Coal Camp in WV, Osage

Osage, WV is located in Monongalia County, accross from Morgantown. The current population of the town is 365, the majority of which are white, about 35 African Americans, and 4 Hispanics. When the mine was in operation the owners were Brady-Warner Coal Corp. or Osage Coal Co. The mine is located in the Faremount coalfield.

Surface Mining

The three types of surface mining include, Strip mining, contour mining, and mountaintop removal. Stip mining is used when the coal seam is close to the surface and the top soild is stripped away to reach the coal underneith.Contour mining follows the contour of the terrain leaving terraces in the side of the mountain. Mountaintop removal is the most contreversal. The top of the mountain is removed to reach the horizontal coal seam underneath.  The advantages of surface mining are; it is more cost efficient than other mining methods, mine explosion are more rare, workers are less likely to die from toxic fumes, therefore more safer then underground mining methods. Disadvantages include:  overburden being placed in lower elevations and filles in "holes" or valleys, which completely changes the terrain. This effects the habitats of the regional flora and fauna,destroying the surrounding ecosystems. Surface mining also contributes to noise, water, and air pollution, which is harmful to everyone involved.

CIte used for research

Coal Formation

     Coal formation is a process that takes millions of years and only a few to mine. Coal is actually vegetation that has been smothered in a swamp like condition for years that could not decompose due to the lack of oxygen. This is the formation of what we call peat. As time goes on due to the pressure on top,the peat slowly turns it into Lignite, which is a soft brown coal. From there the pressure turns the lignite into Bituminous, then into Anthracite. As time goes on and the pressure continues to grow greater and greater the coal becomes harder and can burn at higher heat due to the lack of oxygen and the abundance of CO2. From there we use the coal to gather natural gasses used to produce energy, the leftover product is know as coke.