Day 5 What an education

Day 5
What an education Wow what a day. The day started off at Walmart. Well actually it was behind Walmart where in a wall of rock ther were about 8 holes that looked like punch mine holes but actually were tunnels for a deep mine. There was a construction crew there and the foreman told us that they were filling the mine with 30,000 yards of concrete to stabalize the mine so the Walmart complex would be safe. Next we went to Coal Mac a subsidiary of Arch Coal. This site is a surface mine that also has a small deep mine. Luckily for us it was vacation week so it was easy to get around the site, otherwise it would be very busy. Coal mining is needed because we still get 45% of our electricity from coal but the first 2 reclamations (not Coal Mac) we saw had positives but they also had negatives that needed fixed. The first site had biodiversity but had taken a long time to recover. The next site that man tried to reclaim in the seventies had recovered quickly and was green. Unfortunately the plants were very aggresive. The seed mix they sprayed kept other plants out so there was not much biodiversity, the plants were not native and it did not have much animals though I did see butterflies.  The Coal Mac looked like they had learned from these previous lessons. They start their reclamation as soon as they start mining. When they remove the topsoil they set it aside for the reclamation. Then as soon as that section is done being mined they start the reclamation instead of waiting. First they get the land back to the original contour and put drainage in. Then they put the topsoil they saved back on and plant grass. Later they put a few trees in. Then they let natural sucession and bird poop to take over. It wasamazing how much diversity of plants they had in only 3 years and in 5 years it looked great. I did not realize that plants could grow back. I think their success came from man helping nature get a start but then letting natural succession to take over in making a native natural recovery. On the reclaimed land we saw bunnies, grasshoppers bees ( other insects) bear poop and saw and heard birds. In fact they said the bears had kind of become a nuisance. There are also turkeys, deer and coyotes. The coyotes are the only animal introduced there to help the coyotes. Ironically a techer here used to hunt squirrels in the woods and said there had just been squirrels and bunnies as larger animals there so the reclaimed land had more animal diversity. The reclaimed land had an orchard, ranch, and a golf course. If coal companies can be this successful then mining can be a win win situation. Next we visited Logan Airport. It was built on a mountain top removal site that was left flat. The mine reclamation must be returned to the original contour unless there is a plan approved ahead of time for commercial use. Finally we had dinner with some miner couples. This was very interesting. They allowed us to ask questions and told us their views. They were proud of what they do and seemed pleased that we had come to see what they did instead of just going by what was written in the papers. This is understandable because it seemed much different than what we saw. I asked about what kind of government regulation they thought was needed in the mines. The answer was that the mines needed regulations but the regulation should be streamlined and consistant. There are too many groups that regulate the mines and the rules keep changing. Also they feel that the regulations should match up with other companies. An example given was the regulation for the amount of selenium allowed in water for coal companies is 1/5 that of drinking water. They also acknowledged that there are a need for regulation. He also talked about the technology in the mines that is amazing. Another interesting comment made by the miner's wife was that as a real estate agent if they could use a mountain top smine sit to build houses they could sell 50 houses in no time because of the lack of land in Chapmanville and that there is a need to provide entertainment for the kids but there is not land for it. It was interesting to hear them talk about their experience and to hear their passion as they talked. They also said we could contact them if we needed more information that would help us teach about mining. I was very impressed by the work done at Coal Mac and especially with their people.

Day 4 From old to new

Day 4:From Old to New

We started the day in the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. The mine was made with pick shovel and shot. The miner would undercut the coal then they would hand drll holes, fill the hole, yell fire in the hole, blow up the coal, and finally shovel the coal into the car. They would get 20 cents a ton and could get 2 dollars a day. Dads could bring their boys into the mine to help them. When the boys were 16 they could go in to work themselves. As time went on the mines machines like an undercutting machine and roof bolting will double the amount of coal able to be mined. Mining was very dangerous. Canaries could be used to tell miners when there was to much methane in the mine because the gas kills a canary in 5 minutes but it took 20 minutes to kill a man. If your canary died it is time to get out. They also used a lamp to check for gas. Black damp will flatten the flame and put you to sleep for good. Methane will put out your flame but you do not just relight your lamp. One way in the early time to get rid of the gas was to fan the room with coats. I don't think I would want to trust coat waving for my safety. As they started using machines they needed to dust the walls with limestone to keep the coal dust danger of explosion down. A major concern in the mines is from the roof. Not just that the roofs are low so you can't stand up straight and it drips on you but real dangers. Petrified stumps called kettle bottoms were known to fall out of the ceiling maiming or killing miners. When a kettle bottom was found it ha to be pulled out or shored up. The roof also could fall so they used roof bolts. Roof bolts were usually 4 feet long and had to go a foot into solid rock. Our guide has had to use a 20 foot roof bolt to hit a foot of solid rock. After touring the mine we went around to the company town. They had a one room bachelor shack and a 3 room family shack that the cost was deducted from their pay. We also saw the three story foremans house that was free of charge. There was also a 2 room school house. It was interesting to see that talking to a girl earned only one fewer lashes than fighting. Next we went to the place that makes the high wall mining machine. A highwall mining machine can mine 12000 feet into the coal seam. It only takes 3 people to run and nobody goes underground. The technology from this W.V. Company is sending its technology around the world. The high wall mining machine is an awesome machine. It brought to mind an oil derrick. It was huge and was able to cut its way into a mountain but sophisticated enough to follow a coal seam within 1/4 inch from outside. This is a modern type of mining used today. In fact when asked who made the best operators for these machines we were told young adults because of there video game skills. Ironically we ran into aparent whose kids in their 20's ran the high wall mining machine. Finally we went to Matewan and learned about what was known and what was conjecture in the Matewan shootout between Sid Hatfield and the miners versus the Baldwin Felts Agency. It made me want to rewatch the movie Matwan after discussing and seeing "what is known" and what is conjecture at the real Matewan.

