Beyond the catastrophic underground accidents that still take lives, the mountaintop mining described here inflicts much more onerous long-term damage.

According to a 2010 report in the journal Science, mountaintop mining has caused numerous environmental problems which mitigation practices have not successfully addressed.

A January 2010 report in the journal Science reviews current peer-reviewed studies and water quality data and explores the consequences of mountaintop mining.

It concludes that mountaintop mining has serious environmental impacts that mitigation practices cannot successfully address.

Two years ago, Mr. Wise, a nine-term congressman, proposed a moratorium on mountaintop mining.

Some 470 miles of West Virginia's streams have been filled in by mountaintop mining.

The groups complained that the government was intent on weakening laws against the abuses of mountaintop mining.

Based on studies of over 1200 stream segments impacted by mountaintop mining and valley fills the following environmental issues were noted:

And the struggle comes as mountaintop mining has emerged as the most common form of surface mining in central Appalachia.

In February 2010, a team of scientists published a review of research on mountaintop mining and valley fills in the journal Science.