Published in the Lexington Herald Leader and the Courier-Journal on Monday, January 7, 2008.
by Bill Caylor
How do you respond to emotional statements about coal mining that overstate reality? It’s difficult. Facts are never pretty and never linger in our minds.
People living in the flatlands take level land for granted. There is no level land outside the floodplain in Appalachia that hasn’t been created by man. These areas of level land will help to create a sustainable economy long after coal is gone. These areas will be the economic hub of Appalachia in the next 150 to 200 years.
About the airplane rides around the Hazard airport. Yes, there is quite a bit of active surface mining that looks exactly like what active mining should look like. What is never shown is the reclamation. Reclamation takes time and doesn’t occur overnight. Some of the most scenic views are from the tops of older reclaimed mountaintop mines.
If you’re going to fly over the coalfields, fly further east, west, north and south than the Hazard airport. Most of what you will see is untouched forests, which will remain untouched. Only a small percentage, 7 percent, of the Appalachian coalfields will be impacted by surface mining.
A coal company cannot mine land without the surface owner’s permission. Typically, the first question an operator will hear from an Eastern Kentucky surface owner is, “Will you leave me some level land?” The coal company can leave the land level or return it to its pre-mining shape; the surface owner decides.
Even if the landowner is not fortunate enough to own the mineral rights, he is well-compensated. Typically, 50 cents a ton is paid for the use of the surface. That’s more than $3,000 an acre for land originally valued at $400 an acre.
What was once steep, inaccessible hillside now has some level land on the top, wide access roads, ponds and unlimited potential for use. The landowner realizes increased property value. Ask any property valuation administrator.
Because of the difficulty of getting permits, coal operators have begun to return the land to its original shape (not leaving as much level land). There are only eight active mountaintop removal permits in Kentucky. Only two mountaintop removal permits have been issued since 2005.
What activists really want is the elimination of all surface mining in Appalachia, not the elimination of just mountaintop-removal mining. What would this mean to Eastern Kentucky?
In the 24 Eastern Kentucky counties, coal mining produces:
” 5,785 surface miners.
” 45 million tons of coal.
” $277,680,000 in direct wages.
” 23,000 trickle-down or spin-off jobs.
” $1.8 billion in gross sales of coal (73 percent is exported).
” $1.5 billion that circulates in Eastern Kentucky (85 cents on every dollar).
” $81 million in severance taxes ($40.5 million back to the 24 coal counties).
” Increased property values for reclaimed coal mine lands.
We have been accused of corporate greed, but we question when it has become immoral for a business to make a profit. Contrary to the public’s image, coal companies are struggling. We’re producing one-third less coal today than we did in 1990. If coal was prospering, that certainly wouldn’t be the case.
Coal provides high-paying jobs and delivers cheap, dependable electricity. Kentucky has the fourth-lowest electrical rates in the United States, which is critical not only for attracting businesses like aluminum plants and auto manufacturing plants but also for our low income and elderly residents.
And, finally, our reclamation. Some favor eliminating surface mining. If this happens, you will eliminate future farms, airports, housing subdivisions, industrial parks, recreational areas, commercial sites, golf courses and a host of other actual uses of reclaimed lands.
You must have the vision to see the many positives and the unlimited potential of level land for only a small part of Eastern Kentucky. This is not corporate greed, not anywhere close.
Don’t let your common sense be swayed by broad-brush, emotional statements. This is about the future of Eastern Kentucky, not about remembrances of the past.
So, as all the activists who so eloquently and passionately speak of the ills of coal and mountaintop mining get up in the morning, drink their hot coffee, eat toast, blow dry their hair while watching the morning news, attend their meetings in a room with lights and warm heat and write to their representatives on laptops and computers while calling others on their charged cell phones, remember what provides the electricity — coal.
