This article originally provided by The Register-Herald

June 1, 2005

16 arrested at Massey site

Amelia A. Pridemore/Register-Herald Reporter

Rock Creek resident Debbie Jarrell says her granddaughter is constantly sick, and that the Massey Energy facility next to the child's school is at fault.

"This needs to stop. This needs to stop," she said. "They're killing us, they're killing our children and they're killing our community."

Jarrell, 82-year-old great-grandmother Inez Gallimore and 14 others were arrested for trespassing on Massey property Tuesday during a second protest against the facility. Jarrell waved her handcuffed wrists in the air as she was taken to a police van.

State Police Capt. S.F. VanMeter said those arrested were not violent or destructive. He said they walked onto Massey's property, where Massey officials advised they were not wanted. They were arrested without incident when they refused to leave the property.

Bo Webb, a member of the local Coal River Mountain Watch, said the protesters were trying to deliver a list of demands to someone in charge of the facility -- a list that included shutting it down. He estimated at least 175 people came to protest, with 60-70 of them being locals.

For a second time, residents of the Coal River Valley, Coal River Mountain Watch members and activists from the Mountain Justice Summer nationwide movement protested against the Massey Energy facility. Their ultimate goal is to see the facility completely shut down. According to a release from Coal River Mountain Watch member Julia Bonds, the facility includes a coal preparation plant, loading silo and coal sludge impoundment above Marsh Fork Elementary. Also, a mountaintop removal site is situated directly above the sludge dam.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is considering Massey's application to construct a second loading silo on the property. Last Thursday, about 50 speakers spoke out against the silo application and over the renewal of Massey's permit to operate the impoundment.

Bonds, a Rock Creek resident, was pleased because Tuesday's turnout included more locals. She believed the rally was an empowering one -- not just for her but for everyone attending.

"I want to be the one that delivers the shutdown orders," she said.

Knoxville, Tenn., resident Amanda Womac of Mountain Justice Summer called the arrests an act of solidarity. "The folks of this community are telling Massey they are no longer welcome here to destroy their community and their children."

Those arrested were Amy Wendell, 30, Asheville, N.C.; Inez Gallimore, 82, Naoma; Patricia Feeney, 22, Chelsea, Ala.; Mary O'Farrell, 56, Charleston; Janice Nease, 68, Poca; Debra Jarrell, 46, Rock Creek; Constance Sisk, 19, Naoma; Jordan Freeman, 21, Naoma; Brian Bernhardt, 22, Annandale, Va.; Katie Clark, 20, Annandale, Va.; Larry Gibson, 59, Dawes; Zach Noel, 22, Florida, Mass.; Shane Andrews, no age available, Raleigh, N.C.; John Johnson, 34, Knoxville, Tenn.; Abigail Singer, 25, Knoxville, Tenn.; Robert Russo, 23, Asheville, N.C.

Protesters picket Massey Coal near Marsh Fork while state troopers are on site to keep the peace. (C.L. Garvin/The Register-Herald)