PATTERSON AND ZEB MOUNTAINS (WATE) -- East Tennessee coal companies are trying to turn dangerous old mine sites into thriving mountainsides when their work is done, but the effectiveness of the process is highly debated.
National Coal, a Knoxville-based coal company, is in the process of repairing mountainsides in Campbell and Anderson counties where they've already mined.
However, local environmentalists argue the damage is irreparable, and reclamation just can't be done.
"A lot of the reclamation they're doing now is experimental. They don't know what's going to happen. They've just have their fingers crossed and hope it's going to work," says Ann League, vice president of Save our Cumberland Mountains, a local environmental group.
League continues. "It's very difficult to get hardwoods... the indigenous life... the native plants to come back and grow in the spoil and rubble that's left after you blow up the mountain."
Daniel Roling, National Coal's president and CEO, has a different point of view. He says once the coal is extracted, the company can and will fix the strip mined mountains.
He shows 6 News land where the coal has already been excavated, and explains how the company will rebuild the mountain back to its natural contour.
The rebuilding process includes using leftover rock and dirt from the mining process to fill the excavated areas, replacing the topsoil and planting grass and trees on the newly formed hillsides.
A good portion of National Coal's land is blanketed with high walls, in this case sections of abandoned mines.
Before the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1977 was enacted, miners did little to restore mined sites.
"They're environmental hazards, safety hazards... there are a million reasons to want to restore these mountains back," says Chuck Laine, Executive Director of FACTS, an organization that claims to promote the sensible use of Tennessee land and mineral resources.
Laine points out an abandoned high wall on Patterson Mountain in Anderson County. "See where that seam of coal is. When water hits it, that has a potential to turn into acid and acid comes down into the water supply."
There's a good chance the water at the bottom of the abandoned high wall also contains heavy metals and large amounts of iron, harmful to plants and wildlife.
Laine says there are roughly 1,000 abandoned high walls like this one across the state, and National Coal is helping to reduce that number with reclamation.
But League says not so fast, the company is full of empty promises. "They said they could come in and fix it, and several years later they still haven't fixed it."
League accuses National Coal and other local companies of "greenwashing," or trying to appear eco-friendly when she says it's just interested in making a profit.
Meanwhile, National Coal has plans to mine more than 1 million tons of coal this year and continue reclaiming mine sites.
"We're basically cleaning up a mess that was already there, and we are a very responsible operator in the area," Dan Roling says.
He also says they're hoping to discover a new reclamation standard that would help coal companies nationwide learn how to successfully grow native trees on strip mined mountains.
The company has teamed up with the University of Tennessee Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries.
Graduate students have planted American Chestnut seeds on Zeb Mountain, an active coal site in Campbell County.
This year, they're working from a $20,000 grant given to UT by National Coal.
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National Coal, a Knoxville-based coal company, is in the process of repairing mountainsides in Campbell and Anderson counties where they've already mined.
However, local environmentalists argue the damage is irreparable, and reclamation just can't be done.
