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printMountain Top Removal Coal Mining - United States location
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Tell UBS to end its ties with dirty coal
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mining
description
Mountaintop removal mining is a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to blast as much as 800 to 1000 feet off the tops of mountains order to reach the coal seams that lie underneath. The resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt, and vegetation are then dumped into surrounding valleys, burying miles and miles of streams under piles of rubble hundreds of feet deep. Mountaintop removal mining harms not only aquatic ecosystem, and water quality, it also destroys hundreds of acres of healthy forests and fish and wildlife habitat, including habitat of threatened and endangered species, when the tops of mountains are blasted away. Throughout the Appalachian region of the Eastern United States, hundreds of mountains have been flattened – first by clear-cutting forests, then by blowing off the top layers of rock with powerful explosives. Giant cranes (draglines) expose buried coal by scraping billions of tons of dirt off the mountain. The debris is then dumped into neighboring valleys and streams. Rather than remove coal from the mountain, MTR removes the mountain from the coal. current status (Jan 31, 2010)
On-going financing of destructive operations. companies involved
Principal MTR companies include: Massey Energy, Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources and International Coal Group. They represent four out of the five top coal companies in the USA. Massey is the largest MTR operator in dodgy aspects
social impact
Coal companies use MTR mining methods because it allows for almost complete recovery of coal seams while significantly reducing the number of workers required compared to conventional methods. The coal-bearing counties of Appalachia are some of the poorest in the nation, despite the fact that some of the greatest wealth is being extracted from them. For marginalized coalfield resident communities, MTR has meant the loss of thousands of jobs and growing health risks. Poverty has increased in MTR regions, even as corporate profits soar. Once coal is extracted, it is then washed and treated, resulting in waste water called coal sludge—a mix of water, coal dust, clay and toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, selenium and chromium. Billions of gallons of this toxic soup is then stored in vast, unlined impoundments or injected for storage in abandoned underground-mines. Impoundments are often held in place by mining debris or earthen dams, making them unstable. Sludge dams have been known to fail. In October 2000, residents of Martin County, Kentucky suffered 306 million gallons of slurry entering their water supply. The disastrous spill was over 30 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill. environment
MTR is a mining practice where explosives are used to remove the tops of mountains and expose the thin seams of coal that lie beneath. Once blasted, the earth from the mountaintop is then typically dumped in the neighboring valleys. As a result, MTR mining poses significant threats to water quality in Appalachia, and undermines the objectives and requirements of the Clean Water Act. According to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried or contaminated. human rights
After blasting has occurred, waste from mining operations is systematically dumped into nearby valleys, burying streams. This waste then releases toxic metals, killing life in streams and polluting ground water. Health problems such as cancer, liver and kidney disease and skin rashes have been found in correlation with people who drink water from wells contaminated by coal mining. The problem was exacerbated in 2002 when the Bush Administration changed rules in the Clean Water Act to allow waste material to be considered “fill,” effectively legalizing the dumping of toxic mining waste directly into Appalachian waterways. other issues The expansion of mountaintop removal mining is fuelled by the fact that the U.S. is in the midst of a coal rush. Currently, more than 150 new coal-fired power plants are in various stages of development around the country, and our government is relaxing laws in order to allow even more coal mining that destroys communities and ecosystems. These new power plants will emit 600 million tons of carbon dioxide annually - which is tantamount to doubling the number of cars on our roads! Coal is the single biggest obstacle to curbing global warming as well as destructive coal mining practices. financial institutions involved
banks
Bank of America
- profile
Citigroup
- profile
Crédit Agricole CIB
Credit Suisse Group
- profile
Goldman Sachs
- profile
JPMorgan Chase
- profile
Lehman Brothers
Morgan Stanley
- profile
PNC Bank
- profile
Royal Bank of Scotland
- profile
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
- profile
UBS
- profile
Wachovia
Wells Fargo
- profile
investment funds
Merrill Lynch
By the summer of 2010 Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, have all publicly confirmed that they are moving away from bankrolling the destruction of America's mountains. applicable policies
Bank of America (Policy adopted December 2008) Citi (Policy adopted August 2009) Credit Suisse (Policy adopted September 2009) JPMorgan Chase (Policy adopted May 2010) Morgan Stanley (Policy adopted May 2010) Wells Fargo (Policy adopted July 2010) what must happen
We urge all private banks involved in commercial lending and investment banking services for the mining sector to end their relationships with companies who practice mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Our recommended ‘best practice’ is a clear exclusion policy on commercial lending Where banks choose to maintain relationships with this sector, we recommend a publicly available policy, with a clearly identified performance threshold and regular reporting on policy implementation.Banks should withdraw from any on-going financing relationships with clients that practice MTR, divest and place MTR on their financing exclusion lists. |
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