Mountaintop Removal
Mountaintop Removal mining is the process of extracting coal from the use of heavy
explosions to remove hundreds of vertical feet of a mountain to access the thin
seams of coal underneath. The solid debris is then dumped into valleys, burying
hundreds of headwater streams while the liquid waste forms massive toxic coal
slurry impoundments usually built in the headwaters of a watershed. Not only has
Mountaintop Removal mining destroyed over five-hundred mountains but it has
diminished jobs and devastated communities. Dust, blasting and flooding along
with the buyout from mining companies have created ghost-towns throughout the
Southern Appalachian coalfields.
I have witnessed firsthand the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains, the
oldest chain of mountains in the world. I have witnessed these ghost-town
communities almost obliterated from the nearby explosions, falling rocks and
coal dust that has covered every inch of their towns. I have witnessed the
hazardous and unsafe location of an earthen made dam, holding back 2.8 billion
gallons of coal slurry, situated less than four hundred yards away from a small
elementary school which could break at any moment sending a thick, black and
deadly sludge straight on top of the children below. It’s from these experiences
that my work addresses an important cause to raise awareness about what is
happening in the Southern coalfields of West Virginia-not what the coal
companies want you to believe but…the truth.
I work from images, many of which I photograph on-site, to create large
representation paintings. In addition to traditional painting materials I also
use environmental materials important to the affects of mountaintop removal such
as coal from mining sites and slurry dug out of on-site creek beds created from
acid mine drainage. I choose to work representationally so viewers are able to
experience the same situations southern residents go through every day without
actually being there. They can see the destroyed Appalachian mountain as if they
were truly standing on top of a hillside on Kayford Mountain, or touching the
dirt covered abandoned buildings that can be found in many small coalfield
towns.
explosions to remove hundreds of vertical feet of a mountain to access the thin
seams of coal underneath. The solid debris is then dumped into valleys, burying
hundreds of headwater streams while the liquid waste forms massive toxic coal
slurry impoundments usually built in the headwaters of a watershed. Not only has
Mountaintop Removal mining destroyed over five-hundred mountains but it has
diminished jobs and devastated communities. Dust, blasting and flooding along
with the buyout from mining companies have created ghost-towns throughout the
Southern Appalachian coalfields.
I have witnessed firsthand the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains, the
oldest chain of mountains in the world. I have witnessed these ghost-town
communities almost obliterated from the nearby explosions, falling rocks and
coal dust that has covered every inch of their towns. I have witnessed the
hazardous and unsafe location of an earthen made dam, holding back 2.8 billion
gallons of coal slurry, situated less than four hundred yards away from a small
elementary school which could break at any moment sending a thick, black and
deadly sludge straight on top of the children below. It’s from these experiences
that my work addresses an important cause to raise awareness about what is
happening in the Southern coalfields of West Virginia-not what the coal
companies want you to believe but…the truth.
I work from images, many of which I photograph on-site, to create large
representation paintings. In addition to traditional painting materials I also
use environmental materials important to the affects of mountaintop removal such
as coal from mining sites and slurry dug out of on-site creek beds created from
acid mine drainage. I choose to work representationally so viewers are able to
experience the same situations southern residents go through every day without
actually being there. They can see the destroyed Appalachian mountain as if they
were truly standing on top of a hillside on Kayford Mountain, or touching the
dirt covered abandoned buildings that can be found in many small coalfield
towns.