Mine Reclamation is a Boondoggle!

In 1977, President Carter signed the "Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act" to regulate surface mine sites and provide for the reclamation of mined lands. 30 years later, West Virginia is still plagued by bulldozers, blasting, destruction, abandonment. The Office of Surface Mining does little to enforce the law

The coal companies say they are: Returning the land to better-than-before conditions and creating flat land for economic development. Businesses will relocate to these mine sites that are home to lush green hard-wood forests where wildlife roam and flourish.

Here's what they don't say: Very few mountaintop removal sites in WV have been reclaimed. Plant life is replaced with non-native vegetation. The top soil is gone - plants struggle to take hold. There are no public roads -no infrastructure - no water - no sewer. And even if the sites were to be properly reclaimed (which we all know is nearly impossible after they've blown it to bits) - the State of West Virginia, by its own admission, lacks funding to build roads. The state is at a loss to come up with a plan for repairing and maintaining existing roads.

Now if this isn't a boondoggle I don't know what is!