Mines, Wines and Gob

A sapphire sky frames the burning colours of autumn as a truck full of pumpkins turns up to collect me. The driver and my guide for the day, is Amy, a research and extension worker at Virginia Tech University, who is to introduce me to the impressive array of coal mining landscape reclamation projects around Wise, VA.

We wind our way along narrow country lanes towards the Powell River Project. Like the area around Hazard, Kentucky, mountain coal is mined here in enormous surface mines using contour mining instead of mountain-top removal. Although the former still creates dramatic new topographies, in this area the impacts are smaller because there are fewer mines.

Powell River coal mining area

Virginia Tech have established a 1,100 acre research and education centre on old mine lands to research a range of different methods of post-mining land-use. Mining creates large flat areas in a region where such land is at a premium, so agriculture is a favoured after-use, and there is much research underway to determine what crops to grow and how to grow them. The site also has working cattle ranches. The growth of a range of tree species is also being studied, including for biomass production as a potential feed for a new coal and biomass power station being built nearby. The project is also a partner of the excellent ARRI project (described in an earlier blog). Closer to the town, former mine lands are being put to more prosaic post-mining uses such as shopping malls, the Lonesome Pine airport and my hotel.

After a short pumpkin truck ride through narrow country lanes, past wooden houses festooned in Halloween garb, we arrive at the picturesque Mountain Rose Vineyard, its ranks of vines flowing over a small hill; but the setting isn't quite what it seems. David, the enthusiastic owner and good friend of Amy, describes, on a short drive through the vines, how we are actually on an old mine site and his vines are planted directly into coal mine waste. Apparently they grow well and produce delectable wine. The wines are named after the mine's coal seams, such as Jawbone, Pardee and Dorchester.

Mountain Rose Vineyard

Richard and Amy

But no time for a tipple. Amy and I are off to share a pizza with Richard, who works for Virginia's Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy co-ordinating their abandoned mine land restoration work. En route to the site he wants to show us, we pass through the remnants of mid-20th century communities that once housed 10,000 mining people, apparently still remembered by his mother. Today about 500 people live there. There are few obvious vestiges of the villages that once existed - most have been swallowed by the forest, along with the dwindling memories of the lives that once revolved around King Coal.

Babbling brook

We arrive at what used to be the Crane's Nest Gob Piles (gob is a technical term for mine waste). A local saunters up to us and warns us to look out for copperheads and rattlers - both are quite poisonous snakes (I wonder if they also play banjos). This particular gob pile was produced in the mid-20th century and part-filled a small valley to a depth of 10 feet.

During reclamation, a contractor extracted the residual, valuable coal from the gob and the remaining rock waste was piled up against the high cliffs produced by the open cast mining. A small stream was then created in the new valley floor and ARRI volunteers, including in-mates from a local jail, planted thousands of native trees. Now, only a couple years later, the babbling brook brims with small fish and dashing dragonflies, and the small trees sport gold and red.

Its evening and I dare myself one last night-time drive in Appalachia before leaving the next day. It's only a couple of miles to down-town Wise, but I manage to inadvertently veer off into the woods again! Eventually I arrive in Wise and have a lonely, but sumptuous meal in the Tavern on Main. Instead of beer I prefer wine. I choose the Dorchester Red from the Mountain Rose Vineyward. It's nectar!