Press Release

June 29, 2005

Contact: Vernon Haltom or Bo Webb (304) 854-2182

Coalfield citizens arrested delivering demands to Massey headquarters

RICHMOND, VA-Concerned parents and other citizens of Coal River Valley, West Virginia, with support from Mountain Justice Summer participants, today delivered a list of demands to Massey Energy's headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, insisting that Massey respond. Two were arrested for trespassing when they refused to leave the premises until Massey responded to their demands.

"I promised my son that I would not send him back to that school," said Herb Elkins of Coal River Valley, who was one of the two arrested. "His health and peace of mind are too important. No child should have to attend class in a climate of fear."

Previous rallies at Massey's Goals Coal Company operations adjacent to Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, W. Va., led to 18 arrests. The citizens are demanding that Massey shut down its preparation plant, coal silo, 1,849-acre mountaintop removal mine site and 2.8 billion-gallon coal sludge dam-a toxic waste storage facility-at the kindergarten through fifth-grade school. The dam is constructed of earth and coal refuse. Its base is 400 yards upstream from school grounds.

Hannah Thurman of Liberty, W.Va., was also arrested. "We're simply asking that Massey treat these children and the Coal River community with respect," said Thurman. "For the sake of the kids, Massey needs to do the right thing."

Handcuffed, Thurman and Elkins shouted, "Save the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary!" as they were loaded into the police vehicle.

"It breaks my heart to send my granddaughter to that school," said Ed Wiley of Coal River Valley. "Coal dust and chemicals on the playground and in the air system cannot be good for kids. These are their formative years; they shouldn't be breathing coal dust." The coal silo stores powdered coal and loads rail cars 150 feet from school grounds. After loading, the operation sprays a binding agent over the coal.

Other demands are that Marsh Fork Elementary School be cleaned up or that a safe, new school be built in the local community; that Massey withdraw its application for a second coal loading silo behind the school; that Massey stop blasting near residents' homes; and that Massey shut down its surface mine sites and invest in true sustainable energy.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is considering Massey's application to construct a second silo next to the first. At a May 26 hearing, the DEP allowed residents only two minutes each to voice their concerns over the silo application and also over the renewal of Massey's permit to operate the toxic waste storage facility. Despite residents' protests, in 2004 the DEP approved Massey's permit to operate the mountaintop removal site above the school.

At a rally on May 24, two Coal River Valley residents were arrested when they were refused admittance to present their demands at the Goals operation. On May 31, sixteen people were arrested, including an 82-year-old grandmother, while delivering the same demands.

Further information: www.mountainjusticesummer.org, www.crmw.net, www.ohvec.org

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