Massey Energy Is Not The Only Mountaintop Removal Mining Villain

[GoLeft TV]

From DeSmogBlog -

This week, hundreds of protesters are marching to Blair Mountain in West Virginia to call for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. The march commemorates the Battle of Blair Mountain – one of the most significant labor battles in American history, and one of the few times in history when a sitting U.S. president threatened to use air strikes against American citizens. The group Appalachia Rising organized the march to draw attention to the practice of mountaintop mining, which is destroying large swaths of the Appalachian Mountains. Blair Mountain was added to a list of historic U.S. sites back in 2008, but due to pressure from the coal industry, the mountain was removed from the protected list and could now be subjected to mountaintop removal mining.

Massey Energy, which was recently acquired by Alpha Natural Resources, has been the poster-child for mountaintop removal for years. And rightfully so. Massey / Alpha are responsible for the vast majority of MTR mining occurring in Appalachia. The company was fined $20 million in 2008 for violating the Clean Water Act, and has an abysmal safety record, including its infamous reputation for operating “recklessly” at the Upper Big Branch mine, which resulted in the deaths of 29 mine workers at the mine last year. On top of that, their former CEO Don Blankenship is a self-admitted union buster who has given millions of dollars to Republicans and the Tea Party movement who favor letting the industry do as it pleases.

But as bad as Massey’s corporate reputation is, they aren’t the only villains in this tragic story. As media reports have focused on the deeds of Massey, the other mountaintop removal mining companies have been let off the hook, operating under the radar of most activists and the media. Here are a few of the other companies that are destroying Appalachia and other parts of America with MTR:

The full list and story can be found here - http://desmogblog.com/massey-energy-not-only-mountaintop-removal-mining-villain