5. 1. Surface mining conserves natural resources, for it captures a far higher percentage of the reserves available. 2. Surface mining has resulted in a lower cost to the consumer, for its price has been and promises to be consistently lower than that of deep coal. 3. Most important of all, surface mining conserves human life and health. Fire hazards and respiratory disease are negligible in surface mines. Per ton of coal produced the disabling accident rate in surface mining is l/llth that of underground and the fatality rate only 13% that of underground mining. Surface mining and deep mining are complementary technologies. Each has an important role to play in terms of resource development but they are not interchangeable. It would be a serious fallacy to assume that they are. Each has a vital role to play, each has unique advantages, and each must be pressed to the limits of its potential. Our national objective must be the fullest possible development of our coal resources. Coal development of the magnitude needed will require an expansion of both our surface and underground capability as well as a far friendlier economic climate in the future than we have had in the past. Thank you for this opportunity to be heard.