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Showdown in Coal Town

Anonyme, Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - 22:49
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Mountain Justice Summer

For the third time in one week, residents of the Coal River Valley of West Virginia and supporters from across the country met at Massey Energy's coal processing plant behind Marsh Fork Elementary School to demand that it be shut down and cleaned up. Sixteen of the 150 participants in the Mountain Justice Summer campaign were arrested as they attempted to deliver a list of demands to the site's supervisor. Earlier in the day two campaign participants delivered the demands directly to Massey's head offices in Richmond Virginia.

Sundial, West Virginia

May 31, 2005

As part of the effort to protect Appalachian communities from
the destructive and often careless actions of coal extraction
companies engaging in Mountain Top Removal, local residents
were joined by Mountain Justice Summer participants yesterday
at a Massey Energy facility in Coal River Valley, West
Virginia where the children of Marsh Fork Elementary School
are threatened by the company's irresponsible mining practices.

At this site, Massey's subsidiary, Goals Coal Company, has
placed an earthen sludge dam constructed of mining refuse
which holds back 2.8 billion gallons of toxic waste above Marsh
Fork Elementary a mere 400 yards away.  State reports have
stated that the dam has multiple leaks.  Just 160 feet
from the school stands a coal loading silo which releases coal
dust and toxic chemicals.  Students and teachers at the school
regularly complain of headaches and respiratory
problems.  The school is also known to have higher than
normal rates of
learning disabilities.

As if this were not enough, Massey has requested a renewal of
the sludge dam's permit as well as a permit for the
construction of a second coal silo which prompted Coal River
Valley residents to organize this rally – the third such event
in a week.

This time, over 150 empowered local residents and their
Mountain Justice Summer supporters came to the Massey facility
to present a list of citizens' demands – which follow below.
A grandmother and a great grandmother of a Marsh Fork
Elementary student were among the first people to present the
demands and were arrested and removed by state police at the
request of a Massey employee.  Fourteen other local residents
and Mountain Justice Summer participants followed after them
and were also arrested by state police.  The arrestees, both
the locals and their supporters, expressed their concern for
the safety of the students as they were taken away.  Another
concerned grandmother of a student, Debbie Jarrell said, "The
coal industry has used these children as sacrificial lambs far
too long. It's time for the adults to step up and take their
place."

While Coal River Valley residents confronted Massey on site,
two Mountain Justice Summer participants went to Massey
headquarters in Richmond, VA to present the same list of
demands.  They were not allowed to speak with Massey CEO Don
Blankenship and were removed from the property while singing
Amazing Grace in honor of the teachers and students who have
died of cancer – apparently the safety and livelihood of those
living in the communities in which Massey operates do not have
a place in the company's busy schedule.

Visit href="http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org">www.mountainjusticesummer.org
to learn how to join the hundreds of Mountain Justice Summer
participants in our campaign to support people like 80-year-old Inez
Gallimore in her efforts to protect the land and people of southern
Appalachia from the incredibly destructive, and often irreversible,
processes involved in Mountain Top Removal. Mountain Justice Summer, a
non-violent campaign being waged in Appalachia, will consist of
listening projects, outreach, water monitoring and resistance to
Mountain Top Removal through attendance to public hearings and
non-violent direct action.

Yesterday's event demonstrated the growing strength of an
increasingly widespread effort among West Virginians and
Appalachians who are resisting the destruction of
their land and communities in the name of corporate profit.
The action was "A show down in coal town between parents and a
corporate giant" said the regional news report. In closing the
segment they remarked "Here's another one boys, this will be
going on all summer." It could not have gone better and it was
only the beginning of what is sure to play an important role in the
historic struggle to protect the land and people of Appalachia.

Coal River Valley residents' demands:

  • That Massey shut down the prep plant and cease its

    Mountaintop Removal mining above the school Immediately;
  • That Marsh Fork Elementary School be cleaned up or that a

    safe, new school be built in their community;
  • That Massey withdraw its application for the second coal

    loading silo behind the school;
  • That Massey stop blasting their homes because residents have

    a right to be safe and secure;
  • And that Massey shut down its surface mine sites and invest

    in truesustainable energy.

Mountain Justice Summer (MJS) seeks to add to the growing
anti-MTR citizens movement. Specifically MJS demands an
abolition of MTR, steep slope strip mining and all other forms
of surface mining for coal. We want to protect the cultural
and natural heritage of the Appalachia coal fields. We want to
contribute with grassroots organizing, public education,
nonviolent civil disobedience and other forms of citizen action.

Historically coal companies have engaged in violence and
property destruction when faced with citizen opposition to
their activities. MJS is committed to nonviolence and will not
be engaged in property destruction.

 

To let them know how you feel,
contact:

Massey
Energy

(destroyer of mountains, waterways and communities in WV and KY;
also viciously anti-union)

4 North 4th Street, Richmond, VA 23219

Phone: 888.424.2417, 804.788.1824

Some of Massey's top managers:

href="mailto:katherine.kenny@masseyenergyco.com,john.parker@masseyenergyco.com,michael.allen@masseyenergyco.com,steve.sears@masseyenergyco.com,gary.smith@masseyenergyco.com,gary.temple@masseyenergyco.com,tom.kielty@masseyenergyco.com,thomas.dougherty@masseyenergyco.com">katherine.kenny@masseyenergyco.com,john.parker@masseyenergyco.com,
michael.allen@masseyenergyco.com,steve.sears@masseyenergyco.com,
gary.smith@masseyenergyco.com,gary.temple@masseyenergyco.com,

tom.kielty@masseyenergyco.com,thomas.dougherty@masseyenergyco.com

href="http://www.wvcoal.com">West
Virginia Coal Association

P.O. Box 3923, Charleston, WV 25339

Phone: 304.342.4153 Fax: 304.342.7651

President - Bill Raney ( href="mailto:braney@wvcoal.com">braney@wvcoal.com),
Senior VP – Chris Hamilton ( href="mailto:chamilton@wvcoal.com">chamilton@wvcoal.com),
VP – Dan Miller ( href="mailto:dmiller@wvcoal.com">dmiller@wvcoal.com),
Regulatory Affairs - Jason Bostic ( href="mailto:jbostic@wvcoal.com">jbostic@wvcoal.com),
Administrative Assistant - Sandi Davison ( href="mailto:sdavison@wvcoal.com">sdavison@wvcoal.com)

href="http://www.friendsofcoal.org">Friends
of Coal

P.O. Box 3923 Charleston, WV 25339

1.866.982.2625

 

Contact href="mailto:mountainjusticesummer@gmail.com">mountainjusticesummer@gmail
.com and visit href="http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org">www.mountainjusticesummer.org
for more information

Photo by
Vivian Stockman with OVEC

Aerial view of
the sludge dam situated above the school

Image showing the
school and the coal loading silo a mere 160 feet behind it.
For the third time in one week, residents of the Coal River Valley of West Virginia and supporters from across the country met at Massey Energy's coal processing plant behind Marsh Fork Elementary School to demand that it be shut down and cleaned up. Sixt
www.mountainjusticesummer.org

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