|
| |
Media
The Tennessee Mining Association recognizes that land use affects us all and is available to the media for comments, interviews and background information on a wide range of land use topics, including mineral mining, permitting and responsible water use. Our press kit answers general mineral mining questions and provides state-specific mining statistics.
To request an interview, please contact the Tennessee Mining Association's office at 865.671.7733.
 |
|
 |
Prior to 1977 and the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act mining operated with little regulatory oversight and even less regard for the environment. In order to maximize profits and minimize costs, pre-law, or wildcat, miners used heavy machinery to remove the dirt and rock covering the coal seam and then pushed the material off the side of the mountain. Consequently, when mining operations were complete there was no material available to reclaim the site.
Today, Tennesseans are left with 1,000 miles of dangerous, unsightly orphaned mines that contribute heavily to water pollution and may cause landslides. |
 |
|
 |
Like any development site, active coal mining can look messy. The exposed coal, mining roads, equipment and other necessary activities can make it seems as though the land can never be repaired.
But however it looks, all active mines have a plan in place to restore the land when operations are complete. In addition, this process produces valuable mineral resources that provide 60 percent of Tennessee’s electricity and more than 1,000 high-paying, benefit-laden jobs to some of Tennessee’s most economically depressed areas. |
 |
|
 |
Reclamation, or the process of land restoration, occurs throughout the life of a mining operation. After coal is recovered from the initial mine pit, the dirt and rock from the next pit is brought in to backfill the first. The process continues as such until mining is complete.
After the area has been restored to its approximate original contour, the previously stored topsoil is redistributed and then native trees and vegetation are planted to achieve the designed post mining land use as outlined in the mining permit.
Because 90 percent of mining in Tennessee today is the re-mining of old, pre-law sites, the reclamation process allows the industry to repair the mistakes of the past – something that would be virtually impossible without today’s modern mining. |
|
|
|
|