When it rains it pours. Day 3

Day 3 When it Rains it Pours

Today we went to Joe Knob.  Joe Knob is a strip mine that is being reclaimed.  While we were at Joe Knob the weather would not cooperate.  It rained the whole time we were there and then the lightning came but we still were able to see many things.

The water from the mine sites are caught in ponds and are tested.  They add sodium hydroxide to the water to get the ph up.  Last year when we tested the water the ph in the pond we tested was 7.  Our guide told us that there were 2 trout streams at the bottom of Joe Knob.  One is self sustainable while the other has to be monitored and treated to allow the trout to stay alive.

They are also trying to reclaim the land by using hydroseed.  Hydroseed is made up of seeds tht are aggresive growers that can grow in rocky acidic soil.  The seeds are not native plants but they are green.  There is not much diversity in the plants as we had seen in the natural reclamation but this reclamation takes less time.

 

Next we went to Nuttelburg a mine site next to the New River in Fayetteville.  This is the site of another naturally reclaimed mine site. Once again there was diversity in the plant life.  When we measured the water we got a high normal water quality from a stream coming out of the hill. We could not get to the tipple or coke ovens because of work being done in the area.



 

Finally we went to see the longest steel arch bridge;

                                                              The New River Gorge Bridge.



Day 1 Windmills and Such

The first day of the coal project and of course we go to view an alternate sources of energy. We saw the Parson Windmills located on Backbone Mountain.  These are not the windmills that Don Quixote jousted with but instead these are monsterous modern windmills.  The first things you see is how tall the windmills are and how slow the blades seem to be moving.  The blades may seem to be going slow on this day they rotated 17 times per minute.  When the blades rotate 17 times per minute it means the outside of the blade is going 141 mph. No wonder birds sometimes hit them.  People sometimes complain that windmills on a mountain are an eyesore, but instead they seem beautiful in their own way.  They are very simple and modern looking so that they do not take away from the scenery and the size of the windmills are awesome especially when you get close to them.

     Next we were off to Thomas a mining town founded by Henry Gasaway Davis. This area had at one time been covered by virgin forest before 1880 as had been 2/3 of West Virginia.  By 1910 most of these virgin forests were gone.  Thomas's natural environment and waterways were devastated by the mining. A big problem was caused by the pyrite in the area that produces hydrchloric acod when mixed with water.  Tomorrow we will observe how the land and water have recovered or not recovered.

Day 2 Water quality tests

Blackwater River at Thomas

Today we tested portions of the Blackwater River with our environmental probes.  I went into the river by Thomas where the sandstone causes acidity from the mine drainage.  The ph was 4.07 and the water quality was fair.  Next I tested a stream feeding the Blackwater in Coketon where pyrite causes acidity from mine drainage.  Its ph was 3.21 and its water quality was the bottom number of the average water quality.



Stream feeding Blackwater River
 at Coketon



    

The water quality was not what I expected. I expected the first area in the river to have better water quality because of the lower acidity and this site had small fish while in the stream I saw no life.  This showed that while acidity is important it is only one factor in the quality of the water. The area that we took readings in had a lot of different native plants and animals. Nature has done a good job in reclaiming the land.  At the Coketon site you could see cloudy looking water as you walked downstream from where my stream was located.  These areas were where they had added limestone sand to raise the ph and to make the river less acidic. It was nice to see that nature is making a comeback in this area. It was also fun to walk into the water to get readings instead of just reading about it.

WV Coal Project Trip

Today is finally the day. A group of Cabell County teachers and I start our WV Coal trip. On this trip we will explore many facets of coal in WV and take video and pictures. Then next year we can use this to teach our students and write lesson plans for ourselves and other teachers. I know that when I used last years trip information that the kids were highly engaged and very inquisitive. I can not wait to explore coal in WV so I can bring what I saw back to the students. I will miss Justin and Jason who were 2 of my van mates, last year but look forward to sharing this tiring but fascinating experience with the teachers who are

Holden Coal Camp

Holden is a mine camp that is about four miles due west of Logan West Virginia.  It was owned  by the Island Creek Coal Company. It was named after one of the founders of the Island Creek Coal Company Albert F Holden.  Mr Holden believed that a coal town should be a nice place to live and built the town with that in mind.  Holden became famous as a model community according to Walter Thurmond.  In 1955 they had stores, a hospital, air conditioned movie theater, drug store, dress shop, taxi, beauty shop, dentist, , barber shop, gas station, billiards hall, cable tv, tennis courts, swimming pool, a recreation building with a  gym, lighted  baseball field, volleyball courts, picnic grounds and a clubhouse.  This was a town to take pride in.

The Logan Field was not developed until 1904 because the railways had not reached it.By the 1930’s Island Creek Coal Company employed 2500 men.  The workers were a mixture of whites, immigrants and about a third black.  The mines have shut down but Holden is still the home of approximately 1,00 residents. 

Holden some claim has its own ghost known as the Coal Miners’ Widow. Mamie Thurman was known as a “black widow because she married men for their money who would then suddenly die.  She was found murdered at the coal mine known as Holden 22.  She now is said to be seen walking in Holden 22’s old abandoned headquarters.

map http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Holden,+WV&aq=0&sll=38.205814,-81.720428&sspn=0.488839,1.347198&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Holden,+Logan,+West+Virginia&z=12