Hello all! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days because of the trip and internet being down. Just a reminder: your presidents essays are due Friday. Also, quite a few students needed to turn in their projects. Tomorrow is the last day I'll take them.
We are working on our Heritage Farm projects for the rest of the week.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Last day: Coal miners: masters of their trade
First of all let me say that it has been a great week working with all the teachers, miners, board staff and business men and women. I met some really great people on this trip and I hope that we continue to keep in touch.
I am glad that we did the tour of the underground mine on the last day because had it been earlier in the week, it would have been a tough act to follow. Since our group was so large, we had to break up into two smaller groups. I was in the first group to get to go down. My headlamp went out before we even made it down to the mine so the head of safety, Clark gave me his to wear because he was "used to the dark." As we were driving down to the mine, a piece of the roof came down at hit the car and scared us all! The second group that went down had a power outage and was able to experience "total darkness." We spent about two hours down there and met some very skilled professionals. Our tour guides Jack, James, Clark, Neil and Willis were all very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely honored to show us around. We saw a continuous miner and loading car, coal belt that carried the coal out from the mine and Neil measure the straightness of the ceiling with lasers (which was pretty cool.)
The miners took a lunch break while we were underground and it was great getting to talk to them. Clark showed us a microwave oven that was mainly used to heat up food or pop popcorn and told us that there was usually a coffee pot down there. The miners sat on metal a picnic table and looked just at home underground as they would have above ground. Everyone that we met had years and years of experience and were 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation coal miners.
Probably the most enjoyable part of this trip was going down and speaking with the miners at shift change. I met so many, but one guy named Mark from Blackberry, Kentucky stood out in my mind. As Kellie (Wood) and I were talking to him and a few others about all that we had seen during the visit, we told Mark about what a great thing we thought that he and the other miners were doing. He explained to us that the media portrays miners like outlaws and it was up to us to share what we had experienced during this trip. He shook our hands and told us to not think that what we are doing is any less important and he thanked us for our service. It took me by surprise that here we were praising him for what he does and he turned it back on us to thank us in return. It was a great feeling.
I am glad that we did the tour of the underground mine on the last day because had it been earlier in the week, it would have been a tough act to follow. Since our group was so large, we had to break up into two smaller groups. I was in the first group to get to go down. My headlamp went out before we even made it down to the mine so the head of safety, Clark gave me his to wear because he was "used to the dark." As we were driving down to the mine, a piece of the roof came down at hit the car and scared us all! The second group that went down had a power outage and was able to experience "total darkness." We spent about two hours down there and met some very skilled professionals. Our tour guides Jack, James, Clark, Neil and Willis were all very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely honored to show us around. We saw a continuous miner and loading car, coal belt that carried the coal out from the mine and Neil measure the straightness of the ceiling with lasers (which was pretty cool.)
The miners took a lunch break while we were underground and it was great getting to talk to them. Clark showed us a microwave oven that was mainly used to heat up food or pop popcorn and told us that there was usually a coffee pot down there. The miners sat on metal a picnic table and looked just at home underground as they would have above ground. Everyone that we met had years and years of experience and were 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation coal miners.
Probably the most enjoyable part of this trip was going down and speaking with the miners at shift change. I met so many, but one guy named Mark from Blackberry, Kentucky stood out in my mind. As Kellie (Wood) and I were talking to him and a few others about all that we had seen during the visit, we told Mark about what a great thing we thought that he and the other miners were doing. He explained to us that the media portrays miners like outlaws and it was up to us to share what we had experienced during this trip. He shook our hands and told us to not think that what we are doing is any less important and he thanked us for our service. It took me by surprise that here we were praising him for what he does and he turned it back on us to thank us in return. It was a great feeling.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Day 5: I love my mountains and the coal in my mountains.
Term of the day: AOC (Approximate Original Contour)--The name given to the process by which coal companies build the mountain back up to as close to the way it was created originally by nature.
The day started at Coal Mac in Chapmanville, West Virginia. Winding roads opened up to vast hilltops as far as the eye can see. The roads were eerily vacant with mining equipment every so often as we made our way to the main office. After a short video and Q & A session, we loaded in our vans to tour the 16,000 acres owned by Arch Coal. When you first look at the sites, I will be the first to admit that to the untrained eye--it looks really bad. It is obvious why so many look at a mountaintop removal site at face value. It is just too easy to say that coal destroys our mountains, but the reality is that in some cases it makes our mountains better.
