E-Day! 

Feb. 17, 2004
Photos by Vivian Stockman

See sidebar for links to other pages

Jack Spadaro's Speech
West Virginia Environmental Council E-Day Feb. 17, 2004

I am honored to receive the 2004 Chuck Chambers Public Service Award and I thank you. Although you have singled me out for this award, I share it with citizens of the Appalachian coalfields who have worked for years to protect the lives of people and the integrity of the mountain environment from abusive mining practices.

I want to thank my brilliant and stubborn wife, Nancy Adams, for standing with me for nearly a quarter century and for encouraging me to continue to speak out and fight against injustice and corruption perpetuated by the coal industry despite the high personal cost of doing so. We met in 1978 in Pike County, Kentucky. I was working for the federal Office of Surface Mining and she was helping residents of tiny, narrow Barrenshe Creek to get relief from flooding and mudslides caused by a mountaintop removal operation at the head of the hollow. The mining was uncontrolled then and it is still out of control.

Today, we see the cumulative effects of large, mountaintop removal mines in the unprecedented flooding of Appalachian communities. We see the cumulative effects of underground mining in the structural damage to homes and loss of water in Appalachian communities. We see the cumulative effects of mining upon the coalfield economy as machines replace miners and jobs disappear, prompting the outmigration of families from Appalachian communities. And we have yet to understand what the cumulative effects of thousands of acres of mountaintop removal mines will be on the flora and fauna in the once-magnificent forests and streams that covered Appalachia.

Against this tide of destruction, however, are people, like you, who continue to resist the assault on the residents, communities and environment of Appalachia. The voices of people like Julia Bonds, Freda Williams, Janet Fout, Vivian Stockman, Dianne Bady, James Weekly, Ken Hechler, Larry Gibson, Julian Martin, Link Chapman and Monroe Cassady of Coldwater Creek in Martin County, Kentucky, Cindy Rank, Judge Charles Haden, Joe Lovett, Laura Forman. The list of names numbers in the thousands and continues to grow.

Your voices reach citizens across this country and throughout the world. It is still possible for people of the Appalachian region to use their power and righteousness to finally stop mountaintop removal mining and the construction of dangerous coal waste dams in mining communities. It is possible to save coalfield communities and create an economy not based on coal. We must persevere.

Despite the assault of mountaintop removal mining, the Appalachian region is still home to a magnificent natural environment. The biodiversity is special and must be preserved. We must save what we can. Now.

In 1972, I made a pledge to myself after seeing the faces of the survivors of the Buffalo Creek disaster in which 125 people died from massive flooding from failed coal waste dams. I promised that I would do what I could to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again. Today, there are those in the coal industry and the government who would turn their backs on the lessons of Buffalo Creek, who would risk the lives of coalfield residents for the possibility of greater profit, who would destroy the environment for short-term gain.

You and I must hold on to our dream of protecting the people and land of this region. Although it will take years, it is not unreasonable to expect that we can achieve this goal.

Finally, I want to tell you that your letters, public demonstrations, e-mails, and words of support have sustained me through the past eight months as I have fought to keep my job and continue my life's work. When I was at my lowest, you took up my fight. You helped to restore my energy and determination. I am forever indebted to you for your kindness and concern.

See sidebar for links to other pages