MTR Scars the Human Heart

	Look familiar? This is the same view as the picture on page 1, taken in the fall. How many dozens of blasts and thousands of pounds of explosives were needed to shave away just this small part of Kayford Mountain are anyone's guess, but you can be sure the people living nearby heard and felt every single one.

For decades, West Virginia Highlands Conservancys Cindy Rank has been working to expose and end destructive coal mining practices.

Upon reading the page 1 article about the systematic destruction around Lindytown, she e-mailed, "Reading the article brought floods of images of people Ive met over the past 30 years, people who have been trampled by some coal company in some community. These are yet more new voices of people feeling the oppression thats being put upon them."

She noted that ever-growing mountaintop removal coal mining above Lindytown and Twilight, Bob White, Whitesville, Clear Fork, Blair, Mud, Berry Branch and so many other towns is "the uninterrupted chain of stripped mountains that we saw on our maps in 1997, now coming to fruition on the ground and in the hearts of people across southern West Virginia."

Take ACTION!

Got Blasting? Do something about it! Call in your complaints to the DEPs Office of Explosives and Blasting at (304) 926-0490. Keep a calendar with the time, date and a description of all blasts that you feel in your home. Write down to whom you spoke and what they said. Let the agent know that you would like to be notified of the findings of any investigations. Call, document and follow up. Keep those records. Otherwise the blasting will only get worse!

The office is supposed to make sure your household is contacted for a pre-blast survey before blasting begins within a certain range of your house. Its supposed to review all coal mine blast plans and investigate blast complaints and claims of damage. It is supposed to administer a claims and arbitration process for anyone seeking relief from blasting damage. The office operates using your tax dollars, so put em to work!