Today, coal powers more than half of the electricity in the United States (“Razing Appalachia”). Over the years, several coal mining methods have been introduced. The most controversial of these methods is surface mining, a form of mining that involves recovering minerals and ores very close to the ground. The two types of surface mining are strip mining and mountaintop removal. In open-pit mining, overburden, several layers of earth and/or rock are removed to reach the ore, mainly coal, that is to be mined. Mountaintop removal is a more extreme version of open-pit mining where explosives are used to blow off the top of a mountain, revealing the minerals (Squillace). To complete this process, the land around the minerals is completely devastated. Laws have been enacted so that mining companies can legally mine on private property. The broad acts require mining companies to purchase the mineral rights to a property, giving them the right to extract the minerals on said property. There are also laws to prevent as much damage as possible and to remediate the land once open-pit mining is complete, a process called reclamation (Reece). Even with these laws in place, mining and mountaintop removal are both extremely destructive, dangerous and harmful to the health of those who live near the mines and the land surrounding them is forever devastated and will never return as it was before mining. The first record of open-pit mining being used to extract coal dates back to 1866. Many believe that open-pit mining began somewhere near Danville, Illinois. In the summer, miners stripped the rock and other layers covering the coal using only horse-drawn plows and scrapers; h... half of the document... Lean Water Act." Environmental Protection Agency. August 12, 2011. Web. March 14, 2012. “History of Coal.” Coal Education. n.d. Web. March 14, 2012. “Mining and Safety in Illinois.” Coal Education. nd Web. March 14, 2012. “The Power of Coal.” Natural Resources Partners, LP 2001. Web. March 14, 2012. “Razing Appalachia.” PBS. 2012. Network. March 14, 2012. “Death of a Mountain.” WesJones.com. Web. March 13, 2012. “SMCRA Overview.” 2012. “Stream Buffer Zone.” Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. November 30, 2009. Web. March 14, 2012.--Introduction. - “The Environmental Effects of Open-Pit Mining.” nd Web. 13 March 2012. “The Human Cost of Coal.” nd Web 2012.