This LTE originally published by The Charleston Gazette

June 19, 2007

Mountain removal consequences dire

Editor:

In response to Steve Roberts and Kenny Perdues major bashing of the Ohio Valley Environmental Council (May 16), their attempt to undermine this environmental group just solidifies my belief that we are very fortunate to have organizations such as this that provide a system of checks and balances for people who think the way they do. If this were not the case they would most surely attempt to annihilate West Virginia from the planet all for the sake of retrieving coal from the mountaintops.

Just as long as the bottom line consisted of making major profits for coal companies and their affiliates, I feel sure that they would have little or no consideration for the negative consequences of mountain range removal. You notice I did say mountain range removal, not other methods of mining coal. Do you want West Virginia to be as flat as Kansas? Do you like the thought of a tornado taking your homes and families? If this ungodly practice continues, we may see much worse results of it than just altered weather patterns.

Barbara

Hutchison-Smith
Cross Lanes