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Coal-fired Power Plants
An economic opportunity or a threat to the health and livability of our region?
by Rodney Berry
Kathy Strobel, Research Assistant
Significance and consequences of coal production
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Coal that fuels power plants is extracted through underground and surface mining. Surface mining includes traditional strip mining as well as the mountaintop removal process that has become increasingly controversial.
In 2004, more than 73 million tons were extracted from Kentucky’s 296 underground mines; more than 45 million tons from 312 surface mines. The Kentucky mining industry employs nearly 20,000 people. In 2005, the coal mining median hourly wage was $18.97 per hour.
Coal mining is one of our nation’s most dangerous occupations. In 2006, there have been 10 coal mine fatalities in Kentucky, 31 in the U.S. Since 1995, there have been 101 fatalities in Kentucky, 398 nationwide.
Pneumoconiosis (or “black lung” disease) is caused by continuous exposure to coal mine dust. The disease kills an estimated 1,500 miners per year nationwide. In Kentucky, less than one in 20 applications for black lung Workers Compensation benefits is approved.
Environmentalists have objected to surface mining for many years and advocated stricter reclamation laws and enforcement. Coal mining is also unpopular because of blasting, noise, road damage from heavy trucks, massive sediment flow and other outcomes.
However, many property and mineral right owners support mining and benefit financially from royalties off production.
In eastern Kentucky, mountaintop removal techniques are increasingly challenged due to the disruption of the natural contour, clear-cutting of forests, clogging of streams and the elimination/displacement of plant and animal life of the region.
The Bush administration weakened environmental oversight and protections against mountaintop removal, repealing a 25-year prohibition against dumping the residue (forest cover, mine debris, and silt) in streams.
Supporters of surface mining say the methods, practiced for 30 years, involve techniques similar to highway construction. They claim that property owners approve the process and are well-compensated, hollow fills are approved by government agencies and stream loss is minimal.
Defenders of the industry say that through mountaintop removal, flat land can be created in Appalachia to provide sites for commercial growth, industry and tourism. Mining creates good jobs in regions plagued by chronic high unemployment and allows the region to maximize its natural resources.
Coal Facts
Kentucky coal reserves - 88.1 billion tonsKentucky coal mined or lost due to mining - 16.8 billion tons
U. S. coal reserves - 265 billion tons (world leader)
U. S. coal production - 1.1 billion tons per year
World coal production - 4 billion tons per year
Value of annual coal production - $20 billion
Percent coal used for U.S. electricity production - 88 percent
Percent of recoverable coal as reserves in U. S. - 64 percent
Number of coal-fired power plants in Kentucky - 22