This article originally provided by WV Metro News

March 16, 2007

Protestors Arrested

The controversy over a coal silo and a Raleigh County elementary school reached into the governor's office Friday afternoon.

Capitol police officers arrested several protestors at the Governor's Reception Room after they refused to move away from a secured area of the room.

The residents say they are upset with a decision this week by the state Surface Mine Board that will allow a Massey Energy subsidiary to build a second coal silo 300-feet from Marsh Fork Elementary School.

Raleigh County resident Larry Gibson says state government has forgotten who they're supposed to protect -- the children. "What's the priority here? A silo, coal, profits? No more! No more profits!"

The battle over the construction of the silo has been going on for more than two years. Ed Wiley, whose granddaughter used to attend the school and walked to Washington, D.C. to protest the silo, says the battle isn't just about coal dust. It's about the chemicals that will go into the train cars if the silo is built. "There's anti-freeze being sprayed into these cars and this will cause serious problems to the children. And there's also a binding agent they spray on top of the train cars as they're being loaded out."

Gibson says let Massey build the silo; just build the children a new school away from the danger. "It's about a new school. It's not about moving the students to another school. We want a new school in the community where they live."

Wiley says as loud as they protest, they don't seem to get anywhere. He says that's because their elected leaders aren't willing to stand up for what's right. "All our representatives took a sworn oath to protect the people of West Virginia. I don't think there's a man or a woman in this capitol that will stand up and rock the boat and help our children at Marsh Fork Elementary."

The group marched to the governor's office to demand he order the construction of a new school.

The state DEP is appealing the Surface Mine Board's permit to circuit judge. The state agency originally denied the second silo, but the appeal board overturned the decision earlier this week.