The People Comment Passionately On
Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

July 24, 2003
Photos by Vivian Stockman

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Note: The comment period on the EIS
has been extended to January 6, 2004

The Public Hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

As part of the comment period on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining (MTR), several agencies that are supposed to regulate the mining industry hosted a public hearing in the Charleston Civic Center on Thursday, July 24. The hearing consisted of two separate sessions, one from 2-5 p.m. and another from 7-11 p.m. 

(You have until Aug. 29, 2003 to submit written comments on the EIS. As a FYI, the 5,000-page EIS weighs almost 40 pounds and stands about 30 inches high when each of the 8.5 by 11 inch volumes are stacked up. Happy reading! We hope to soon post to the website a summary of points that you can use to make your own comments. Be sure to see the EIS summary from Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.)  

Coal industry folks dominated the first session of the public hearing, with only a handful of coalfield residents and other Stop Mountaintop Removal activists in attendance, as we had planned to make a strong showing in the second session.  We did just that, with opponents of MTR outnumbering the proponents  by three to one!

In order to get their five minutes to comment, people had to sign-in on registration cards. These cards were supposedly then passed to the moderator in the order they were received, so folks would get their turn to speak according to the order in which they signed the cards. 

In the afternoon session, the first speaker was Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. Strange how he always manages to be the first to speak at these types of things, despite the first-come, first-served sign-up process. Ole Raney is slipping up--he only mentioned the word "proud" five times. He's proud of the 14,000 coal mining jobs left (the coal industry itself says about 2,000 of the jobs are on MTR sites), which is fair enough. But, is he also proud of the huge mountaintop removal machines that have taken thousands of coal miners jobs? He didn't tell us that.

In the afternoon session, most speakers trotted out the standard coal industry arguments: jobs OR the environment;  we need more flat land; if some flooding isn't caused by mountaintop removal, then no flooding is; West Virginia IS coal; without mountaintop removal, we'd be screwed.  For arguments that debunk these standard, yet absurd, industry opinions, please read peoples' comments in the sidebar.

Before the evening session, about 50 of us met near the Civic Center to march en masse to the hearing. Outside the Center, we met up with about 30 other Friends of the Mountains. We visited with one another as we waited for the doors to open.  

As our folks were beginning to go inside, I noticed Bill Raney and Chris Hamilton, vice president of the WV Coal Association,  walking up to the venue. Bill didn't see me. I heard him speak to Rod Blackstone,  an aide to Charleston's mayor. Referring to our friendly folks, Raney asked Blackstone, "Why did you let all these damn people come?" 

"Damn people, Bill?" I asked Raney, who looked a little surprised to see me standing there.

"Now, Vivian, I was just joking. I call myself damn, too," Raney stammered.

Blackstone piped in then, saying of course it was just a joke.

I didn't find it too funny. But, our folks were filing inside, and I went in, too. Many opponents of mountaintop removal were the first to sign-up to speak for the evening session. Yet, strangely, the second person to speak that night was Chris Hamilton, who had been standing outside while our folks were signing up. He definitely was not first in the sign-up lines. Curiously, at least three well-known opponents of mountaintop removal, who were among the very first to sign-up, had to wait and wait and wait for their turns. Despite the obvious injustice,  those three MTR opponents didn't really mind waiting, as they got to listen to speaker after speaker from our side, each of whom was totally riveting. 

We were elated. Coalfield residents, including several who had never spoken out in public before, got up and told the tale of what is happening to their homes, communities and mountains. The people in attendance who are fooling themselves into believing there is nothing wrong with MTR had to listen to our impassioned and informed speeches! The look-the-other-way regulators had to listen to us, too! Click on the comments in the sidebar to read the statements made that evening.  

Elaine Purkey brought tears to people's eyes when, for her statement, she sang "Larry's Song." That song will be on the upcoming music CD about mountaintop removal. Novelist and lay preacher Denise Giardina also made outstanding comments, delivered as a sermon, which must have made some MTR apologists tremble.

"It was a privilege to hear the well-crafted words and feel the heart-felt sentiment of persons directly in the line of fire of the coal pillagers. These dedicated environmentalists and concerned citizens of a raped and diminishing West Virginia left no ugly stone unturned as they clearly presented not just the injustice being done, but the simple, how-be-it ignored solution: ban mountaintop removal and enforce coal laws already on the books. I am so impressed," Sandy Brady e-mailed after the hearing.       

Chuck Wyrostok emailed, "One of the things that struck me was the coalfield residents mentioning several times to the agency reps that they (the residents) had never been visited, contacted or witnessed anyone examining MTR. How could you do an EIS without ever talking to anyone that lives there? Seems like the government doesn't want to experience the real deal, eh?"

Kathryn Stone e-mailed, "I felt as though I had attended a 'revival' meeting last night as a true believer and 'got the call' (or whatever the expression is!).  Wow!  I cannot help but believe that the consciences of some of the proponents of EIS were affected by those powerful speeches.  Of course, they had to parrot the same old lines, but I thought I detected some deflation in tone.  It definitely was a coalfield/environmentalist evening.  What a great bunch of folks we have!"

Joan Mulhern, with Earthjustice in DC e-mailed, "It looks to me from the reports I have seen that everyone did a fantastic job of organizing for both hearings -- there were people speaking out, whatever the odds, about the travesty of mountaintop removal.  And that it had an impact on the federal officials listening.   

"I talked to several people on the Hill late this week who saw some of the stories, and I think it was very positive, from the inside-the-beltway perspective, anyway -- they saw (again) that there are people standing up for their rights, their communities, and their environment.  That is so important.  I hope everyone who participated feels good about it; I think everyone did great work."  

Remember to get your comments on the EIS in by August 29. Below are some photos from the EIS hearings.   

After the afternoon session, Boone County resident Maria Pitzer shows filmmaker Bob Gates photos of the damage her home sustained in recent MTR-related flooding.

People begin to gather for our march over to the Civic Center.

If there were truth in government labeling, EIS
wouldn't just stand for Environmental Impact Statement. 

The people march to the Civic Center.

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