RICHFIELD — Tyler Sheaffer, 19, of Richfield, wants to shed light on a mountain of a problem a few hundred miles away.

Sheaffer, an Eastern University sophomore, was the only student from the east coast to take part in “Shoutin’ for the Mountain,” an effort by college students across the country to point out the dangers of mountain top removal in the Appalachian mountains.

Mountain top removal is the process of shaving off layers of mountains to dig deeper into coal regions in order to produce electricity.

Sheaffer took part in the effort with a Christian environmental group known as “Restoring Eden.” The passionate college students traveled to Virginia and West Virginia April 3-8 and were able to see the destruction of mountain top removal.

In the process of mountain top removal, Sheaffer explains, the sediment “shaved” off of the mountains gets dumped into the valleys where thousands get their drinking water. The gritty waste fills the streams that wind through the valleys.

“Valleys as wide as a mile long can be brought up resulting in a level, savanna-like field. Trees and vegetation cannot thrive in such a setting,” Sheaffer says.

Activists believe there is a link between power plants in states such as Pennsylvania and mountain top removal in the Virginias.

The Pennsylvania Coal Association indicates more than 50 percent of the electricity generated in the U.S. comes from coal-fired power plants. Tom Rathbum, spokesperson for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, said no coal used to fuel Pennsylvania’s power plants comes from these devastated areas, contrary to Web sites such as www.ilovemountains.org. The site invites readers to type in a ZIP code in order to determine whether their electric power is a product of the mountain top removal.

When Sunbury’s ZIP code is entered into the site, information appears on the screen that claims, “The closest power plant on your grid that is connected to mountaintop removal” is in Sunbury.

Rathbum points out that Pennsylvania often gets dragged into the debate. Local power plants do use coal produced in the Appalachians, he said, but only the ranges within the state not affiliated with mountain top removal.

“(Mountain top removal) is not necessary with our topography. We have four of the six largest underground mines in the country, which is the most economic way for Pennsylvania to do it,” Rathbun said.

Regardless of whether there was any connection to his home state, Sheaffer took the stories of the Virginia people to heart.

“Larry Gibson, a small yet powerful man, told us stories of playing in streams as a boy. Hs eyes glazed over as he looked at the wasteland, pointing to his favorite hunting spot and where his parents’ graveyard had been. With tears in his eyes he firmly asked, ‘What took you so long?’ ” Sheaffer recalls.

The students then spent three days lobbying on Capitol Hill for The Clean Water Protection Act.

Members from Sheaffer’s group met with Congressman Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut), who co-sponsored the Clean Water Protection Act, which, according to Shay’s aide, Dave Natonski, “would add a definition of ‘fill material’ to the Clean Water Act expressly forbidding the use of waste to fill the nation’s waters.”