Stop Massey's Mountaintop Removal Madness

May 18, 2004
Photos by Vivian Stockman

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Rally Outside Massey Energy's Annual Shareholder Meeting

As the greedheads who make up the Massey Energy board of directors and stockholders held their annual shareholders' meeting in Charleston, W.Va., about 100 people gathered outside the meeting to protest Massey's terrible environmental record.  Three coalfield residents, Freda Williams, Pauline Canterberry and Marry Miller, all angry with Massey Energy’s behavior in their communities, had proxies and were able to address the shareholders.

EarthCop "arrested" activists who were parodying Massey Energy executives and board of directors, citing them for practicing mountaintop removal mining, the most destructive method of coal mining.   For decades, Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal mining has left Appalachian communities at risk from dangerous blasting, increased flooding and faulty slurry impoundments. 

“Blast by blast and flood by flood, Massey Energy’s irresponsible mining practices are destroying Appalachia,” said Pauline Canterberry of Sylvester, a member of Coal River Mountain Watch, who addressed the shareholders. “Massey Energy is blasting away our peaks, burying our streams in mining waste and covering our communities with toxic slurry, and the Bush administration is letting them get away with it. Instead of making a fast buck on the backs of Appalachians, Massey Energy needs to be a good neighbor and clean up its act.

“We hope our protest today sends a message loud and clear to Massey Energy’s stockholders: Massey Energy's destruction of Appalachia is not only a crime against the people and the earth, but it's also economic insanity,” said Canterberry.

Friends of the Mountains organized the protest. The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition plays a major role in FOM. Member groups include Appalachian Voices, Coal River Mountain Watch, Citizens Coal Council, Delbarton Environmental Community Awareness Foundation, Sierra Club-West Virginia Chapter, Stanley Heirs Foundation, West Virginia Citizen Action Group, West Virginia Environmental Council, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and West Virginia Rivers Coalition.

EarthCop calls the EPA (the Earth Police Academy) to report Massey Energy's terrible environmental practices.

Victims of Massey come out to let shareholders know the truth.

Another victim of Massey puts the shareholders on notice.

Massey's logo, slightly modified...

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