This article originally provided by The Register-Herald

May 25, 2005

Residents speak out against Massey permit

By Amelia A. Pridemore/Register-Herald Reporter

Pauline Canterberry came to Marsh Fork Elementary School wearing a dust mask on her face. But when she had the chance to speak Thursday night, her face was not covered.

She wanted to be heard -- loud and clear.

"Are you listening to me, or are you just going to wait and listen to the tape? Or are you going to listen to the tape at all?" she asked.

The Sylvester resident and others packed the school gymnasium at Sundial for a public hearing conducted by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The hearing was a chance for residents or any concerned citizen to voice their opinions or concerns regarding Massey Energy's request for a permit to build a second coal-loading silo next to another situated 150 feet away from the school.

Most speakers and attendees were vehemently opposed to the permit.

Those packing the gymnasium were not Coal River Valley residents only. In fact, many speakers and those attending the hearing were not from West Virginia. License plates lining the school's packed parking lot were from such states as North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.

Julia Bonds, a member of Coal River Mountain Watch, the local organization opposing the permit, said residents of California, Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee were also in attendance. Either a California resident or the Louisiana resident, she said, hitchhiked to come to the hearing.

As of 6:30 p.m., DEP officials said about 50 people were scheduled to speak, and 126 people had signed the attendance log.

Bonds, a Rock Creek resident, said she and the other locals were thrilled to have the visitors come and support them.

"It really makes my heart happy," she said. "In America, there's other places that know what's going on here in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. And there's also people here from places like Tennessee and Virginia that have had the same problems with mountaintop removal that we have had."

Bonds said a movement known as Mountain Justice Summer had come to the aid of Coal River Mountain Watch and other Appalachian residents concerned and/or opposed to mountaintop removal. Knoxville, Tenn., resident Paloma Galindo of Mountain Justice Summer said it was not just a West Virginia problem.

"The only way to save Appalachia is to unite our forces and energy," Galindo said. "We're here to lend our support and solidarity to people in this area."

Besides the general issue of mountaintop mining, those at the hearing were particularly concerned for the children attending Marsh Fork Elementary. Naoma resident and Coal River Mountain Watch member Bo Webb said a sludge dam, which he says is leaking, is pointed right at the school. Because of this, the potential exists for a catastrophe.

Naoma resident Sarah Haltom shared Webb's opinion.

"If that dam were to fail, and there were children in this school, they would die. They would die," she said. "No one wants to admit there's a problem. But we don't want this here."

Some speakers were angered because they only had two minutes to speak at the hearing.

"Two minutes are not enough!" shouted Vernon Haltom of Coal River. "This will be with them for the rest of their lives. When you look at those children in the playground, tell me which little child is worth having this silo from Massey."

Webb said members and supporters of Coal River Mountain Watch will conduct a rally at 1 p.m. Tuesday near Marsh Fork Elementary, from where they will march to the entrance of Massey's property. There, they want to present a list of demands to a superintendent or higher official at the site.

This past Tuesday, a similar rally was conducted, and Bonds and Webb were cited for trespassing. According to State Police, the two were met by security officials but refused to leave until they could speak with a higher official and present their list of demands. Those demands included closing down the site near the school.

Webb hopes he will not be cited again.

"I hope it doesn't happen, and I have no plans of that," he said. "But we do plan to seek out a superintendent who will talk to us."