Press Release

Editor: Digital photos available upon request
September 19, 2006
Contact: Vivian Stockman 304-522-0246

Lincoln County Activist Visits DC
Seeking Help for Kids Threatened by Coal Mining Activities

Lincoln County activist Versi Sims traveled to Washington DC last week to join citizens from across West Virginia and the United States for a Stop Mountaintop Removal lobbying week. The citizens met with congressional representatives to express their concerns about mountaintop removal strip mines and coal sludge dams.

“We asked lawmakers to pass the Clean Water Protection Act, HR 2719,” Sims said. “It should be a no-brainer for the Representatives--clean water is a basic need for life itself. The Act would prohibit companies from dumping waste into our streams. That would make most valley fills illegal.”

On Wednesday, September 13, Sims attended a Capitol Hill press conference with Raleigh County grandfather and former coal miner Ed Wiley. Wiley, representing the Pennies of Promise campaign left Charleston on Aug. 2 to walk 455 miles across West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and into DC. The campaign and the walk are to raise awareness about the need for a new school for the children of Marsh Fork Elementary in Raleigh County.

The school sits just 225 feet from a coal loading silo that releases coal dust associated with coal processing. A leaking earthen dam holds back 2.8 billion gallons of toxic coal sludge, just 400 yards above the school. A 1,849-acre mountaintop removal coal mine surrounds the dam and school area. Independent tests confirm the presence of coal dust in the school. The dangers at the school have received national attention in recent months, including features by ABC World News Tonight, National Geographic, Vanity Fair, and Oprah’s O Magazine. 

Before his press conference, Wiley and his wife Debbie had a face-to-face meeting with Senator Byrd to discuss the situation at the school.

“I admire the determination and dedication that Ed and Debbie Wiley have shown,” Byrd said in a press release. “The Bible teaches that if we have faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. I believe that the Wileys have that faith.”

Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ), lead of the Clean Water Protection Act, spoke at Wiley’s press conference. Over 60 Congressmen and women have signed onto the bill, and the lobby week brought promises of more sign-ons, including one Representative from Kentucky. So far, no West Virginia Representatives have signed onto the bill.

“It’s time for our so-called leaders to stand up for the health and safety of West Virginians. That means they will have to develop the backbone to stand up to the coal industry—and turn down its campaign contributions,” Sims said. She encouraged people to call Congress in support of the Clean Water Protection Act.

Two new websites launched during the lobby week will educate people across the nation on ways they can help end mountaintop removal coal mining. The websites are www.stopmountaintopremoval.org and www.iLoveMountains.org.

Visitors to the I Love Mountains site can watch a video that features an interview with actor Woody Harrelson and download a new acoustic version of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind,” performed by country music singer Willie Nelson.

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