When a company gets a permit for a site, a lot of planning goes into the whole process. Say for example, you want to get the coal out from a mountain that is covered in trees. Before your equipment can even make it in the site to get the coal out from underground, you need to clear the trees. Once this is done, topsoil may need to be removed to expose the coal seam. One thing that I learned from visiting the different coal operations this week is that a lot of complanies see removing part of the mountain as a last resort. They would much rather do contour mining (where they cut into the side of the mountain all around to get coal,) to keep the originial shape of the mountain. If they have to remove the top of the mountain, they build it up better and more compacted with greater drainage throughout so that there is less runoff. Just by looking at a reclaimed site, it was difficult to see exactly what was put in place under the surface.
By law, companies are only allowed to disturb 35% of a permitted site. Once they reach the 35% limit, they start mining the area and reclaiming part of it as well. Can companies disturb 35% without getting into trouble? The answer is yes. Our guide from Coal Mac mentioned that the only way that this could be done legally would be if the equipment would need more work space therefore they could disturb 50%. Near the end of the process which can sometimes take 6+ years, 660 trees are planted for every acre of land. Now that's a lot of trees! Also, the mining company works closely with the WV DEP and the EPA in making sure that the vegetation planted on a site is indigenous to West Virginia.
After we left Coal Mac, we went to Mount Laurel which is a coal processing plant that breaks up the coal and sends it out to the buyer. Coal can be used for two purposes: steam coal for generating electricity and higher grade metalurgical coal for making steal. The coal found in West Virginia is very high quality coal and that is why other countries buy it from us to make steal. I thoroughly enjoyed walking around Mount Laurel and seeing the process. The workers at the Mount Laurel were very accomodating to us and even offered to have our students visit the plant. I am surprised that not many groups have toured their facility and I intend to take them up on their offer someday!
The day started at Coal Mac in Chapmanville, West Virginia. Winding roads opened up to vast hilltops as far as the eye can see. The roads were eerily vacant with mining equipment every so often as we made our way to the main office. After a short video and Q & A session, we loaded in our vans to tour the 16,000 acres owned by Arch Coal. When you first look at the sites, I will be the first to admit that to the untrained eye--it looks really bad. It is obvious why so many look at a mountaintop removal site at face value. It is just too easy to say that coal destroys our mountains, but the reality is that in some cases it makes our mountains better.
When a company gets a permit for a site, a lot of planning goes into the whole process. Say for example, you want to get the coal out from a mountain that is covered in trees. Before your equipment can even make it in the site to get the coal out from underground, you need to clear the trees. Once this is done, topsoil may need to be removed to expose the coal seam. One thing that I learned from visiting the different coal operations this week is that a lot of complanies see removing part of the mountain as a last resort. They would much rather do contour mining (where they cut into the side of the mountain all around to get coal,) to keep the originial shape of the mountain. If they have to remove the top of the mountain, they build it up better and more compacted with greater drainage throughout so that there is less runoff. Just by looking at a reclaimed site, it was difficult to see exactly what was put in place under the surface.
By law, companies are only allowed to disturb 35% of a permitted site. Once they reach the 35% limit, they start mining the area and reclaiming part of it as well. Can companies disturb 35% without getting into trouble? The answer is yes. Our guide from Coal Mac mentioned that the only way that this could be done legally would be if the equipment would need more work space therefore they could disturb 50%. Near the end of the process which can sometimes take 6+ years, 660 trees are planted for every acre of land. Now that's a lot of trees! Also, the mining company works closely with the WV DEP and the EPA in making sure that the vegetation planted on a site is indigenous to West Virginia.
After we left Coal Mac, we went to Mount Laurel which is a coal processing plant that breaks up the coal and sends it out to the buyer. Coal can be used for two purposes: steam coal for generating electricity and higher grade metalurgical coal for making steal. The coal found in West Virginia is very high quality coal and that is why other countries buy it from us to make steal. I thoroughly enjoyed walking around Mount Laurel and seeing the process. The workers at the Mount Laurel were very accomodating to us and even offered to have our students visit the plant. I am surprised that not many groups have toured their facility and I intend to take them up on their offer someday!
Day 3: Writing Down our Personal History....
