Coal-Fired Power Plants

Look close at the coal regions in the Coal and Virginia brochure, and you'll see that two Shenandoah Valley counties have coal deposits. Coal is not limited to just the Triassic basins and the Appalachian Plateau, but those were the two regions where coal production was significant in the local (and regional) economy.

The map of Virginia coal-field regions ignores the upper Valley coal and highlights the Southwest Coal Field Region. A quick look at the Virginia Coal, Production and Employment table or the county percentage chart will show you which two counties lead the state in coal mining, and a look at the historical Production by Coal Seam: 1951 to 1998 will show you the imporatance of the bed of coal known as the Pocahontas #3 seam.

About 80% of the coal mined in the United States is converted into electricity, as shown by this graphic from the Energy Information Administration:

Links

• Center for Energy and Economic Development
• USGS Eastern Energy Resources Team
• Coal Fields of the Conterminous United States (USGS Open-File Report OF 96-92)
• Environmental Integrity Project
• Clean Air

fly ash disposal, piping waste from power plant to disposal ponds at Chesterfield