Catholic-sponsored forum studies mining's mountaintop removal method

Published: 2003-12-23

HINDMAN, Ky. (CNS) -- Representatives of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia and the Lexington diocesan Office of Peace and Justice met Dec. 16-17 with environmentalists, community activists and three bishops from the Appalachian region for a forum on the coal mining industry's mountaintop removal method and its affects on communities. "We've gathered as members of the church," Glenmary Father John Rausch, coordinator of the Office of Peace and Justice, told participants. "We're asking (about) the pastoral implications, as people who look after the folks" in these communities. "We'll hear the cries of the poor and vulnerable," he said, "and listen to people who work with mountaintop removal and ask the question: How should the church respond to mountaintop removal?" "Mountaintop removal" is a method of surface mining that removes the top of a mountain to extract the underlying seams of coal. It involves clear-cutting forests, using dynamite to blast away 800 to 1,000 feet of mountaintop, and then dumping the debris into nearby valleys. Coal companies favor its cost effectiveness over deep underground mining to extract the coal.

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