WHAT IS LONGWALL MINING?

Longwall mining is a method of underground mining that is used for extracting relatively flat coalbeds or coal seams that are typically found in the United States.  It is a full-extraction method of mining where a typical longwall mining panel is 1,500 feet wide and 2 miles long and is usually 400 to 800 feet below the surface.

(Image courtesy of Energy Information Administration)

Above is a sketch of a longwall mine showing how the roof collapses when mining is completed in an area or “panel”. Longwalling is a form of high-extraction mining with “planned” subsidence. As the longwall shearer moves forward the roof support moves with it and the ceiling behind the support collapses, causing the surface to subside between 4 to 6 feet. Subsidence damage includes:

• Destruction of aquifers, drinking water & agricultural resources;
• Cracking, buckling and leaning to surface structures. Driveways, roads, and highways buckle or sink;
• Ground movement and geologic strata displacement over massive areas;
• Altering of the course and flow and dewatering of streams;
• Altering the groundwater flows that affect wells and springs fed by adjacent aquifers;
• Ponding; wetlands are frequently created in areas that were previously dry;
• Illinois’s flat prime farmland become lakes of water and yield considerably fewer crops;
• Surface manifestation of subsurface fracture and heaving causing dewatering of streams.

Homes damaged by subsidence are often bought by the coal industry, causing depopulation and blighting of rural areas in the coalfields where longwall mining occurred. Coal companies that practice longwall mining are now allowed, by law, to cause damage to structures including homes.

Loss of water and structure mitigation

They are also allowed to disrupt and destroy underground aquifers and domestic water supplies. Coal companies are required to fund repairs to homes and to replace water supplies, but frequently residents that decide to remain in their homes find themselves embroiled in lengthy and costly legal battles with the companies to have their living conditions restored.

The longwall mining method of extraction is used in the following states:

In July of 2009, eleven organizations from 5 of the 12 longwall mining states met in St. Louis and mapped out a strategy that will bring national attention to the issue of longwall mining.  If you would like to learn more about longwall mining visit our photo gallery and our longwall mining blog.

Please visit our longwall mining coalition partners at:

• Center for Coalfield Justice - PA
• Mountain Watershed Association- PA
• Citizens Organizing Project – IL
• Citizens Against Longwall Mining – IL
• Illinois Citizens Opposed to Longwall Mining – IL
• West Virginia Highlands Conservancy – WV
• Schmid & Co, Consulting Ecologists – PA
• Sierra Club – WV (Environmental Justice)
• Friends of Hurricane Creek - AL

For more information on longwall mining please visit the following links:

• Center for Public Integrity – The Hidden Costs of Clean Coal
• Popular Mechanics - High-Tech Mining Makes Coal King of Fossil Fuels, But Is It Clean?
• Raymond Proffitt Foundation
• Citizens Coal Council – Primer on Subsidence by Attorney Tom Fitzgerald
• Center for Coalfield Justice - PA
• Mountain Watershed Association- PA
• Citizens Organizing Project – IL
• Citizens Against Longwall Mining – IL
• Illinois Citizens Opposed to Longwall Mining – IL
• West Virginia Highlands Conservancy – WV
• Schmid & Co, Consulting Ecologists – PA
• Sierra Club – WV (Environmental Justice)