Miscellany

MTR Story Hits the Airwaves

National Public Radio’s "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 Virginia’s 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. He’s 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 Gibson’s Keeper of the Mountains T-shirts, which includes Larry’s cell phone number. The message on Larry’s cell includes OVEC’s 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.