CALL TO ACTION: Save Coal River Mountain Rally and Protest
When:Monday, December 7, 2009; 2:00pm
Where: WV Dept. of Environmental Protection Headquarters – 601 57th Street SE, Charleston, WV
Contact:savecoalriver@gmail.com; www.savecoalrivermountain.org
Housing: Contact Danny at danny@seac.org
Transportation: Contact Scott at savecoalriver@gmail.com
Trainings: At the Unitarian Church in Charleston starting at 3pm on Sunday, Dec. 6 Contact savecoalriver@gmail.com for details (520 Kanawha Boulevard West; Charleston WV); Trainings at 3pm, Potluck at 6pm; “Coal Country” Screening at 8:30
In their insatiable quest to maximize profits Massey Energy has initiated mountaintop removal coal extraction operations on Coal River Mountain. The blasting has begun as the rumble of explosives and plumes of smoke coming from the mountain are being seen and heard.
The blasting of Coal River Mountain sets up a catastrophic scenario: Explosives are being detonated near the Brushy Fork coal sludge dam, a weakened class “C” dam that hovers above valley communities like a dark cloud. The Class “C” label is given to dams that in the event of failure, lives will be lost. At least 900 lives are expected to be buried in coal sludge if Brushy Fork should fail.
Many small communities lie in the very narrow Coal River Valley, tucked in between Cherry Pond Mountain and Coal River Mountain. Cherry Pond Mountain is already being bombed and blasted by Massey until it now looks more like a war zone than a once beautiful and plentiful Appalachian mountain. Massey’s blasting and bombing of Coal River Mountain will trap these communities in the middle, leaving them helpless to deal with silica dust, fly-rock, poisoned water, floods and mudslides. This is wrong! Read the rest of this entry »
