In Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring, poetic explanations of the way the pesticide DDT moves through the

food chain, combined with research about DDT as a carcinogen, helped capture the attention of the public and,

eventually, lawmakers. President John F. Kennedy ordered his Science Advisory Committee to investigate the use and

effects of DDT, and in 1964, before her death at age 56, Carson testified before Congress. Carson’s work is often

credited not only with the 1972 ban of DDT, but also with the 1970 development of the Environmental Protection Agency.

While the challenges facing the environment today may be different from those in Carson’s time, contemporary writers

are carrying on the tradition of Silent Spring.

On October 16 and 17, 2006, about a dozen regional writers were invited to tour mountaintop removal mining

operations in southern West Virginia. The tour was sponsored by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and was modeled after a similar tour that took place in 2005 in

eastern Kentucky. The writers from the Kentucky tour compiled an anthology of their writing about this issue

entitled Missing Mountains: We Went to the Mountaintop but It Wasn’t There. The writers from the West Virginia tour, myself included, hope to produce a similar book of their experiences witnessing this destructive mining practice.

In addition to raising public awareness, our goal is to challenge and change the policies that govern mountaintop

removal mining.

The above photograph shows an active mountaintop removal mine on Kayford Mountain, located near Charleston, West

Virginia.

Writing for Environmental Awareness and Policy ChangeKatie Fallon

Instructor, Department of English

Project Manager, Center for the Study of Rhetoric in Society

Not Seeing the Mountains for the Coal

Mountaintop removal coal mining is an environmental issue of regional and economic significance to Virginia Tech and all of Appalachia. This relatively new mining method, first used in the 1970s, allows coal companies to extract large quantities of coal more quickly (and with fewer employees) than traditional underground mining.

Unfortunately, its impact on the environment is tremendous. Once the trees are cleared from a mountain, explosives blast away the dirt, rock, and remaining vegetation—called “overburden”—to expose coal seams. Much of the overburden is pushed into nearby valleys and hollows, sometimes filling in creeks and streams, creating treeless plateaus that had previously been forested mountains and valleys. Mountaintop removal mining is like using a baseball bat to remove a tooth—it may be cheaper and quicker than the dentist, but leaves behind quite a mess.

My current project, a book of creative nonfiction, centers around the decline of the cerulean warbler, a species of songbird whose core breeding area is located in the coalfields. The cerulean was recently denied “threatened” status by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, despite the fact that its population has declined at a rate of more than 3% a year since 1966. This bird’s preferred breeding habitat is large tracts of old-growth deciduous forests on ridge tops. The USFWS estimates that by 2012, mountaintop mining operations will “eliminate breeding habitat for 10 to 20% of the total cerulean warbler population currently occurring within that core area” (Volume 71, Number 234 of the Federal Register).

Through the discussion of the cerulean warbler’s plight, I will show how the health of the environment is inextricably linked to the health of its residents, both human and non-human, and how all are harmed by mountaintop removal coal mining.

Art has often been a reflection of (and a reaction to) pressing societal problems. Artists and writers are necessary

to actively give voice and image to injustices of all kinds, including environmental concerns. We witness, research,

synthesize, create, and communicate through our art.

The above photograph shows a coal slurry pond being held back by an earthen valley-fill dam. According to the Ohio

Valley Environmental Coalition, this pond contains more than 3 billion gallons of slurry. The very top of the photograph

shows an active mountaintop removal mine behind the slurry pond. The circled building—next to the coal silo—is Marsh Fork Elementary School. More than 200 children attend this

school at the base of the earthen dam.

An often-stereotyped demographic, residents who live in this part of West Virginia are struggling to make their voices

heard over the politically powerful and wealthy coal industry. Writers participating in the October mountaintop removal tour met with coalfield residents who, in addition to sharing their

fears about living in the shadows of earthen sludge dams, spoke about their struggles with well-water contamination, floods, and air pollution caused by blasting and coal dust.

The situation at Marsh Fork Elementary School seems like a disaster waiting to happen; however, it is a disaster that can

be averted through public awareness and policy change. It is in part the responsibility of artists and writers to inform

the public—and our representatives in government—about important environmental and societal issues such as

mountaintop removal mining.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition for sponsoring the Writers’ Tour; the nonprofit organization South Wings and its volunteer pilots for providing flights in small aircraft over mountaintop removal sites; residents of the coalfields for discussing what living

near these mines is like; and Virginia Tech Assistant Professor of English Jeff Mann for inviting me to take part in the tour. Thank you to the Deans for providing a forum to discuss issues facing the environment and the innovative steps Virginia Tech is taking in this area. Photos by Katie Fallon.

Contact info: 340B Shanks Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061. (540)231-6442. Email: kfallon@vt.edu

How can writing and the arts be instrumental in changing

public policy?

What responsibility do writers and artists have to engage

environmental issues?

Southern West Virginia’s intact mountains Active mountaintop removal mine