Coal Trip Story from Malory Baker on Vimeo.

Getting Back Into School

Well, we are exactly one week into the school year, and I am excited to talk about the summer coal trip. I put up several posters on my "coal wall." I will bring out many more when we really work on my coal units, but for the year I have lightly sprinkled my room with coal posters. I have already been asked to explain what "West Virginia Coal: It's Not Just a Black or White Issue" means. This huge poster is positioned over my white board. I eagerly explained that there are many sides to the coal story and that we will work on units focused on coal mining later in the school year. I will do this at the time I teach functions. I hope for it to be a great success. One of the ideas that I took from the summer coal trip was that students should form their own opinions, but the opinions should come from facts. I hope to instill that in the students this year. I may even pull out some of the information to work with my Algebra students soon!

Day 6 IN the Mine

Day 6 IN the Mine was awesome! We went to the Rockspring Mine, which is owned by Alpha Energy, and had the opportunity to go down into their underground mine. It was such a wonderful culmination of the whole week; in the beginning of the week we saw the history of coal mining in Thomas, WV, saw the progression of natural reclamation at Yellow Creek to Joe Knob's manmade monoculture to Coal-Mac's manmade biodoversity, and saw the present and future of surface and finally underground mining. Everywhere we looked we saw technology from the highwall miner to the processing plant to tracking the miners in the underground mine. My group was first to go into the mine. We put on white paper jumpsuits, big bulky boots, safety glasses, ear plugs around the neck, a hat with a tracking device, a battery pack on my miner belt and attached to my hat, and a big heavy rescue device attached to my miner belt. We rode in the short, long car into the mine, and at first it was warm air we felt. It was a little daunting when the doors were closed, but we were enthralled by the environment. This trip - everything in the last 2 days from the strip mine to the Mountain Laurel processing plant to the underground mine experience - was beyond my expectation. Thank you, Dennis. I will do my best to instill pride, knowledge, and a thirst for the truth in our students as they realize the necessity of technology in their world.

An Unexpected Final Dinner Surprise

Day 5 ended with a very special dinner. Dennis Adkins, the head of the technology department for Cabell County and also the man who brought this whole trip into existance just seemed to think of everything! We thought we were going to have a nice ending dinner at Logan's Country Club and maybe wrap up with a casual discussion of what we learned and a "thank you" to the group leaders, but there was so much more in store for us. We did actually talk about how this trip would impact our students (I thought one of the most important things for our students is to form an opinion but to base it on facts as I practiced during the week), we did thank Pat, Steve, Karen, Annette, and Dennis, but we also had guests! At each table we had two people whose loves are tied to coal. Wendy, Rex, and I sat with a wonderful couple who have grown up in the Logan area. The gentleman is a 3rd generation coal miner who worked in underground and surface mines, went to school for engineering, and now surveys and writes permits for coal companies. He even works with Cobalt Coal Company from the Coal show on Spike. He said they are doing very well now, by the way. He and his wife both spoke about how well regulated mining is, even to the point of hindering mining with excessive regulations. Everything they said makes sense, and it was great to get a perspective from people who live in the area. It really does seem like coal is a great thing for West Virginia. Another gentleman spoke about how much coal mining boosts the economy of the state and the potential if allowed to repurpose mined land above the flood plain for homes and businesses. I really have learned so much this week and hope I can share with my students that they need to create informed impressions and make knowledgeable judgements. I am proud of the technology and advancements in my state and see so much hope for the future if everyone will just work together and become well informed citizens.

Day 5 Afternoon

This afternoon we traveled to Mountain Laurel to see coal being cleaned at their huge processing plant. We got all gussied up in our hard hats, safety glasses, ear plugs, and borrowed boots. We walked through the plant and saw all the different machines used to clean and crush the coal. It was very warm and water was constantly dripping in the plant. The process was very impressive, but again we did not get to take pictures. This was a very unique situation, and I was happy to have the opportunity to better understand the coal cycle.

Day 5 Morning

Day 5 morning was very eye-opening. I have been seeing so much of the negatives about surface mining (contour and mountain top removal or strip mining). We visited Coal-Mac, Inc. which is owned by Arch Coal. The company employs 295 people and has $225 million in capital investment. 3.5 million tons of coal are produced annually. The company has 33 million recoverable tons, which is enough work for 10-15 more years. 11,800 acres are permitted and $23 million has been posted for reclamation. The company has a total payroll of $23 million. Those are just some numbers to familiarize with the company. More importantly for those living in West Virginia, Coal-Mac, Inc. has won numerous awards for their work in safety and reclamation. The surface mine has also reached 3 million man hours without lost time from injury. When driving through the mining areas, we immediately saw the signs stressing safety and then the beauty! The reclaimed areas were amazing. They looked nothing like the devastation people see on television and come to think about in association with surface mining. The areas did not look like they had been touched after about 5 or 6 years - there were various trees, other plants, animals, and insects. In fact, the insects were so thick when we got out of the van that I got a mosquito bite within about 2 minutes and tons of little brown insects were crawling all over my body. I think the bugs weren't used to a lot of humans! Oh, and the grasshoppers were everywhere! I also learned that valley fill does not mean they fill in the valley. It is put on the sides of the mountains to build up the mountains, many times. Another neat opportunity is when the top of the mountain is left flat and cattle farms can be built on it. That has already been done once, and we saw it from a distance. It seemed like everything had been thorougly thought through and the EPA and DEP keeps close watch over all plans. The thing I always think about was addressed - what happens to all the slurry (the dirty water after cleaning coal)? Our guide explained the slurry is moved to high ground, the water evaporates, the slurry becomes hard and compacted, and is eventually covered with at least 3 feet of dirt to reclaim the land. We did not have the opportunity to take pictures, but I really learned so many impressive things about surface mining. It CAN be done in a great way that is helpful for all parties involved. There is so much hope for the future of our land.

Day 4 Night

During the evening we went to Matewan and saw the Matewan Museum and then the street where the Matewan Massacre occured. It was surprising on the way that there was such a variety of homes. There were plenty of trailers, but there were so many gigantic, gorgeous homes along the road, too. Those people were all tied to coal. What a difference in lives. . . It is a long night tonight because we will still see the coal house before heading to Chapmanville for bed.