This news story originally provided by The Herald Dispatch

October 21, 2005

Marchers protest coal industry

By Scott Wartman
The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- As a convention for coal prep operators concluded Thursday afternoon in Huntington, 35 people marched outside to rally against pollution and environmental hazards posed by the coal industry.

The marchers included a survivor of the Buffalo Creek coal impoundment dam collapse in 1972 and a grandfather of a child who attends Marsh Fork Elementary located in the shadow of a coal preparatory plant and impoundment in Raleigh County.

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) and anti-mountain top removal group Mountain Justice helped organize the rally along 3rd Avenue in front of the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. The marchers filed up 8th Street and in front of the Army Corps of Engineers. The groups also had organized a candlelight vigil outside the arena Wednesday evening.

Concerned residents needed to make a statement during the Coal Quality Expo 2005 at the arena Wednesday and Thursday, said Janet Keating, co-director of the OVEC.

Many of the marchers ostensibly expressed concern over Marsh Fork Elementary. Parents of children at the school and residents have had concerns over the potential health hazards posed by the coal impoundment located about 400 yards from the school.

"We are trying to draw attention to Marsh Fork," Keating said. "A lot of people don't realize the unintended consequences of mining coal."

One of the marchers, Ed Wiley, said his granddaughter and many of her classmates at Marsh Fork Elementary have fallen ill from going to class so near the coal plant and impoundment operated by Massey Energy.

Wiley staged a 'sit in' on the steps of the state Capitol to plea for Gov. Joe Manchin's help. Wiley said his campaign to make coal operations safer began after he picked his daughter up three consecutive days at school after she and many others repeatedly fell ill.

"The health of those children are at risk," Wiley said before he began the march on Sunday.

Another marcher, Patty Adkins, said she learned of the dangers coal mining poses at the age of 11 when her hometown was devastated by the coal impoundment dam collapse at Buffalo Creek in 1972. Her family survived, but the devastation remains fresh in her mind.

"That is the reason I am doing this now," Adkins said during the march. "Those corporations don't care. They don't care about people's lives. They only care about profit."