The prayer vigil on Kayford Mountain attracted more than 100 people of all faiths. photo by Liz Veazy

On October 20, more than 100 people of all ages and faiths gathered on Kayford Mountain at a prayer vigil for the mountains and people of Appalachia affected by mountaintop removal mining.

Religious leaders representing a range of denominations and backgrounds led prayers and hymns honoring the state’s mountains and asking for the healing of people harmed by strip mining.

OVEC hosted the vigil. Coal River Mountain Watch and the Student Environmental Action Coalition turned out big numbers of folks. We brought together families, college students and faith-based groups from across the state and region, with attendees from as far as Michigan and South Carolina.

The gathering came on the heels of the WV Council of Churches statement condemning mountaintop removal as "unprecedented and permanent." (See page 9.)

This little girl, a daughter of a student from Pfeiffer College in NC, promised the crowd that she would do her part to save the mountains in Appalachia, by trying to remember to always turn out the lights! This group of students reminded folks that each of us can do small things to save the mountains. They also shared what they were willing to give up in order to save energy and the mountains – things like buying bottled water (all that plastic needs energy and resources to make) and Internet shopping (all those packages generally include plastic bubble wrap!).

"We organized this event to help connect religious communities in the region and hope it will compel people of faith to tell the story of what mountaintop removal is doing to our people," said Rev. Robin Blakeman, a Presbyterian minister and OVEC volunteer who organized the event.

Presbyterian, Unitarian, Episcopal and United Methodist pastors led prayers. Throughout the vigil, people directly impacted by this extreme form of mining shared their experiences, including Pauline Canterberry of Sylvester, one of the famed "Sylvester DustBusters." She explained how coal dust covers the inside of Sylvester residents’ homes, clogging indoor air filters and in some cases causing black lung disease in people who have never entered a mine.

Brenda McCoy of Mingo County held up jars of dark red and black water from people’s homes in her community and explained how their water was poisoned by the underground injection of coal sludge, a waste product from coal preparation plants. People in Mingo County just recently won access to city water from the state after their water was declared toxic.

"I think we are looking for a transformation of the heart, to care and weep for God’s creation, and become instruments of healing for the earth and justice for people," said Allen Johnson, coordinator of Christians for the Mountains, an organization working to rally Christians for solutions to mountaintop removal.

The group walked to a spot on Kayford Mountain from which they could overlook part of the 12,000 acres (more than 18 square miles) of mountaintop removal operations that are consuming the mountain.

"I was blown away that something like this could happen in the United States. It looked like a scar on the land, like a huge bomb had been dropped in the mountains," said Briana McElfish, a Marshall University student from Putnam County. "We have to look for different ways to get energy. Our country’s coal dependence affects us the most, so we, more than anyone else, should be looking at alternatives. We should be leading the way in renewable energy and efficient technologies, creating jobs and protecting our people."

"So many children and families are harmed by mountaintop removal in this state. I hope the faith community gets more organized and aware and acts from a deep theological place making this one of the primary moral and ethical concerns for people of faith in our area," said Blakeman.