Tour Acquaints Writers with Horrors of Mountaintop Removal Mining

	The writers at work, crafting their statement, which they called Appalachia’s Last Stand.

The Oct. 16-17 writers’ tour organized by OVEC, with Friends of the Mountains, attracted 16 authors from Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

Day one of the tour included a trip to Kayford Mountain and overflights of the Marsh Fork Elementary School and surrounding coal calamities provided by SouthWings.

Later, a group of 15 coalfield residents spoke with the writers about a wide range of problems caused by mountaintop removal, from loss of culture to severe health problems.

Witnessing the destruction and hearing from the affected residents profoundly affected the writers.

Some where provoked to rage, some moved to tears, but all were shell-shocked.

On day two, the writers spent the morning crafting an open letter to West Virginia citizens and the Congress of the United States (see Appalachia’s Last Stand).

In the coming months, watch for the writers’ essays and op-eds in newspaper around the state and country.