Dear Massing Company,


I erg you to stop mountain top removal because it is harmful to our environment, our economy, and ourselves. It only makes money for the head people of The Massing Company. Mountain top removal is new way of coal mining. They blow up the top of the mountain in order to get to the coal in side. A more recent event happen where 25 miners were killed and 4 missing because of the dangers of mountain top removal. Families are devastated and Massing Company doesn’t care.
Families and communities near mountaintop removal sites are forced to contend with continual blasting from mining operations that can take place up to 300 feet from their homes and operate 24 hours a day. The impact of blasting not only makes life all but unlivable in nearby homes it also frequently cracks wells and foundations. Blasting can also send boulders flying hundreds of yards into roads and homes. Sludge dams also cause a huge problem and are greatly dangerous. Sludge dams represent the greatest threat to nearby communities of any of the impacts of coal mining. Impoundments are notoriously leaky, contaminating drinking water supplies in many communities, and are also known to fail completely. A sludge dam breach in Martin County, KY, in 2000, sent more than 300 million gallons of toxic coal sludge into tributaries of the Big Sandy, causing what the EPA called, “The biggest environmental disaster ever east of the Mississippi.” Another major problem it causes is flooding! Coalfield residents have long complained about drastic increases in flooding following mountaintop removal operations,. The coal industry maintains such floods are “Acts of God.” Researchers at the university of Kentucky recently concluded: “there is a clear risk of increased flooding (greater runoff production and less surface flow detention) following [mountaintop removal and valley fill] operations.”