Sulphur River Gallery 33
Winfield (After)
This is a view just east of Winfield.
Notice the modern new highway overpass beyond the pasture. Because
of all the stripmining, when they rebuilt the land, they didn't
have enough "soil" to fill up all the holes from where
the coal was taken. So they constructed small lakes and ponds
on many of these farms. Reeds and water lilies have been planted
along the shores of these pools, which will be used for cattle
water. This land must sit idle for 10 years in order that it can
"settle". Regular highway construction work has to be
done here, because the settling of the land buckles the road.
It now seems to be returning to a semblance of normality, even
though it does not resemble what the terrain looked like before.
See also my letter to biologist Dan
Jones of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
This is reconstructed Highway 67
from Winfield to Mount Pleasant. Notice the absence of trees as
are seen west of Winfield. The stripminers had to leave small
clusters of trees for wildlife and other environmental purposes,
but these small woods hardly make up for all the timber that was
lost in the mining operation. Stripmining, for Dallas' electricity!,
still goes on northeast of here.
This scenic new pool is often covered
with large white water lilies. Unfortunately, it is so far off
the road that it is difficult to see. I took this photo using
a telephoto lens.
This new cattle pond is located
not far from the Forest Lawn Cemetery of Mount Pleasant. The area
from Forest Lawn into town was not mined.
Here is another cattle pond across
the highway from the previous one.
To read an editorial by publisher
R.B. Palmer in the
Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune, 1 July 2002,
regarding the future use of this stripmined land,
CLICK HERE.
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