This news story originally provided by Picayune Item

July 10, 2005

Protesters march to coal mining company's Richmond headquarters

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Hoisting bed sheet flags and paper puppets, roughly 200 protesters marched to Massey Energy Co.'s headquarters Friday, full of sound and fury signifying - at least they hoped - a change in West Virginia coal mining processes.

Led by the Mountain Justice Summer campaign, it marked the latest showdown between the nation's fourth-largest coal mining company and the environmentalists accusing them of unsafe mining practices.

At the heart of the conflict is mountain top removal. The process involves blasting rock and dirt from mountain tops to expose precious ribbons of coal underneath. The leftover dirt is then deposited in nearby stream beds.

About 75 percent of Massey's coal mines are in West Virginia, said Katharine Kenny, vice president of investor relations. She estimated 67 percent of U.S. coal is produced through surface mining methods, which are cleaner and safer than ever.

But environmentalists blame the techniques for the destruction of more than 1,000 miles of stream beds in West Virginia alone and say noxious fumes from a coal operation are blackening the lungs of children at Marsh Fork Elementary in Sundial, W.Va.

"My grandson went to that school," said Julia Bonds of Coal River, W.Va., after giving a fiery speech against Massey. "I don't want to see babies poisoned."

Others remembered Jeremy Kyle Davidson, a toddler killed last August when a boulder crashed through his Wise County, Va., bedroom wall. The boulder broke free during nighttime construction of a strip mine access road; Massey Energy was not involved.

Jeff Winder, a Nelson County, Va., father of three, felt touched by the tragedy. He helped organize the protest and sang a song in honor of the boy.

"When I imagined a 600-pound boulder crashing through his bedroom as he slept, I had to do something," he said.

Starting near Virginia Commonwealth University, the protesters clanked, whistled and hooted down Franklin Street. Others fanned out along the sidewalks, distributing fliers on mountaintop removal to onlookers.

"I don't know how I feel one way or another," said Alice Tousignant as she scanned one of the fliers. "I'll definitely read up on it."

Outside the downtown Massey building, protesters broke into cries of "Shame!" as workers peered out of darkened windows.

That only accountants and other office workers - not the chief executive - were inside seemed of little concern

"The tsunami of resistance starts right here, right now," said a man who identified himself as Osama Ben Murphy.