Can you reduce pollution by strip mining?

Strip mining causes more pollution than almost any other industry, especially historically. Problems with strip-mining include:

• changes to the face of the earth
• creation of unnatural erosion factors
• exposure of ores and coal to rain (which produces run off)
• facilitation of run-off into nearby streams, creeks, and into the ground water
• contamination of earth and water

Luckily, today, mining companies must pay a large fee and have a plan to restore the location BEFORE they begin any kind of mining. This fee goes toward Mine Reclamation-- meaning, the coal company must create a plan and pay for the land to be restored to a useful site.