Surface mining before 1950

National Mining Association estimate
The National Mining Association has published a historical table of bituminous coal mining (including sub-bituminous and lignite production), including share of mining produced by "stripping." According to the table (citing data from the now-defunct U.S. Bureau of Mines), data on surface mining is not available prior to 1914. In 1914, 0.3% of bituminous coal was produced by "stripping." Surface mining reached 1% of bituminous production in 1917, and it first exceeded 10% of production in 1941.

The following table shows the growth of surface mining as a percentage of bituminous (including sub-bituminous and lignite) production, and by total tonnage from 1917-1971. The table does not include anthracite production. (Note: The last column, "Acres," is not provided in the National Mining Association table. It is based on the estimate that approximately 200 acres are disturbed per million tons of coal produced.)

Catelett/Boehlje estimate
In 1979, Lowell Catlett of New Mexico State University and Michael Boehlje of Iowa State University published estimates of the impact of the new Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. The study reported from 1870 to 1930 more than 1.3 billion tons of coal were mined and roughly 250,000 acres were disturbed. This is a significantly larger amount of land than is implied by the National Mining Association data shown in the table above, which shows most surface mining occurring after 1930. In the period 1930-1971, Catlett and Boehlje state that 3,357,000 acres of land were disturbed by surface mining. The authors do not provide a source for their data.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Mountaintop removal
 * Estimating the amount of land disturbed by coal mining
 * Surface mining after 1950