Word of the day: hunkytown--name given to the coal camps with large populations of European immigrants (particularly Hungarians)
We were all over the place today with our journey starting in Beckley and ending near Chapmanville, WV. The trip started off with a journey to underground to the Exhibition Coal mine in Beckley, WV. We then moved to a company now owned by CAT which makes the high-wall machines right here in West Virginia. I couldn't believe how big the machines are and the cool thing is that they work so that miner's don't have to go underground. After that, we drove to Welch to the courthouse to stand in the spot where Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were gunned down on the steps by Baldwin-Felts detectives as they were walking into the building. As we took pictures, it was odd to think of something so brutal happening here. I come to Welch often with my grandparents and I honestly can say that I have never stepped on those courthouse steps. Our journey then took us to Matewan where we learned about the moments leading up to the murders of Hatfield and Chambers starting with a shoot out near the train depot.
Although there were many interesting sites to see today, probably my most favorite spot was at the Exhibition Coal Mine. Marvin was our guide; an ex-miner from the Beckley area and was not only knowledgeable but added just enough humor to make the trip a success. The actual mine is 5-7 mles long and was mined by hand for 20 years. Miners would use kerosine, lard, bacon grease or anything that would burn in their head lamps. They also kept their lunch in metal lunch pails because of rats.
We then toured an old school, bachelor shanty (bachelor pad), church, superintendent's house and a miner's house. As we would walk into each building, there were tour guides that were there to give you a bit of history. Probably the most interesting comment came from a lady in the superintendent's house. She said that her grandfather was a coal miner and worked in a mine 10 miles from Beckley. Her family didn't have much growing up, but there were able to make it on what they had. When I told her that we were teachers in Cabell county and our main mission on this trip, she got very excited and said that it is important to keep the history of West Virginia going. She said that her grandchildren had no interest in what their great-grandfather went through and she seemed saddened by this. I told her that one of my goals was to make sure that these types of stories didn't die and that my students would learn about what happened here. It is so important that we do not forget about the past and current conditions that miners work in. We should also be proud that the high-wall mining equipment is built and operated by West Virginians!
Marvin holding up what they used later, around 1900-1940 for lights down in the mine (calcium carbide you mix with water and it makes acetylene gas)
The wall of the mine
One room school house.
We were all over the place today with our journey starting in Beckley and ending near Chapmanville, WV. The trip started off with a journey to underground to the Exhibition Coal mine in Beckley, WV. We then moved to a company now owned by CAT which makes the high-wall machines right here in West Virginia. I couldn't believe how big the machines are and the cool thing is that they work so that miner's don't have to go underground. After that, we drove to Welch to the courthouse to stand in the spot where Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were gunned down on the steps by Baldwin-Felts detectives as they were walking into the building. As we took pictures, it was odd to think of something so brutal happening here. I come to Welch often with my grandparents and I honestly can say that I have never stepped on those courthouse steps. Our journey then took us to Matewan where we learned about the moments leading up to the murders of Hatfield and Chambers starting with a shoot out near the train depot.
Although there were many interesting sites to see today, probably my most favorite spot was at the Exhibition Coal Mine. Marvin was our guide; an ex-miner from the Beckley area and was not only knowledgeable but added just enough humor to make the trip a success. The actual mine is 5-7 mles long and was mined by hand for 20 years. Miners would use kerosine, lard, bacon grease or anything that would burn in their head lamps. They also kept their lunch in metal lunch pails because of rats.
We then toured an old school, bachelor shanty (bachelor pad), church, superintendent's house and a miner's house. As we would walk into each building, there were tour guides that were there to give you a bit of history. Probably the most interesting comment came from a lady in the superintendent's house. She said that her grandfather was a coal miner and worked in a mine 10 miles from Beckley. Her family didn't have much growing up, but there were able to make it on what they had. When I told her that we were teachers in Cabell county and our main mission on this trip, she got very excited and said that it is important to keep the history of West Virginia going. She said that her grandchildren had no interest in what their great-grandfather went through and she seemed saddened by this. I told her that one of my goals was to make sure that these types of stories didn't die and that my students would learn about what happened here. It is so important that we do not forget about the past and current conditions that miners work in. We should also be proud that the high-wall mining equipment is built and operated by West Virginians!
