Results:
1. In terms of area, how many acres have the permits expanded between 2006 and 2008? Which counties have seen the largest expansion of mountaintop removal mining (in terms of acres)?
ANSWER: The total expansion in WV contour mining was 57,613 acres.
ANSWER: Of the 17 counties, the average expansion per county was 3,389 acres. This was led by Kanawha which saw an expansion of 9,454.52 acres. Following closely behind were Boone County (8632.3 acres) and Raleigh County (6253.34 acres). (See below slide show for table comparison)
Count: 17
Minimum: 21.106478
Maximum: 9454.522677
Sum: 57613.085941
Mean: 3389.005055
Standard Deviation: 2942.13007
2. What is the average size of a permitted mountaintop removal mine?
ANSWER: The average size of a permitted mine is 133.25 acres.
Count: 7395
Minimum: 0
Maximum: 2779.73
Sum: 985451.4201
Mean: 133.259151
Standard Deviation: 253.865642
Nulls: 0
3. How many feet of rivers and streams fall within these permit areas?
ANSWER: In total 304,856.8 feet of rivers and streams fall within permitted mine areas.
Count: 387
Minimum: 3.097009
Maximum: 7533.146499
Sum: 304856.802321
Mean: 787.743675
Standard Deviation: 1038.521444
Nulls: 0
4. How many feet of rivers and streams have been covered by pre-identified valley fills)?
ANSWER: In total, 11,418.08 feet of rivers and streams have been covered by valley fills according to current data.
Count: 11
Minimum: 426.994938
Maximum: 2618.738349
Sum: 11418.080793
Mean: 1038.007345
Standard Deviation: 634.841133
Nulls: 0
Conclusions:
MTR has seen significant expansion between 2006 and 2008. In total area 57,613 acres have been removed for the purpose of coal extraction during this two year time period. Of that overburden produced in the mining process, a total 304,856 feet of rivers and streams have been covered by valley fill. The objective nature of spatial data permits further elevation and hydrological analysis of these extractive industrial practices through integration of lidar data and volume modeling (see '3D raster modeling' tab). Spatial analysis statics are provided in the below appendixes for descriptive purposes. Looking forward, the disproportionality of MTR throughout the coal fields of Appalachia is producing significant amount of new data on an annual basis. This preliminary study managed to answer a few questions in the form of a spatial case study.
1. In terms of area, how many acres have the permits expanded between 2006 and 2008? Which counties have seen the largest expansion of mountaintop removal mining (in terms of acres)?
ANSWER: The total expansion in WV contour mining was 57,613 acres.
ANSWER: Of the 17 counties, the average expansion per county was 3,389 acres. This was led by Kanawha which saw an expansion of 9,454.52 acres. Following closely behind were Boone County (8632.3 acres) and Raleigh County (6253.34 acres). (See below slide show for table comparison)
Count: 17
Minimum: 21.106478
Maximum: 9454.522677
Sum: 57613.085941
Mean: 3389.005055
Standard Deviation: 2942.13007
2. What is the average size of a permitted mountaintop removal mine?
ANSWER: The average size of a permitted mine is 133.25 acres.
Count: 7395
Minimum: 0
Maximum: 2779.73
Sum: 985451.4201
Mean: 133.259151
Standard Deviation: 253.865642
Nulls: 0
3. How many feet of rivers and streams fall within these permit areas?
ANSWER: In total 304,856.8 feet of rivers and streams fall within permitted mine areas.
Count: 387
Minimum: 3.097009
Maximum: 7533.146499
Sum: 304856.802321
Mean: 787.743675
Standard Deviation: 1038.521444
Nulls: 0
4. How many feet of rivers and streams have been covered by pre-identified valley fills)?
ANSWER: In total, 11,418.08 feet of rivers and streams have been covered by valley fills according to current data.
Count: 11
Minimum: 426.994938
Maximum: 2618.738349
Sum: 11418.080793
Mean: 1038.007345
Standard Deviation: 634.841133
Nulls: 0
Conclusions:
MTR has seen significant expansion between 2006 and 2008. In total area 57,613 acres have been removed for the purpose of coal extraction during this two year time period. Of that overburden produced in the mining process, a total 304,856 feet of rivers and streams have been covered by valley fill. The objective nature of spatial data permits further elevation and hydrological analysis of these extractive industrial practices through integration of lidar data and volume modeling (see '3D raster modeling' tab). Spatial analysis statics are provided in the below appendixes for descriptive purposes. Looking forward, the disproportionality of MTR throughout the coal fields of Appalachia is producing significant amount of new data on an annual basis. This preliminary study managed to answer a few questions in the form of a spatial case study.
WV_MTR Public Research by R.W. Thomson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.