mine in Logan County, West Virginia as the test subject.”

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“Google Earth imagery showed that significant mining activity had occurred between 2003 and 2011…[A] digital elevation model (DEM) of the mine location that shows what the topography looked like in 2003, from the WV GIS Technical Center.

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“This elevation dataset was created from aerial survey photography that was flown in 2003…LiDAR data that was collected over the area in 2010 from WV View…[was] to a DEM using ArcGIS…[to visualize] the change in elevation over that seven year period.”

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“…[H]ill shades of the DEMs…better visualize the difference…[A]reas affected by mountaintop removal [were blued] and the areas affected by valley fill [were yellowed] and [both were] overlaid…over the hill shades of the mine in 2003 and 2010…[along with a profile graph of the elevation along two cross sections before and after mining activity…”

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“…[An analysis of the results] found that 7.4 million cubic meters of rock was removed by way of mountain top removal mining and 9.8 million cubic meters of rock has filled what once was a valley. Why the difference? The fill has a lot of gaps and spaces, so it’s not as compact as the original, mined bedrock…”

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