Mountain Top Removal

Unbelievable beauty coexists with unmitigated destruction as big business works in tragic collusion with the government. MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL is an especially poignant lesson on current coal mining– and its impact– in West Virginia and southern Appalachia. Coal produces approximately 50% of the electricity in the United States; however, the procedure to procure the coal is mostly unknown or ignored. Mountain top removal, the latest mining technique for fast production, involves using explosives to remove up to 1,000 vertical feet of rock to get to the coal seams underneath. Exposed coal seams are then mined with a steam shovel called a dragline, which guts the landscape. Besides the horrifying environmental impact, there is a huge human cost. What are the by-products of this cash-and-carry procedure and what is left behind? How do people with very little economic clout make themselves heard by politicians looking for the next photo op? The film follows the personal stories of residents as they fight for clean water and a school that is not overshadowed by a coal mining facility and its toxic sludge impoundment pond. – CCP