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Winds of Change
March 2004

Contents

The PEOPLE Speak Out About MTR Impact Statement

Rule Change May Alter Strip-Mine Fight

Close Encounters of the COAL Kind

Note to President Bush from the Appalachian Coalfields: Buzz Off the Buffer Zone!

Federal Official Worries About Valley Fill Stability

Bush and Coal Money - LOTS of It

Global Warming, Bush, Alternative Energy Jobs and - Men on Mars?

Clean Elections in WV: Time to Celebrate Some Victories!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial - A Time to Honor His Legacy

"Carbon Sequestration" Just Pseudo-Science Doublespeak

MTR Flyover

Catholic Leaders Take Firsthand Look at MTR

Dont Agonize! ORGANIZE!

BUFFALO CREEK: Two Stories

Groups kick off coal sludge impoundment safety campaign

Keep Up the Good Work to Bring Back Jack!

Getting the Vote Out in 2004 - Forums Scheduled

Taking the TRUTH About MTR on the Road "Up North" to New York

WV Environmental Councils 15th Annual E-Day!

Quick, Someone - Hide the Enviros!

Thanks

Feds Urge Closer Look at Selenium

Miscellany

Web Extra Articles Below
(not in printed newsletter)

Valleys Damned

Your Donations Add Up To Big Help 

Dear Editor:

Love doesn't love us
Deem doesn't deem us fit
But just really where are the jobs?

Tidbits 


For viewing the PDF version

 

Miscellany

MTR Story Hits the Airwaves

National Public Radios "All Things Considered" news program spoke with four OVEC members for a segment on the proposed Buffer Rule change. Hear the story online here. 



Wow ... We Made the DEP's Web Page

On their website, the WV Department of Environmental Protection, wrote about E-Day!: 

"Environmentalists from across the state set up shop at the Capitol to highlight environmental issues that affect West Virginia. DEP Cabinet Secretary Stephanie R. Timmermeyer took note of the myriad displays at the Legislature and said, "I appreciate citizens time and effort to bring attention to the issues that affect the DEP. There are a lot of familiar faces in these environmental organizations that put a tremendous amount of work into protecting the environment. They provide insight into West Virginias environmental strengths and weaknesses, not only during the Legislative session, but throughout the year."

Then, apparently, Timmermeyer went off to rubber stamp a few more thousand acres of mountaintop massacre and stream destruction. 


For a good time, call OVEC

Backstreet Boy singer Kevin Richardson is from Kentucky. Hes been an activist agitating for an end to mountaintop removal.

Us Weekly magazine recently ran a photo of Kevin, in which he was wearing one of Larry Gibsons Keeper of the Mountains T-shirts, which includes Larrys cell phone number. The message on Larrys cell includes OVECs number. Both the office and Larry have been inundated with calls from giggling girls wanting to learn more about how they, too, can become Keepers of the Mountains.


The Marshfork Elementary School at Sundial (foreground), with the Goals Coal (a
Massey energy subsidiary) sludge impoundment looming above it. Massey wants to
mountaintop removal mine 1,849 acres around this impoundment, including
the entire mountain in the back and to the left in this photo. Will the impoundment
be safe with all the blasting? The nearby communities can expect to suffer from the
blasting (from ruined water wells, to health problems, to decreased property values)
and the increased risk of flooding associated with mountaintop removal mining.


Man's Inhumanity to Man

The folks who owned this home on the Mud River in Lincoln County built it themselves
in the 60s. They thought they'd finish living their lives here. They resisted selling to
Arch Coal's land company, while neighbor after neighbor did sell. Finally, the blasting
got so close, their well water went bad...they knew their lives could never
be the
same. They sold and moved, offering up free items to whoever happened down the
home-less road.

 

Lincoln County, WV, along the Mud River.
The homeowner sold their property to
Arch Coal as mountaintop removal
encroached upon the old homeplace.

 

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