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Twigs and Branches
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Strip Mining in Greene County, Indiana STRIP MINING MAUMEE-COLLIERS #28-COAL MINE NEAR LINTON, IND Not all the wording can be made out on this picture: New ___y ___ ___ on __ ___ ___ Linton, Ind.  MAUMEE-COLLIERS South of Linton, 1940's >  By the mid 20th century strip mining became popular. Draglines dug the coal from the side of the bench [overburden] ndd shovels which dug out a pit in front of them as they travelled, exposing the coal for smaller loading machings to place in haulage trucks.  But in the 1920's and 1930's, strip mining increased. As shallow reserves of coal were depleted, larger and larger shovels and draglines were needed to remove the overburden. Maumee Collieries and Sherwood-Templeton Coal Companies (now part of Peabody Coal Co.) were early Indiana companies that helped develop the massive earth-moving equipment commonly seen today in southwestern Indiana and the Midwest. Larger and larger stripping machine were invented. The first largr draglines were built around the 1940's and had a bucket capacity of anbout 30-40 cubic yards and by the 1970's machines had a capacity of 180 plus.  The Marion 8900 Dragline owned by Peabody Coal Co. It weighs 14,000,000 pounds; the "A" from is equal to the height of a 14 story building; the basket hold 145 cubic yards and it weights 100 tons empty; it stands three soried tall and picks up 430,00 pounds of dirt, rock, with each scoop. It is operated by three me - the operator, the oiler and groundman. The Operator sits in an air conditioned cab 38 feet above the ground. This machine operates around the clock shutting down only for maintenance. To assemble it took 55,000 man-hours to erect it and nearly a year. 115 railroad cars pauled the pre-fabreicated parts to the location. The boom is 250 feet long from the tip to the coal seam. it moves itself by walking. The cables are 4 inches in diameter. Thirty electric motors develope 18,000 horsepower; and consumes enough electricty to supply a city of 20,000 to 50,000 people. Strip mining was a destructive process to the land - it left many a put and "strip hills" in its wake. In the early days of strip mining the coal companies were able to leave the land as they pleased and what was known as "stipper hill" were created. These hills were coverd the withe, red, and jack pine seedlings to control the erosion. The pits created lakes and ponds in the area, But as stip mining became more prevalent rules and regulations regarding the stripped land became sticker and the hills were flattened and the land must be replaced to match the original contours of the surface as it was before the strip mining occured. Topsoil was removed before the striping began in order to do this to allow strip land be be returned to farming and ranching> conditions as well. The area was strip mined years ago, leaving over a 1000 lakes in the Linton area. Greene County is considered a “Fisherman’s Paradise” by many. There are over 150 public lakes ranging from five to 1,550 acres; as a result of this strip mining era. As a teenager in the late 1960's I remember my aunt taking us out when we came to Greene county to hunt the wild Indiana persimmons that grew in and round these strip pits and "strip hills" around Linton. Since 1982, the Restoration Program which reclaimed the health and environmental hazards that resulted from un-reclaimed coal l ands abandoned before current laws took effect. This provides cleaner water, less risk to life and usable lands for the citizens. It has completed more than $102 million in construction projects on over 6000 acres in 17 southwestern Indiana counties and in Greene county 90 sites have been and $6,221,302.80 spent in doing it. |
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