I want to thank King Don (Blankenship) for the dust at the Delbarton Mining coal tipple.  Without Don’s Dust, people in the community where I live would be lying around getting fat and we’d have high cholesterol.  But, thanks to the dirt-dust-filth from the tipple at Delbarton, we stay busy keeping the dust cleaned up as best we can.

Thanks King Don and Massey Energy.

Letter to the Editor, Hartford Courant, Conn., Jan. 12, 2007

It is about time the devastation of mountaintop removal in Appalachia became major national news. It has been happening for many years and gaining full force with George W. Bush’s blessing.

One can see the devastation of the Appalachian Mountain range by going to one of the many satellite image sites online. They look like horrific canker sores that are easily seen when viewed as part of the entire East Coast. As a society we need to look no further than our own wasteful use of electricity to understand why cheap coal is being sucked out of the hills of the ignored states of West Virginia and Kentucky.

It is high time to get off of carbon-based fuels and start using all forms of renewable and alternative energy. Not only would it begin the most intelligent energy policy, it would also have positive ramifications for our long-term economy and for getting our necks out of the Middle Eastern noose.

I listened to Gov. Manchin’s State of the State address. Everyone agrees we need more precautions in mining. He mentioned the need for better drinking water for W.Va. citizens. But, I was appalled that he showed no remorse or concern over how coalfields communities have to live and what we have to put up with everyday because of mountaintop removal.

People’s homes, lives and property are being destroyed. He never mentioned the families getting sick from sludge-contaminated water. He never mentioned anything about emissions of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants and global warming.

He said nothing about renewable energy sources, like environmentally safe solar power or wind power. He talked about safety in the schools, but said nothing about 233 school kids and their school just 400 yards from a sludge dam holding 2.8 billion gallons of sludge. It’s all about economics and very little about people’s lives and the environment. I myself didn’t think much of his state of the state address, that’s my opinion

Chuck Nelson
Glen Daniels, WV