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Winds of Change Newsletter, October 2009 See sidebar for table of contents
Lindytown - Threats, Dead Horses and Shattered
Dreams As the Draglines Creep Ever Closer
This photo (at right) is a view
from the property Lora Webb was forced to leave because of mountaintop
removal mining you can see the steadily-approaching dragline in the
distance (close-up below).
Rainforest Action Network recently toured mountaintop
removal areas with OVECs Maria Gunnoe. On Sept. 2, they posted this on
their Understory blog:
Today, we arrived in Lindytown in time to meet Lora Webb, as her friends
packed up her house and got her ready to move two hours away. Lora
doesnt want to move, and shes furious at what the coal companies are
doing to her community.
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| Dragline close up |
She faced threats and intimidation before she agreed to
sell her land. And even after signing a contract, her horse
was killed and a truck knocked out her phone lines. Shes mad as
hell and just moving farther away isnt going to stop her from
speaking her mind. But right now, Loras primary concern is safely
relocating her life, her family, her property and the animals shes
rescued to the new property before Massey decides shes taken too long
and denies her further access to her property.
Lora is a plant person, and shes nurtured many rare and
endemic plants on her land. Some are underground now, so she cant
relocate them.
I also saw her well-tended garden with the ripening
tomatoes that will likely never be eaten. Photos by Mark Schmerling
(More photos in next article)
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