The coal industry got good marks from a federal report on mountaintop mining released last week, but some coalfield residents remain concerned about the mining's environmental effects.

The report found that coal companies mining the ridges, hills and mountaintops in the Virginia coalfields do a good job of reclaiming the land they mine, and that the companies limit the amount of excess dirt dumped into valleys and hollows.

The report is the second in a federal review of mountaintop mining in several coal-producing states.

The federal Office of Surface Mining released a report on West Virginia several months ago, and a report is forthcoming on Kentucky. The Virginia report was done jointly by OSM and the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

The review was prompted by news accounts and citizen protests in West Virginia, where mountaintop removal has become the dominant form of strip mining. Whole tops of mountains have been removed and left flattened. The excess dirt has been dumped into valleys and hollows.

According to a federal report, nearly 500 miles of streams in West Virginia have been covered because of valley fills, as the practice is called.

In Virginia, mountaintop removal occurs less often; Virginia has only six sites. Twenty-one sites in the state, including those six, include some form of mining on ridges and hills as well as the tops of mountains.

Mountaintop mining differs from mountaintop removal because only part of the mountaintop is mined and the top isn't totally flattened.

Though mountain mining is less severe in Virginia than in West Virginia, many coalfield residents say they are concerned about the practice's effects and that the report has done little to allay their fears.

Many, like Gerry Scardo of Clintwood, in Dickenson County, said the mining causes dust to settle on everything and shakes the homes of nearby residents. She also fears that the blasting may destroy the local water supplies.

Clincho resident Barney Reilly, president of the Dickenson County Citizens Committee, an environmental group, said the report failed to mention citizen concerns.

"I guess this is just a preliminary report and they are coming back to look at those other issues," he said. " At least I hope so."

Reilly said mountaintop mining has brought little to the communities where it occurs. It produces few jobs, and the environment is harmed by the practice, he said.

A report by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service bolsters his argument.

The study found that soil from many of the mining sites has been used to cover 61 miles of Virginia streams.

The coal industry and some local officials say mountaintop mining gives the localities flat land, which is needed for economic development.

Dink Shackleford, executive director of the Virginia Mining Association, pointed out that several strip malls and stores have been built on former slopes and mountaintops.

Reilly scoffs at that.

"Where is the development? What have they done with the flat land we have?" he asked. "There is nothing here but grasslands."

Most of the mountaintop mining sites are turned into flat, grassy areas used for agriculture, unmanaged forest or fish and wildlife refuges, according to the OSM report and state data.

"We don't need flat land for that," Reilly said. "Cows here have done just fine grazing on the slopes, just like the wildlife have."

The OSM report did note that there was no need or market for flat grasslands, as required by federal law. The state is moving toward stricter enforcement of the requirement.

The OSM also found that the state had allowed two companies to reclaim mountaintop mining sites as fish and wildlife refuges, a practice not allowed by federal law.

"We've heard a lot of promises about how this type of mining was going to allow us to bring in new business," said Reilly. "We haven't seen it."