Dragline scraper Decker, Montana (1985)
	The effects of strip mining coal are evident and dramatic. The machinery is nothing short of spectacular, evident in this size comparison of a D-7 Caterpillar tractor (in the pit) compared to the dragline scraper, which towers above the machinery. For scale, look at the door (seven feet tall) in the machinery, which is electric-powered, with electricity stepped down by the substaition that has to be built next to the mine. For all the scale of the equipment, the scale of environmental disruption is its equal.
	Next: elkhorn arch Previous
Return to Paul Starrs' Images of the American West Go to the GeoImages home page.