Arrests Made in West Virginia Governors Office

[FluxRostrum]

Run time: 05:41 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5-VeAJJONI   Posted on YouTube: October 20, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 20, 2009 By DU Member: FluxRostrum Views on DU: 1200

 
Rescind mining permits on Coal River Mountain
October 19, 2009

Dear Governor Manchin,

As residents of West Virginia’s Coal River Valley we write you to declare a state of emergency. Coal River Mountain is our last mountain untouched by mountaintop removal and it is in imminent danger of blasting. This would not only threaten our communities, it would also destroy our chance to have permanent jobs and renewable energy through ridge-top wind power. You have the power to rescind these permits.

At any moment, Massey Energy could blast part of the Bee Tree site, on the containing ridge of the Brushy Fork sludge impoundment. Brushy Fork impoundment, permitted to hold 9.8 billion gallons of toxic sludge, is the tallest dam in the hemisphere, and it sits on top of a network of abandoned underground mines.

We live in fear that the blasting could cause the dam to fail and create one of the greatest industrial disasters in our nation’s history. The emergency evacuation plan for the Brushy Fork sludge dam states that should it fail, a wall of water 50 feet high would hit Whitesville and result in the deaths of at least 998 people.
Given this risk, blasting should not be allowed until your Department of Environmental Protection has conducted a thorough geo-technical examination of the impoundment’s stability in regards to the underground mines.

"Yes, I'm not certain how close the -- I haven't actually been there to determine the how close the blasting is but blasting in the vicinity of a coal waste impoundment can cause problems, can cause fracturing of rock and create situations where there might be stability problems with the impoundment," former MSHA engineer Jack Spadaro said.

At the same time, we also stand to lose our most valuable natural resources. Massey Energy not only plans to blast the Bee Tree area, but has also applied for a new surface mine permit, in addition to permits for over 6,000 acres of mountaintop removal mining on the
mountain. If Bee Tree is blasted we lose 16 megawatts of wind potential, and the new permit is approved, we lose 30-40 megawatts of wind power. Between the two permits, we lose wind potential that could power over 10,000 homes.

Governor Manchin, you have the power to rescind these permits and urge your regulatory agencies to protect the people and land of West Virginia. If you do not prevent mountaintop removal mining on Coal River Mountain, we will lose nearly $2 million annually in county severance taxes, enough renewable wind energy to provide West Virginia with 1.2% of its energy, and jobs that will last forever and do not depend on the boom-bust cycles of coal.

The whole world is watching. Allies, nationally and internationally, are holding up Coal River Mountain as the symbol of a government’s choice to remain stuck in its old ways or build a healthy, prosperous future. Even at the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in December, the most powerful leaders in the world will watch Google Earth’s flyover tour of Coal River Mountain, as one of approximately 15 tours of global crisis hotspots. You have the power to show the whole world that West Virginia can blaze the way forward – choosing permanent
jobs and clean energy over threatening the lives of its own residents.

We are including three documents in this letter: 1) the heart of the letter – a selection of our personal statements, collected during an emergency community meeting, 2) a cross-section of the Brushy Fork sludge impoundment and the old mine workings underneath, and 3) an aerial view of the sludge impoundment with the old mine workings highlighted. We ask you to review these documents and that you choose not to risk our lives, but to work with us to create a better future.

Sincerely,
Chuck Nelson, Glen Daniel, WV
Lorelei Scarbro, Rock Creek, WV
Diane Hodge, Ameagle, WV
Delbert Gunnoe, Rock Creek, WV
Judy Gunnoe, Rock Creek, WV
BJ Lesher, Naoma, WV
Jim Lesher, Naoma, WV
Gary Anderson, Colcord, WV
Barb Anderson, Colcord, WV
Mike Maynor, Dorothy, WV
Lessie Maynor, Dorothy, WV
Emmett Withrow, Colcord, WV
Roger Fraley, Dorothy, WV

[clear eye]

1. Thank you for posting this.

It's a shame our country is the last to know about corporate-backed crimes against humanity on our own soil.

[ro1942]

2. You can see 40' down and the bottom is covered with white sand.

Those were the first English words written about the Potomac river. We have come a long way.

[robo50]

3. That woman is a good spokesperson!

Maybe someone like the Governor should listen.

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4. Lesson Plans

Statements from Coal River Valley Residents and more info to share
including lesson plans for your school systems are available here

http://auroralights.org/map_project/lesson_plans.php

[FluxRostrum]

5. Immediatly prior to this

the governor dismissed these people and called West Virginia The Extraction State, Lorelei corrected him, reminding him that we are The Mountain State...

watch for yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqDSKISlQhs

Extractors are Always Free!