Marvin holding up what they used later, around 1900-1940 for lights down in the mine (calcium carbide you mix with water and it makes acetylene gas)
The wall of the mine
One room school house.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Day 3: WHERE IN GOB'S NAME ARE WE???
Vocabulary word of the day: Gob--low content coal that is riddled with impurities
What do you get when you put twenty four educators into two rental vans? Answer: an interesting ride to Joe Knob West Virginia! The day was rainy and the potholes were many, but we still managed to have a good time. Joe Knob is a mountain summit located in Greenbrier county. The interesting thing about this site is that it has areas of reclammation and active surface mining. Just looking at the area, one would think it amazing that the site was once a barren wasteland. Take a closer look at the types of vegetation that grow there and notice that there isn't much diversity. Although it is good that something is done to reclaim these mining sites, it still isn't perfect. Sometimes we don't know what effect we have on an area until it is too late to change it. For example, two invasive plants called crown vetch and fescue which grow in poor soil were planted on Joe Knob. These plants make it more difficult for native plants to grow there at all.
(Joe Knob, WV)
(Kellie Wood on stairs next to an old foundation)
(Old foundation)
What do you get when you put twenty four educators into two rental vans? Answer: an interesting ride to Joe Knob West Virginia! The day was rainy and the potholes were many, but we still managed to have a good time. Joe Knob is a mountain summit located in Greenbrier county. The interesting thing about this site is that it has areas of reclammation and active surface mining. Just looking at the area, one would think it amazing that the site was once a barren wasteland. Take a closer look at the types of vegetation that grow there and notice that there isn't much diversity. Although it is good that something is done to reclaim these mining sites, it still isn't perfect. Sometimes we don't know what effect we have on an area until it is too late to change it. For example, two invasive plants called crown vetch and fescue which grow in poor soil were planted on Joe Knob. These plants make it more difficult for native plants to grow there at all.
(Joe Knob, WV)
Our second stop was at Nuttallburg which is an abandoned mining town. In 1920, the Nuttall family sold the mine and town to Henry Ford (ever heard of Ford Motor Company?) and in the early 1950's, the mine was shut down. It almost felt like a blast from the past walking around Nuttallburg with the landscape having an abundance of foundations, rock structures, old rails and railroad ties and most importantly coal.
(Coal from Nuttallburg, WV)
(Coal from Nuttallburg, WV)
(Kellie Wood on stairs next to an old foundation)
(Old foundation)
Monday, July 18, 2011
"Blackwater Falls: the Poop System that Cost Us Nothing!" --ML
Winding roads...take me home!
Day two started off with a short trek to Yellow Creek. Each of the vans had different areas to take samples in the same watershed (upstream, downstream and a vernal bog/spring.) Our van took samples at the spring. An interesting fact about the spring was how much areas like this prevented flooding because it held so much water.
Our next stop was at the coke furnace in Coketon. They drop the coal in the top of the coke oven. They heat up the coal to take out all of the oxygen and impurities (left with carbon) and the coke went to Pittsbirgh for the steel mills. The purpose of using coke instead of regular coal is because it makes better steel (you want higher carbon content and this is what you are getting.)
After we left Coketon, we went to the falls at the North fork of the Blackwater river. Below is a picture of the falls. We took samples at a pyritic stream which caused the pH to be acidic. We learned that limestone (basic) was dumped in the stream to make the pH closer to neutral. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the fieldwork we did today.
Day 1: Deer, squirrels, and wind turbines... Oh my!!!
Day 1:
Our trip takes us up I-79 North and East to Davis, West Virginia to a town called Thomas. It felt good to see a change of scenery (wildlife versus the back of white vans) and to stretch our legs. Mike Little from Marshall University told us about the history of the town from the fight between Davis and Thomas for control of the railroad depot to stream health and pyrite to Thiobacillis (sulfuric bacterium that kills the stream causing a 2.83 pH--much like the acidity of our stomach acid.)
Below is a picture and video footage (hopefully if it uploads)of a wind farm in Parsons. By calculating revolutions per minute, Rick Sharpe and I were able to calculate how fast the wind turbine was rotating (131.5 miles per hour!) Looking at the turbines from far away was misleading because it didn't look as if it were moving very fast. Once we moved closer to the turbines, we could hear the melodic rush of the blades as it turned. I hope that you can hear the sound of the turbine on my video!
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