The Appalachian Mountains trend from Canada south-southwest to northern Alabama but the part referred to as Appalachia is the part from southwestern New York State to Alabama. Geographically, the town of Marietta, Ohio is in Appalachia. My friend, Dr. Eric Fitch, who I have mentioned before in this column, runs the Environmental Science program at Marietta College.

The July 2017 issue of Water Resources Impact, a magazine published by American Water Resources Association, headquartered in Middleburg, includes an article by Eric Fitch about coal and water in Appalachia, which I will summarize in this piece. I feel it is of importance to the readership of the Eccentric since a part of Virginia not that far from Middleburg is in Appalachia.

As settlement of our fledgling country moved west in the early 1800's, pioneers discovered an abundance of natural resources in Appalachia including forests and coal. Because lumber was needed for building homes and businesses, some of the forests were mostly logged by ever increasing numbers of settlers, changing the hydrology in the logged areas. When coal was discovered in Appalachia, mining at first was underground. While spoil from underground mining can be and was destructive to ecosystems and water resources, it wasn't until entrepreneurs in the 20th century discovered that they could remove entire mountain tops to get at coal, that the problem intensified greatly. When you remove the top of a mountain, what do you do with it? You put it in the valley below, of course. According to Eric, negative impacts on ecosystems and hydrology increase tremendously, but also the landscape itself is significantly altered. "The valley fill process has destroyed many streams, truncated watersheds and added volumes of pollution to surface water and groundwater. Mine spoils contain soluble carbon, iron and other mineral content when mixed with water can produce acid mine drainage and other water pollutants."

It wasn't until the 1970's with the passage of the Clean Water Act (1971) and the Surface Mining and Control Act (1977) that the federal government took a serious look at protecting the waters of Appalachia from mining. Regulations and programs included properly closing abandoned mines to prevent pollution of both surface and groundwater and established requirements for reclaiming and restoring mine lands. In the decades since passage of these Acts, significant strides have been made in protecting and restoring surface and groundwater resources, but much is yet to do.

These laws have not set well with the mining industry. "Many in and associated with the coal industry including politicians characterized these laws and regulations for environmental protection and restoration as a 'War on Coal.'" However according to Eric, "The truth of the matter is that increased mechanization has greatly reduced employment in the coal fields and it is increasingly difficult to profitably produce coal from Appalachia especially in terms of electrical generation because utilities are shifting to cheaper, cleaner natural gas."

Eric is concerned that continued progress for cleanup may be curtailed. Because the current administration campaigned to return jobs to and increase production from the coalfields in Appalachia, he is concerned that some of the hard fought for regulations that have led to significant cleanup may be undone. He hopes this will not happen. As an almost lifelong hydrologist who believes water is the lifeblood of our nation, I hope not either.