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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by mersenne6 There is another aspect to the strip vs coal shaft issue and that is the impact on the environment. In addition to making the terrain a little lower, the act of stripping tears open the layer above the coal and then dumps it back. The problem with this disturbed layer of overburden is that now, when water percolates through it, you get mine acid drainage. With the moisture in the east the results are easy to see all through the Pennsylvania/Kentucky/WV region - bright reddish brown stream beds with a high pH level. Interestingly enough the acid doesn't do anything to fish eggs, they will hatch just fine. The problem is that the acid kills off almost everything else so your hatchlings starve to death. Out west, with the drier climate, disturbed overburden doesn't get a chance to do what it does in the east. [/quote] Make that bright reddish brown stream beds with a LOW pH level. Acid lowers the pH, Base (alkali) raises it.
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