This article originally provided by the Register-Herald

June 9, 2005

Environmental groups report vandalism, harassment

By Amelia A. Pridemore/Register-Herald Reporter

Hillary Hosta says that if people do not share her opinions, they are more than welcome to sit down with her and have a glass of tea and civil discussion.

However, someone who did not share her opinions may have broken out a truck window at her house Wednesday morning. Local environmental groups believe their protests against a Massey Energy facility beside Marsh Fork Elementary in Sundial have led to this.

At 4:30 a.m., Hosta said, someone bashed out the window of a housemate's truck while she and others were up making T-shirts. She said she heard a crash and someone peeling out of her driveway. During the past month, several people have driven by honking their horns and yelling profanity.

West Virginia State Police Capt. S.F. Van Meter said he received a vandalism and harassment complaint from the environmentalists and forwarded it to the State Police's Whitesville detachment. No officers from Whitesville were available Wednesday.

Hosta and her five housemates are a part of the Sustainable Coalfield Project, which she said is designed to promote the economic and environmental concerns of those living in coalfield areas. She is one of six people who have set up shop in a Naoma area house. This is a part of the Mountain Justice Summer environmental movement, which has taken part in protests against and raising awareness of mountaintop removal in West Virginia and several other states.

Recently, Mountain Justice Summer has worked with the local Coal River Mountain Watch Organization. CRMW has conducted protests against the Massey-owned Goals Coal Co., a facility CRMW wants shut down because of its close proximity to Marsh Fork Elementary. Relatives of children attending the school say their children repeatedly come home sick because of it.

Sixteen people were arrested for trespassing at a May 31 protest and two were arrested at a May 24 protest at the facility.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is considering Massey's application to build a second coal loading silo at this facility. A silo already there is 150 feet away from the school.

Julia Bonds of Coal River Mountain Watch said those in the Sustainable Coalfield Project have shrugged off most incidents in the past, which also include stealing signs and paintballs on windows. However, after the window bashing, she believes they need to document incidents with the police.

"They've got to go to the police," she said. "This has got to stop."

Hosta, a Washington, D.C., resident, said the Sustainable Coalfield Project's house is one that means no harm to the Coal River Valley community. In fact, she and others there provide training on nonviolence and cultural sensitivity and provide community services such as litter cleanup and listening to the concerns of residents.

Most Coal River Valley residents have been extremely friendly and welcoming, she said. Many have welcomed her and others into their homes, and some have brought cakes and a freezer full of meat to their doorsteps.

Hosta wanted to emphasize she is not against Massey doing business -- as long as it is done responsibly and not near an elementary school. She is also concerned with the air quality and blasting from mountaintop removal and how it may hurt residents.