On July 27th, 2015, I went with a friend to the slag pools of a local mine near Lumberport, WV.
How many times were these hillsides pretty little oak or elm groves? How many times have the mines just removed a beautiful field or scalped a mountaintop? How many times do we hear stories from family members who explain the slag dump was an apple orchard?
I know, personally, my grandparents had a 100 acre farm in the 1970s. By 2008, they were offered a lot of money for a section on the edge of the farm. This section had a wide, shallow stream which had “preacher in the pulpit” predatory plants in the meanders along the stretch.
This is what is there now. Tailing ponds or acid mine drainage (AMD) ponds.
Do what you can to conserve natural beauty. These precious places are valuable in different ways to you than they are to coal companies. This delicate ecosystem became a pool so chemically affected by concentrated sulfide that no life is in the pools.
A Grudge Against Pollution: Embracing Leave No Trace Principles
Daily writing promptAre you holding a grudge? About?View all responses
When it comes to holding grudges, I wouldn’t say I harbor resentment toward any person or group. However, there’s one thing that consistently frustrates me: the way humans treat the earth. As a hiker who has spent countless hours traversing mountains, forests, and trails, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of pollution on…