Coal Sludge Impoundments, West Virginia - related image preview

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Coal Sludge Impoundments, West Virginia - related image preview

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Coal Sludge Impoundments, West Virginia

Since the mid- to late 1990s, the number and size of coal mines known as mountaintop removal mines increased dramatically in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. The final step in processing this coal creates sludge that contains coal dust, sediment, and possibly heavy metals and chemicals. Mine operators contain the coal sludge in nearby valleys, behind huge earthen dams known as valley fills.


IKONOS satellite image by Val Webb, ©2006 Geoeye.
© All Rights Reserved: Use of IKONOS, GeoEye, QuickBird and WorldView imagery must be coordinated with Maxar.

Published April 25, 2008
Data acquired March 18, 2006

Source:
IKONOS