Winds of Change Newsletter, December 2005     See sidebar for table of contents

Visiting Van, WV

By Kathryn Stone

Last Monday night (Oct. 17, 2005), I went to Van, WV in the heart of 'coal country' to attend a Friends of the Mountains meeting. The little community center in Van was decorated for Halloween and inside there were signs of the local culture, ten commandments posted on the wall, a bulletin board with local goings on.

People began to drift in. I recognized some, one young woman and her daughter who had a friend and two other young people with her. This young woman had sand put in the gas tank of her truck last year, because she has put up resistance to the assault on her home place. She did not have the money to get it repaired, so a collection was taken up to help. Another older woman who lives in Van came in with two pound cakes for refreshments. I saw her photo in Appalachian Voices' newsletter. She has been traveling around the country delivering the message of mountain top removal mining and its consequences to Appalachia. She, herself, suffers daily from the noise, pollution and destruction to her property by coal mining operations nearby. In all, there probably were 20 people present.

As we went around the room giving introductions, people stated why they were there. Each told 'his/her story' of coal company abuses in their areas. Abuses that ranged from having to listen to deafening noises of coal operations near their homes - 24 hours/day - 7 days/week - to Mafia-like intimidations, thefts, coal company trucks speeding on the narrow roads, endangering all, to the horror at Marsh Fork Elementary School, to other impoundments which threaten their lives and well-being, to being forced to sell one's home at a price dictated by the coal company (one said the offer was on the square footage of the house, but did not include the land!). Another person said he is one of the last to sell in the town of Dorothy which has essentially been destroyed by coal mining.

Family cemeteries have been blown to smithereens and some are now virtually inaccessible because they are near mining sites. People have to go through onerous bureaucratic hoops to visit the graves of as many as four or five generations of family buried in these sites. Even after getting permission, the restrictions are so severe that they are only allowed to visit these graves at certain times or they may get to the gate and find, even with permission, they cannot get in. Even the dead are at risk in these communities! Can you imagine people in Charleston putting up with this?

One woman read from a document on the letterhead of a prominent Charleston law firm which, in effect, was a blueprint for 'depopulating Southern WV.'

This is the stuff of human tragedy on a huge scale (these stories are only the proverbial 'tip of the iceberg'). They resemble techniques used in the most repressive countries and governments. The fact that these stories are not known generally compounds the tragedy. This is being done in a country where 'family values' and 'morality' are key words that swing elections. One wonders, how these abuses prevail in this state (and in Appalachia in general) amidst such piety? It does make one ask how religious groups and government groups define these terms.

I listened to two young girls tell about how frightened they are of the goings on in their community. One is living elsewhere while her mother is 'sticking it out' under seige in her home (owned by her grand- mother), the last of five remaining houses still occupied in an otherwise deserted area. She said that people come by with trucks, strip siding off deserted houses, steal anything they can and have even tried to get into her house. She has put signs all over her yard declaring 'this house is occupied.' She told me she carries a gun with her at all times. She is a smart, attractive blond of 40ish who was attending a Junior College in Charleston with good grades, but had to quit because of pressures relating to her house. This is the house that the coal company offered to pay so much per square foot, but will not pay for the land! Without being paid the worth of the property, she cannot consider moving elsewhere!

These are intelligent, spunky, humorous and altogether admirable people. They are not at all the stereotype of rural West Virginians. The young people I met had lovely manners and were solicitous of their moms who are battling against such odds. Their moms are really great role models of courage and tenacity. They want these kids to go to college. I am sure they will.

It is an outrage that such things are happening 'under our noses', with few people going to the defense of these coalfield residents. It is up to stalwarts such as Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch, Appalachian Voices and others that make up the coalition of Friends of the Mountains to try to get the word out about the assaults on culture, on long-established communities, on the environment, on irreplaceable beauty, on eco-systems, on clean air, clean water and on health (mental and physical). One could go on and on and on. This is a disaster that defies description, with components of all the horror stories of history.

Some of the Friends of the Mountains have been engaged in traveling to many different states, giving power point presentations and showing videos about this environmental holocaust called mountain top removal mining. They go to churches, colleges, civic organizations and any venue that will enable them to educate the public about what is going on in Appalachia. It is a slow process.

Politicians in our area, for the most part, are pro-coal and accuse those who want to stop the practice of MTR of being anti-jobs, of being environmental terrorists. The reality is that mountaintop removal mining and all those who engage in it, however peripherally, are themselves 'terrorists'. They have assaulted, in the most egregious way, areas which one could have expected to last for an eternity. Native Americans and Appalachians consider their mountains sacred, in the purest sense of that word. Mountains represent beauty, nourishment for the soul, a source of healing medicinal plants, a source of rare eco-systems, a sanctuary for animals and birds and home to mountain people who have lived here for many generations. To destroy them is a sacrilege beyond any that this nation has known. Stopping this outrageous practice, with multi-destructive elements, must be the mission of all who oppose it.

We must all begin the process of promoting conservation, preservation and alternative energy so that this practice will stop before all of Appalachia lies in ruin.