Reclaimation

I visited the same coal.mac mine operation 2 years ago with my REACT group and Ken Oconner.  I could already tell the growth of the reclaimation process since my last visit.  This trip has opened my eyes to the positive side of coal mining.  At dinner this evening we talked with Brent who is the plant manager at the Mt Laurel coal processing plant we visited and discussed how the media only puts negative information oit about coal moning.  I shared my disgust for the COAL tv show on Spike TV and oir table discused how the show has only set us back in our efforts to ge away from the uneducated hillbilly, drug using West Virginian who mines coal.  Brent also shared with us how when he goes to the capitol to advocate for Arch Coal and many reporters do mot approach him as one to be in the coal industry because of the way he is dressed and when they do start asking him questions and he doesnt tell them what thry want to hear they stop writing and walk away.  It has made me want to educate my students on a fair veiw and how they need to find information out for themselves and not rely on the media to form their opinions.

Our visit to the coal processing plant inspired me to create a lesson or lessons on the cleaning and separating process of coal and thr physics behind it.  I also have great professional contacts to help in my planning process.

MADE IN WEST BY GOD

We also visited the Caterpillar high wall mining macufacturer in Beckley.  These machines cut into the mountain and cut out the coal woith out any men going underground.  It is ran by 3-4 men and the operator controls it  by a computer.  The best thing about this machine which costs about 8 million dollars and could on the high end produce 200,000 tons of coal a month is that it is manufactured and sold right here in WVa.  The picture of the one being constructed below was purchased by India.

Baseball truly is America's pastime. . .

At the beckley coal mine exhibition there was a museum upstairs about the coal camp life.  Baseball was a pastime used to bond coal companies together.  Coal companies would form teams miners who were good ball players were paid to play and given easier jobs in the mine.  Good players were recruited from other companies. 
My baseball coach hubby will appreciate this fun fact       :-)

Oh how times have changed

Today we visited the Beckley mine exhibit.  Our tour guide in the mine, Marvin, was great its always refreshing when you see a person who loves their job.  It interesting to see the equipment and hear stories of how dangerous the job was especially before modern machines.  What hit home with me were the coal camp houses that were still set in the early 1900'S and it resembled my families farm house which our family has kept in the times.
The other part that hit home were the rules of the teachers of the times (see pic below).

Holy Bridge Batman!

If you have never been to the New River Gorge Bridge, schedule it.  I have been when i was younger but forgot how awesome its size is.  It was also fun to be with someone, like William, who had never experienced the area or seen the bridge or rocks the size that are in and around the river.  I also was able to use the panoramic setting on my samsung galaxy tab.

Nuttleburg

After lunch the rain clewred and we headed to Nuttleburg which an abandoned coal camp in Fayette county Wva.  This was interesting for our van because it was near and dear to Josh and Danielle so we discussed the area and how they experieneced or veiwed it growing up around the area.  We tested water of runoff stream at Nuttleburg and with a great pH of 6.5 it had an overall quality of 72 which was the best we have tested thus far.  The dissolved solids count was high but the water was clear comprable to that of tap water, so we came to a conclusion that it was a result of the rain that had just passed and was from the minerals of the soil.  It would be nice to test the water again with out the effect of rain.

Below is a picture of some of the steps left from the coal camp's company store.

Joe knob

Joe knob was our first destination of the day.  The weather was rain and alot of it but it gave us a chance to see how water runs off the mine site.  Mike little was in the infamous van 3 and served as our tour guide for the treacherous 4 wheeling van ride.  We observed the bio diversity or lack there of on parts of the mountain which had been reclaimed.  We also discussed how important poop is for spreading plant life.

Orange you glad you dont have to drink this water?

Our last stop was at douglas falls where we did our second water quality test.  one noticable difference between yellow creek and douglas falls is the color of the rocks, Orange!  This is caused by the chemical reaction of water, air, and pyrite into iron and sulfuric acid which gives the rocks their orange color.  Because of the reaction naturally we found the water to be acidic around 3.8, and no life in the water.  But again we found the overall quality of the water to be moderate.  

Beehive ovens?

Our next stop was the coketon coke ovens.  The coke ovens were used to heat up the coal to drive off all the oxygen and volitales so that all that was left was carbon, which is called coke.  Coke is used for making steel, its better than regular coal to make a better quality steel.  The coke was then shoveled from the ovens right into the rail carts, the railway is no longer there but the remnants of the coke ovens are still there.

Blackwater falls

We had lunch at blackwater falls. . . Only mentioning this because of the beautiful picture of myself XD

Yellow creek

Day 2
Today we used a labquest enviromental earth lab to calculate the water quality of two spots of previously mined areas.  Our group tested at Yellow Creek and just north of douglas falls. 

