|
|
 
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Coal Dust Busters Want You Wednesday
Valley Fills and Coal Industry Will Friday
Plaque Removal Meeting Jan. 2 and Miner Statue Dedication Jan. 3
Help Us Get Folks out for Coal Bucket Outlaw
COME TO DUST BUSTER TRIAL
The people of Sylvester are suing Massey Energy over the coal dust Massey has spewed on the town for years. The trial continues in the Boone County Courthouse in Madison (if you go to Madison, you can't miss the courthouse) Tuesday through Friday. Sylvester residents will talk with an expert about the dust on Thursday and would very much appreciate your presence at the trial. The trial is supposed to run for about ten weeks, so, if you can't make it tomorrow, there will be plenty of time for you to sit in. For more info, call Coal River Mountain Watch at 304-854-2182.
VALLEY FILLS AND COAL INDUSTRY WILL
This Friday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. the Department of Environmental Protection's flood investigation advisory committee will meet to discuss proposed regulatory changes for mountaintop removal valley fills. The meeting is at DEP's Headquarters in Nitro.
The flood committee examined the devastating 2001 and 2002 floods and found that mountaintop removal and virtually unregulated logging exacerbate the devastation associated with flooding. DEP has recommended changes to the way valley fills are "built" (one could barely called them "built" now). Surprise! The industry doesn't want to do what the DEP thinks might make valley fills safer.
DEP official Matt Crum said, "The DEP flood analysis technical team had proposed restrictions on the way valley fills are constructed in mountaintop removal mining. The mining industry is proposing an alternative to our bottom-up construction method that they claim is equally protective. We're going to give the industry an opportunity to present their alternative to the agency and the advisory committee. We have not agreed to any changes to our current proposal."
Should be an interesting meeting, so come on out.
COUNTER COAL'S CRUD
Have you noticed the coal industry's heavy media push of late? Check the OVEC news section for Dec. 13 stories about this latest propaganda blitz. While driving we now have to see the "cleaner greener coal" billboards and this new billboard-don't try to read the fine print while driving, as you might have a wreck:
Coal Truck Weight Limits Historically coal trucks have hauled greater than 120,000 lbs 120,000 lb weight limit is a reduction and will: --Improve highway safety --Avoid job and tax base --Lower Road Maintenance 120,000 lbs IS a Safe and Responsible Compromise.
There is no sponsor noted on the billboard. What other industry would take out a billboard admitting it routinely breaks the law?
In addition to the billboards, Massey is messing all over the airwaves with a fresh batch of truly nauseating TV and radio ads. And then there's the new "Friends of Coal" group, which West Virginia Coal Association president Bill Raney calls a "grassroots" (read: Astroturf) campaign, with its obvious push to get in letters to the editor praising mountaintop removal and coal in general. Some of the letters to the editor in the Charleston Gazette and other papers have been way over the top in terms of coal industry "misinformation."
Some of you have already begun to counter this crud by writing your own letters to the editor. Let's flood papers around the state with the truth about MTR! You can find addresses for newspaper statewide at: http://www.wvmediaguide.com/. E-mail dave@ohvec.org if you want some ideas for writing letters to the editor.
MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL PLAQUE MEETING AND STATUE DEDICATION
On Thursday, Jan. 2, the Capitol Building Commission, at our request, will hold a meeting to discuss the mountaintop removal plaque that is on the base of the statue that was supposed to honor miners. We will also talk about another plaque, yet to be installed, and its objectionable wording. The meeting will probably be somewhere in the Cultural Center on the Capitol grounds in Charleston. We don't have the location yet; we'll give out more info ASAP. Hope to see you there!
On Friday, Jan. 3, rumor has it the miner statue, which is all well and good, and the base on which it sits, which sports the coal industry's ads-in-bronze, will be dedicated. We'll send around more information as soon as we get it.
For background on this issue see our October 21 People in Action Gallery.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The must-see documentary on overweight coal trucks, "Coal Bucket Outlaw," will be screened Jan. 22 at the Marmet Community Building from 6-9 p.m. Please invite your friends, your legislators, your neighbors. The legislative session will be underway-as will the coal industry power-push to raise the coal truck weight limits. We need to get legislators and lots of other folks out to this screening. More about the documentary at: www.appalshop.org/film/coalbucket/.
|
OVEC Home Issues Contact Join Site Map |
|