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The film “Coal Country” directed by Phylis Geller was released in 2009. This film looks at coal from every angle. It shows the entire lifecycle of coal, past to present. Coal is a cheap and abundant resource, but is very dirty. This resource is made of carbon, dead plant matter.

Towns that were visited felt that coal built their community. The communities consist mostly of miners and their families. The coal companies come to these towns and do things such as run carnivals for the families. The families really enjoy these events. The families were also very happy when underground mining ended and surface mining became more popular. This strategy is much safer for the workers.

Living in these areas is not all fun and games. The people living in homes closest to the mines not only hear, but feel blasts. Mountain top removal has taken away the natural scenery and caused plateaus. Three percent of mines in West Virginia use mountain top removal. Mining is the largest source of manmade mercury emissions. Mining companies do go into areas where they are done mining and “reclaim” the land. This land will have grass and trees grown over the entire area.

While this reclamation seems great often nonnative species are grown. This is bad for the area as the nonnative species can take over. However, if one tree becomes diseased it can wipe out the entire area’s trees.

A lawyer is visited in the film as well. He is on a “ten year crusade” against the mining companies. He fights against the building of new mines that would cover mountain valley streams. He has lead a team suing the Army core of Engineers for not enforcing laws to protect these streams. A mine called Spruce Mines was proposed in this area. The permit was stopped and the legal case was won. The judge went out and examined the stream. The mining company claimed the stream was dry, but upon inspection life was found. The buffer zone was also not enforced. There is no mining allowed within 100 feet of an intermittent or perennial stream. The local government declared a state of economic emergency and called for a hiring freeze. This caused the ruling to be overturned.

This area is in an economic stand still. The people in the town are poor. If they are not working at the mines, they are flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. The companies own the mountains and will not bring in any affluence into the area. This then leads to fewer jobs in the area and more dependence on working in the mines. Other towns nearby that do not have coal are booming. These towns rely on tourism and are doing very well economically. Anyone that speaks out against the coal companies feels they must protect themselves. There have been crimes related to the coal company harassing “troublemakers.”

The next area examined in the film is the coal dust settling on nearby towns. The filters in the personal wells in the towns were black from all the dust. This forces community members to fill up their water supply at the town community center and bring it back to their homes. Processing coal leaves lakes full of the byproducts. If the dams on these lakes fail the byproducts can flood towns. Coal dust from processing settles on buildings in towns. The mortality rates are higher in coal mining areas in Appalachian West Virginia. In one specific town a dome was placed over the processing plant to capture the dust. Cemeteries in coal processing areas are eroding from emissions. Coal companies feel that an extremely vocal minority is getting a lot of attention. The miners are proud of what they do and would not change.

This film is appropriate for anyone interested in any aspect of coal. It did a good job of showing how communities and coal companies differed on issues. Both sides of the story were given, though bias was shown to the community members. The film does not give a whole lot of solutions to the problems surrounding coal, but does a good job of educating viewers.