The first stop was yellow creek and at a glance the area looks healthy, we even found wild blueberries and reinder moss (which is a living lichen).  when we approached the creek it was very clear but had no signs of life.  We found the pH to be  right at 4.  but the overall quality all things considered. . . Dissolved oxygen, condictivity( dissolved solids.),temperature, pH, turbitity. . . To be medium to good quality.  Which was surprising to us.

Windturbines, Thomas and Deer... Oh My!

Today was day 1 of our trip.  The long van ride up was spent discussing rigor and felevance in theclassroom and Quad D to some middle school teachers and the idea of teaming up with huntington high on a service project for the freshman academy. 
Our first stop was the wind turbines in Parsons, Wv atop backbone mountain. What a sight to see, it was said in the van how they look so peaceful.   But the size of these things were awesome!  I do not feel the pictures do the magnitude justice.  We also calulated the speed of the turbines, 133 mph!
The next stop was just down the mountain in a town named Thomas.  We heard the history of the once coal boom town from Dr. Little.  I look forward to hearing more of this town and the effects of the mining tomorrow when we visit the coke ovens and streams.  I am headed back to the room here at the Canaan Lodge to review my notes of the day and rest up for a full day tomorrow.
Oh i almost forgot...we made a friend at the lodge. :-)

living out of a suitcase

just returned this afternoon from a week long beach vacation with my family and 3 other couples and their children. it was great to get away and relax on the beach, shopping or by the pool. we ate our weight in seafood and my daugthers brought back pet turtles, those were fun traveling back with :-D . before that we spent a few days in cincinatti at a waterpark, the zoo and coney island. and before that i was in Nashville for the model schools conference. ive been home a total of 7 days since summer started... not complaining its been great! So i am now charging all my devices and packing for another adventure, not really sure what to expect but am looking forward to it. See eveyone tomorow!

GIS software...Brainstorming

I am currently in a training for GIS (Geographical Information Software), at the BOE. There is an abundant amount of information and data avalible through this software, I will recieve the software once finished with the class that you can use in interested. One idea I have come up up for one of our lessons for this Coal Class, is showing the difference in elevations from the begining of coal production in West Virginia to present resulting from the mining. Also with our Samsung tablets collecting lattitude and longitudes of our stops mapping the coal fields we visit on our trip.

Mount Hope's Coal Legacy

The small southern town of Mt. Hope didnt know what was about to hit it, when the Macdonald Colliery Company began shipping the world famous smokeless coal in 1894.  About the same time 3 other Coal and Coke companies joined the area; Turkey Knob, Dunn Loop, and Sugar Creek.  This would be the beginning of one of the most "modernized" towns in all of West Virginia during the 1900's.

The area of Fayette county would not be accessible until 1873, with the completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway.  The first shipment of coal from the NEW RIVER COAL FIELD was made in 1873.  In 1888, Fayette County was producing 1/5 of the states total coal production.  In early 1894, another Railroad was built known as Loup Creek Branch, which connected the C&O mainline to MacDonald.  Within a few years, four mining opertaions were built within walking distance of Mt. Hope employing about 400 men.  This brought, businesses, homes, stores and offices and June 1, 1895 Mt. Hope was incorporated as a town. 

By, 1910 the town was a snapshot of modern, having a movie theater, paved streets and electric lights, a large hotel, a bank, drugstore, bakery, produce store, furniture store, several saloons and numerous other businesses.  Much of Mt. Hope's success was due to the fact that the town was not controlled by a coal company, most coal towns had only one company store.  Mt. Hope experienced a hiccup in its development, March 24, 1910 when a fire broke out and destroyed almost every home and building in the town.  With the help of the booming economy the town was rebuilt quickly with "modern" brick buildings in place of the old wooden store fronts. 


In the early 1920's Mt.Hope annexed a nearby town "Warner Town" and in 1921 the legislature granted Mt.Hope as a city and their motto is still in use today, " The little city with the big welcome"  Not long after this 20 coal companies had offices in Mt. Hope, and was the second largest community of Fayette County.  Althogh the population was never huge, the areas within walking distance to the city was impressive, people of that time claimed that 30,000 people lived within walking distance of Mt. Hope.


As with the rest of the country by the end of the 1920's depression had set in and the explosive boom was over.  Just as the economy started to lookup, our nation began fighting a war, WWII.  Coal began to decline in the 1950's and within a decade southern West Virginia lost about 1/3 of their population.  The US Census of 2009 reported the population of Mt. Hope to be 1, 487.


Works Cited: http://www.wva-usa.com/history/mthope/coal.php