Published January 1964 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of UNITED STATES SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington 25, D. C. Volume IV -- Number 2 January 10, 1964 BYRD' EYE VIEW A Public Service Column by SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD THE UNDERGROUND STOREHOUSE OF MINERALS IN WEST VIRGINIA Coal is not the only fossil are that enriches the earth of West Virginia. Millions of years before the vast, swampy forests were beginning the process of changing into carboniferous matter, another of Nature's treasures was being accumulated within the region that is now the Mountain State. During what geologists call the Mississippian Period--a period when clear seas covered this land--huge deposits of nearly pure calcium carbonate were forming the thick, compact limestone of the Greenbrier Series known to us as the "Big Lime." This limestone deposit, largely derived from the skeletons of millions of tiny, prehistoric marine organisms, is the basis of many of our important industries today. The Big Lime is present in all but six counties of our State, reaching its maximum thickness of 1800 feet in Mercer County, according to the West Virginia Geological Survey. This sedimentary rock produces limestone for Portland Cement, agricultural lime, building blocks, railroad and highway ballast, chemical fluxing, and many other manufacturing processes. The total output of limestone in West Virginia in 1962, as reported by the U. S. Department of Commerce, was over 6 ½ million tons, valued at more than $11 ½ million. West Virginia limestone for building blocks is often sufficiently compact to take a good polish, and has attractive coloration. Red limestone found in Pocahontas County has become known as a "marble" because of its great beauty as structural material. Genuine marble, mineralogists tell us, is formed by limestone which has undergone a complicated geological change known as metamorphosis, which alters its crystalline structure and hardens the rock. Such marble occurs as outcroppings in Hampshire, Mercer, and Pocahontas Counties. It has been used extensively for statuary and building ornamentation, interior decoration, etc. The old-fashioned soda fountain, for example, usually boasted a marble counter top. The limestone used in industry is called "fluxing stone;" a flux is a substance used to help reduce the fusing temperatures of many industrial minerals, from glass sand to steel. In steelmaking, fluxing stone also serves to collect impurities in the ore at the upper end of the ingot, where they can be removed easily. Some fluxing stone is called dolomitic, which means that it is rich in magnesium. Agricultural limestone, which brings the highest price per ton, is very important to the economy of our State. Burning lime on the farm is a traditional activity no longer commonly practiced in West Virginia, as it was in the past, when commercially ground lime was not as readily available as it is today. Burning the limestone and adding water produced calcium hydroxide, which was very effective in neutralizing acid soil. Early lime kilns on the farm made possible the growth of profitable crop s where previously only poor grasses grew. Lime was also burned in the field to produce mortar for brick work. The standard formula, according to the West Virginia Geological Survey was to burn three bushels of limestone together with one bushel of coal. Limestone, along with coal, has provided the foundation for great industries in our State, and the present abundance of this mineral is an open invitation to new manufacturing industries to share our future. The earth of West Virginia is a vast storehouse of minerals the potential wealth of which is only beginning to be realized. -30-