Audio
Reclaiming Former Coal Mines
Transcript
Hi, I’m Jonna McKone. Former coalfields stretch across Appalachia. And where you're standing today is no exception. Planting trees at Flight 93 National Memorial is vital to the design of the Memorial landscape and will help restore ecosystems like watersheds, soil quality and the landscape. It's just one part of a larger reforestation and remediation effort across Appalachia. This story coalfields two chestnuts, explores the significance of this wider effort.
Central Appalachia had been producing coal for decades, and little attention was paid to the environment. But then in 1972, something happened. A slurry pond of water and crushed coal burst in Logan County, West Virginia, releasing 132 million gallons of thick black water on to residents and their homes below. I'll. White House works in the Office of Surface Mining in Washington, D.C.
A large empowerment of coal waste failed during the night, killing 125 people. And I think that sort of galvanized public opinion. And they said enough. In 1977, Congress passes surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, which forced coal companies to fund the cleanup of abandoned mines and restore active mine sites. Most planted grass and shrubs to keep soil in place.
Dave Fischer is a former coal miner who worked with his father's hydro seeding company on reclamation projects in the late 90s. It doesn't benefit the soil any. It don't benefit any of the wildlife. It don't benefit anything. When you look at a place, it's undisturbed in this area. The plethora of wildlife and the different nut trees and the different essential plants that we have here, and none of that is ever put back on the mine land.
Very seldom is any of the hardwood put back. So we're on our way to the Freddy Mullins reforestation site in Dickenson County, Virginia. That's Nathan Hall. He reforested active and former coal sites throughout the region with a nonprofit called Green Forest Works. There's only a few counties in Virginia that are really heavily coal producing counties, and Dickinson is definitely one of them.
He's checking on a recent planting with Mike French. What do you think? Should I go Bo in through the hayfield? Well, there's a little road down below that we can take there, but otherwise we curve around a few hairpin and switchback turns, pass a cluster of beehives in a few houses, eventually stopping just past a private residence surrounded by acres of fescue grass.
There it's. Let me just stop outside the gate. Here. Many former mining sites are a lot like this one. Kind of hard to get to, and there aren't clear roads or uses for the area. All right. For there to age, there's a few mountains in the distance and a flat field that looks barren from afar. Initially, this site was covered with exotic species.
Some of them are very invasive and persistent. 100 years ago, chestnut trees spanned this whole area. But starting around the turn of the century, most were lost to a persistent blight. It's taken this long to bring them back. The old timers used to say that when the chestnuts were in bloom in June and July, it looked like the ridge tops were covered with snow because of all of the chestnut flowers.
Well, when you look around at the surface mines today, that's where most of them are, is up high, where chestnuts were formerly dominant. The American Chestnut Foundation, where French works, has a huge research farm in Meadowview, Virginia, where they've been working to breed blight resistant chestnuts. Let's walk up here. Actually, I'd like to take a look at some of my chestnuts.
I just wanted to see how they're doing now that they're leafed out. Isn't it beautiful? It's almost two feet tall and only three months old. What do you think? Yes, Frank. Yeah. From seed. Yeah. So for now, with the help of volunteers, these grant funded plantings have occurred at 12 reclaimed mines from Pennsylvania to Kentucky. As coal production declines, former mines could be opportunities for providing not just environmental benefits, but economic growth in recreation, timber and food production. I'm Jonathan Cohen reporting. You can be able to hear the whole.
Description
Plant-a-Tree at Flight 93 is part of larger effort to reforest former coal mines all across Appalachia. Explore this wider effort through this wonderful piece by journalist, artist, and NPR contributor Jonna McKone. Originally aired on the Allegheny Front www.alleghenyfront.org/
Duration
4 minutes, 21 seconds
Credit
Jonna McKone - www.jonnamckone.com/
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