Sundial, West Virginia

May 24, 2005

While Massey Energy stockholders met at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, parents, grandparents, and other residents of Coal River Valley, West Virginia rallied to oppose Massey's operations adjacent to Marsh Fork Elementary School. Massey owns Goals Coal Company, which operates a coal preparation plant, loading silo, and toxic waste storage facility beside the K-5 th grade school. 25 residents of the Coal River Valley and 25 supporters from other regions currently being mined participated in the rally. After an opening prayer, speakers described the hazards of the operations and read a list of demands for Massey. Two grandmothers and a third resident of the valley attempted to deliver a list of demands. The residents demanded that the coal preparation plant behind Marsh Fork Elementary School be shut down, 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. The residents were met by the plant's head of security who refused to allow them to present their demands. When the residents again attempted to present their demands, they were arrested in a moving and dramatic act of civil conscience.

“Seems to me that every government official in this country has a responsibility to protect American citizens everywhere. In fact, they've sworn to it. Yet, we, the citizens of Coal River Valley, have been abandoned to fend for our children,

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