This news story originally provided by TIMC

July 9, 2005

Students Participate in Rally to Save Tennessee Mountain Heritage

by Anna Thompson

Nashville,TN - Students from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and Tennessee Technological University gathered in front of the State Capital on Thursday July 7, to demand an end to the destructive mining practice of Mountain Top Removal (MTR). The rally coincided with an international day of action of Global Climate Change. Students from Tennessee Universities presented Governor Bredesen with demands to stop mountaintop removal in Tennessee.

Tyler Pannell said he was there to ask Governor Bredesen to support the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in enforcing Tennessee's Water Quality Standards and to stop mountain top removal, which is devastating to Tennessee communities. Pannell said it was devastating to the environment, "It has destroyed West Virginia and Kentucky, and it is permanent because it destroys the mountain to get at the coal. The streams run orange and the trees do not come back. The streams are toxified with poisonous chemicals. They blast the solid rock and then pile it back on. It doesn't resolve the problems that are associated with acid mine drainage and they don't usually do a good job of cleaning up the sites."

Panell said he was there to send a message to TDEC which he says has the power to stop mountain top removal, "the Tennessee Department of Environment Conservation issues permits.at those mining sites and they have the power to renegotiate those permits or deny them in the first place. The power to stop mountain top removal rests with TDEC."

He also said he was there to promote other energy alternatives, "We need to conserve energy. Turn off the lights when you are not at home. We know that 60 percent of the energy production in Tennessee comes from coal fired power plants. We need to invest in Tennessee's Green Power Switch program which supports energy produced through solar, wind and hydro power instead of coal. I hope that people look at mountain top removal as a real issue in Tennessee. It has just started here and we have plenty of time to stop it. We need to start thinking about the other options that exist. Tourism has the potential to support Tennessee's economy forever, mining does not. The Cumbeland Plateau is about to turn into a National Mining Corridor even though Bredesen wants it to be a National Heritage Corridor."

Mountain Top Removal is a mining process in which mountain tops are blown off in order to access thin seams of coal. It results in contaminated land, air, and water, as well as sharp declines in property values for nearby residents. MTR also turns the mountains into a flattened moonscape on which forests do not grow. MTR is spreading through Appalachia at an alarming rate - destroying the mountains, lives, culture, and history that make the region unique.

Already, MTR has devastated hundreds of thousands of acres in West Virginia and Kentucky. Now this process is threatening to flatten the Cumberland Mountains in East Tennessee, ruining the natural beauty of the region for future generations of Tennesseans. To view pictures of this practice go to the website of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition: www.ohec.org.

Michelle Wineberter, a student at Tennessee Tech, said there are better options that mountain top removal, "There are better ways to get our energy. It is our hope that Governor Bredesen will listen to us. It has been on his agenda to protect our Mountain Heritage and blowing them up is not doing that. I am from a small town and I want to be able to insure that this heritage and this landscape is here for future generations."

Robert Archfield said that mountain top removal is beginning to happen in his county, "They are about to start mountain top removal in the county that I am from. They have permission to mine the Brimstone area in Scott County. Our watershed is just recovering now from strip mining done in the seventies and eighties. We have to preserve what we have got. I would like to tell the Governor to protect our Mountain Heritage."

The Student Environmental Action Coalition at Tennessee Technological University at Cookeville, TN, hosted the rally. Lee Ransey, of Cookeville, said she is a member of SEAC, "We just revived the chapter of SEAC at Tennessee Tech. It is a club at the university where we choose topics and we talk about them and we try to do things to make a difference."

She said she was there to raise consciousness, "The reason that we came here was to raise awareness about Mountain Top Removal. People don't seem to know a lot about it. They ask questions like 'Is that strip mining? What is that exactly?' So we want to let people know exactly what that is and what it will look like if it comes here. It has already been happening in West Virginia and Kentucky and we sure don't want it to go on in Tennessee because the mountains are beautiful and you can't replace them."

Ransey said it is about the future, "It's not like you can just blow up the mountains and then put them back, that is just not possible. It is horrible for the environment and for humans and for posterity. It's just bad all around and a lot of people just don't know about it and that is why it is important to educate people about this and about the small steps that we can take. I want to educate people about mountain top removal, but also I want to inform them about the steps they can take to not rely on on coal - like clean energy choices and energy conservation."

Jon Schwenk of Rhea County said mountain top removal could come to his county, "It is possible that this could go on in my county because we do have coal and there used to be mining in Rhea County, it could definitely move into our area." Schwenk said this is part of an organized campaign, "In addition to coming out here we are going to do this around Cookeville, we are going to plan some protests and write to our Senators, and to government officials. I think the best way to spread the word is just word of mouth through friends. If you are passionate about an issue it will catch on."

The Student Environmental Action Coalition meets at Tennessee Technological University on Tuesdays at 11:00 am in Henderson Hall room 110. For more information contact Tyler Pannell at 931-510-6263 or Katherine Osburn at 931-520-0245.