Down with Sludge, Up with Safety

Vigil and March Oct. 19, 20 -- Down with Sludge, Up with Safety
Oct. 19, 20: Mountain Justice Summer, MUPeace and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, in cooperation with the Sludge Safety Project, invite you to Huntington to counter the coal industry's "Coal Quality '05." This year's meeting of industry reps focuses on coal processing plants (prep plants), from which Appalachia's signature 'death soup' - sludge - is born. Whether it is looming over an elementary school; spilling, leaking or sometimes exploding from the hundreds of active and inactive coal sludge impoundments in Appalachia; or injected into abandoned underground mines around the coalfields, sludge spells one thing for Appalachia - danger!

Join us as we expose the toll of coal prep plants and coal sludge impoundments on human health and safety. We'll hold a candlelight vigil for the mountains on Wednesday, Oct. 19 from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in front of the Holiday Inn on 3rd Ave. where many of the conference-goers will be staying. From 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 it's a March on King Coal--speak out against coal sludge impoundments and mountaintop removal. Meet at Pullman Square at 3:30, march to the convention center, then to the nearby Army Corps of Engineers (which issues permits for mountaintop removal and coal sludge impoundments) building and back to the center. For more info: appalachian-always@riseup.net.

Warm up for these two events by listening to Ed Wiley of Coal River Mountain Watch and Hillary Hosta of Coalfield Sustainability Project. They will speak at 7 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 18, at the Drinko Library, 3rd floor, on the Marshall University campus about sludge, mountaintop removal and climate change.

Oct. 20: Is Toxic Sludge Good for You?
As you may recall from OVEC's latest newsletter, people living in the Lick Creek, Rawl, Merrimac, and Sprigg of Mingo County are very concerned about what the underground injection of coal sludge has apparently done to their well water. While some of us are marching in Huntington (see first entry above), others will gather from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Williamson Campus of Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College to talk with officials about health concerns related to the area's water. The meeting is in Room 431, 1601 Armory Drive. This promises to be a heated meeting, as many area residents are distrustful of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which funded this health consultation meeting along with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. With the ATSDR's research and results often inconclusive by design, residents are justified in their mistrust of the agency. For more info, call 304-558-6751.