[Old School]

Old school, I keep telling myself that I wont get into these pointless debates, but I always do.


I only mentioned the EPA study becuase it is really the only written study of the effects of MTR that has been completed. I do not believe the majority of it, just like I mentioned in my post, because the data they used is really questionable, but it's the only real source on the subject.

You state that the spill in Inez was not to be blamed on a poorly constructed pond, but I would say the building an impoundment meant to hold millions of gallons of water over an old abandoned mine would be poorly planned, but I guess thats just me.


You state that a propoerly constructed draniage system on a mine site would control flooding, and I will agree that a perfectly constructed drainage system would do that, but nothing is perfect. It;s not just the drainage that controls flooding, it the root system of the dense forest that absorbs a large amount of the rain that really controls flooding. MTR sites completly destroy that.

You keep trying to throw mud on highway construction, and you do so by throwing the silly figure of 26,000 acres being destroyed by roads. I dont really think that can be fairly compared to the estimated 1.4 million acres that will be destroyed by MTR by the year 2010. There isnt any substantial data that I could find on highway construction and stream disturbance in East ky, so I really dont think there is much to debate. But I do feel comfortable saying that comparing the thousands of large valley fills which completly destroy headwater streams with the smaller damage caused by road construction is insane. Stop trying to change the subject, and just admit to the damage that valley fills cause.

You also constantly feed me with the rules and regulations from the coal industry, which are mostly BS. No matter what guidlines you follow, or what stringent rules you must obey, there is no changing the destruction caused by MTR. And I believe like many others, that if this proposed "Rule Clarification" takes place, it will lead to only more destruction. I think people need to open thier eyes and see that this area is quickly being devastated. I cant drive more than 2 miles without seeing a former or active MTR site. I really wish I could travel this area and marvel in the beuaty that is appalachia, but that wish was taken away long ago. Now im just left with the hope that I can protect what little piece of this paradise that is left.

We now know that there was an abandon mine under part of the impoundment, but did you ever think that perhaps no one new about the mine. I do know that there are several mines that have never been mapped, some dating back to the early 1900's.

I realize comparing acreage used for highway construction to mining is like comparing apples to oranges, but the point I'm trying to make is the same method's used in mining are used in highway construction and land development for shopping centers and sub-divisions. You and your anti-coal friends seem to have a problem when mining companies use these methods, you claim coal companies bury streams and destroy the environment, yet you or your anti-coal friends have never made the first complaint about streams being buired or our environment being destroyed by highway construction or land development by using these same methods. This is why I call you and these other groups anti-coal. I would think the true environmentalist would be concerned about the whole stream environment including raw sewage and illegal trash dumps that find their way to the streams.

How can you say the rules and regulations are mostly BS, when your not familiar with the mining process, and know absolutely nothing about coal mining. I forgot you've read web sites (which we all know wouldn't stretch the truth) prepared by people that have never seen a mine site other than maybe to occasional fly over or view from a distance.