Wake up Ansted, Jodie and Gauley Bridge!

Mountaintop removal begins on Gauley Mountain

by Katheryne Hoffman
(photos by Viv Stockman and Paul Corbit Brown)

Acres and acres of trees have been felled, with the land left denuded and bare. The birdsong is silenced. The wildlife is now foraging and prowling into nearby towns. I listen hopefully for the sound of the whippoorwill or bobwhite, but all I hear is the sound of heavy earth-moving equipment and the rumble of the beautiful mountain peaks being blasted away.

	The New River Gorge Bridge with Gauley Mountain in the background (this is the scene on West Virginias state quarter)

No, this is not the Amazon rainforest, and the animals and birds are not jaguars, monkeys and parrots. The indigenous people are not the natives of the Amazon, but the people of the towns and hollows of West Virginia.

This is not a third-world country, but an area less than 50 minutes from Charleston, our state capitol. The Gauley and New rivers join here at Gauley Bridge to form the Kanawha. Our economic engine here is tourism, fed by the beauty of the mountains, the hunting, the fishing, the hiking, the biking and the relaxation that only the forest can bring. The merging of various trails would bring access from Kaymoor to Gauley Bridge.

The area is becoming nationally known and enjoyed by numerous visitors, giving a wonderful image to our state. The mountains here are steep and sheer and the valleys narrow. Ride with me to Sugar Creek or Rich Creek and see for yourself. But also be prepared to see the forest primeval and breathtaking beauty. It must have looked the same 100 years ago.

However, this can all change. What many people dont know is that the mountains behind the town of Ansted are filled with old abandoned mine workings and tunnels.

	Looking over Ansted from a ledge on Gauley Mountain

If you do a flyover, you can see the huge sediment pond above the town of Jodie: Another Buffalo Creek in the making? A major rain event could be catastrophic to the town of Ansted. In 2004, a small rain event and a blowout from one of the old tunnels flooded Ansted Hollow and Shade Creek. Where will all that water go now that acres have been clearcut and the soil removed?

The blasting that will occur from a large mining operation puts Ansted and Jodie at risk, not only from the potential flooding, but from the silica from the rocks in the area. Powellton Coal Co.s own permit states that one of the coal seams here is so filled with toxic selenium that if it is not encapsulated quickly and correctly, the damage could be irreversible.

There are many toxins present in a mining operation: mercury, arsenic, selenium, silica, oils used to clean equipment, blasting metals, etc. Do we really want to chance the further pollution of the Gauley, New and Kanawha rivers?

I recently talked with a woman who was present on Larry Gibsons Kayford Mountain 12 years ago. She then observed a small operation on one side of the mountain, ugly but contained.

Today, for miles in every direction, that area is a veritable moonscape, ugly beyond belief. This is the future from Gauley Bridge to Meadow River unless people work together to stop it.

Take a trip to Kayford Mountain I guarantee it will jolt you out of your complacency.

Watch the video at www.ilovemountains.org/endangered/ to hear local folks like Rev. Roy Crist and Cary Huffman talk about the mountaintop removal mining threat that looms over their Fayette County communities.