Run time: 03:29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-WNSIsZl1U
Posted on YouTube: February 25, 2010
By YouTube Member: TennesseeLEAF
Views on YouTube: 724
Posted on DU: March 12, 2010
By DU Member: doeriver
Views on DU: 356 |
A YouTube video posted by TennesseeLEAF documenting a meeting concerned citizens in Williamson County, wherein 2010 Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate and TNGA Senate Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey denies the existence of mountain top removal by Tennessee coal mine operators..
NC5 Investigates Strip Mining In Tennesseehttp://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=8245860The price of coal is skyrocketing, and that means mining companies are flocking to Tennessee.
One of the most controversial types of mining involves strip mining.
NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Ben Hall has discovered where it's happening in Tennessee and why a wildlife area that taxpayers paid $40 million to protect is in danger.
Times are changing in Elk Valley.
David Beaty and his family live at the base of Tennessee's largest mountain top mining site.
"Every evening you can hear a blast. Sometimes you can feel it," Beaty said.
Beaty lives in Campbell County near Zeb Mountain.
"To see the mountain tore up, you go places you used to go and its completely different now," he said.
Zeb Mountain is a site where companies use explosives to blast into mountains. It's happening more and more in Tennessee.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates has identified nine current mines above 2,000 feet. Four new permits are under review. They're north of Knoxville in Campbell, Claiborne and Anderson counties.
But most surprising to some lawmakers is that coal companies are planning large-scale mountain top mining in a state wildlife area.
Taxpayers spent $40 million buying the land and the timber rights to the Sundquist Wildlife Management Area, but the state does not own the mineral rights. Coal companies are planning extensive mountain top mining in the area.