Massey Cited for Blasting on Coal River Mountain
So we’re in the midst of a campaign to save Coal River Mountain and end mountaintop removal.
About two weeks ago, on a Nation Day of Action to End Mountaintop Removal, dozens of actions happened around the country targeting the EPA, coal financier JP Morgan Chase and other political,utility and regulatory pillars of mountaintop removal.
Last week (and continuing into this week), over 63,000 people have taken online action calling the signatories of last June’s Memo of Understanding on the regulation of mountaintop removal to stop the blasting at Coal River Mountain.
NOW while we have been advocating, protesting, sitting-in, calling and emailing to stop the blasting on Coal River Mountain, it turns out the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection actually took some steps and did their job. Last week, they cited Massey Energy for using TOO large a load of explosives on Coal River Mountain.
Ken Ward reports: “But last week, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection quietly cited Massey subsidiary Marfork Coal Co. for using too large a load of explosives in its blasting operations at Bee Tree.“
Ummm Bee Tree is the site next to the Brushy Fork impoundment, is it not? And that impoundment holds back billions of gallons of coal sludge. If the dam were to burst, it would flood the Coal River Valley and estimated deaths are as high as 1000 (Massey’s own numbers). Now we find out that Massey is using too large of explosive loads. It’s criminal and immoral what’s going on there (and throughout the rest of Appalachia).
If nothing, this is a sign we need more action on this issue.
8 Responses to “Massey Cited for Blasting on Coal River Mountain”
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November 19th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Wow. I thought it spoke low enough of their feelings towards the residents whose lives are endangered by this dam, that they would even blast in the area at all- and now they’re using more explosives there than they’re legally allowed to? This only goes to support my belief that the coal company believes Appalachian citizens are expendable.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Waging war against the Earth by blasting mountains into smithereens is the real crime against nature. Stop the atrocity and bring the Big Coal criminals to justice! now!
STOP ECOCIDE!
November 20th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Don’t mistake my intent, I hate mountaintop removal as much as anyone, but Massey Coal is a company with stockholders that expect return on their investment – this the good old American (capitalist) way. The company has no morals except to make a return for their investors. They will use any mechanism they can to do this. MTR is the most cost effective way for them to turn a profit in the safest way (and to hell with the mountains.) Until congress shifts into high gear about the energy situation coal will be mined, processed, transported, burned, and the dirty residue hidden somewhere. We MUST push for alternatives HARD where ever and whenever possible. Coal is touted as being cheapest energy source, but I’d like to see figures on the total cost of a ton of coal including locating, purchasing, engineering, extraction, processing, hiding the sludge, dealing with spills, transporting, burning, dealing with waste and cleanup. My guess is the cost of coal is 2-3 times what big coal claims. Compare this to the one time cost of a wind or solar instalation and the permanent jobs these alternatives produce.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
ANY BLASTING IS “TO BIG A CHARGE” GIVE ME A BREAK, WE ARE NOT STUPID…THIS HAS GOT TO STOP…
November 21st, 2009 at 9:06 am
To bad people have quit caring about the planet that sustains thier miserable lives. The falling percentage of people who believe in global warming is a direct result of dirty energy companies ability to drag on the fight endlessly! free and fair elections is the only hope for this country and world, we need to get special interest money out of the election process!
November 21st, 2009 at 11:38 am
I just wanted to add that I came back here to get some information, and one of my nephews and my niece came by and saw the picture. They live a few hours out of where I live, but they visit us in the hills, often. Another nephew who was out of the room, wants to come live in the mountains when he’s 18. The two who looked at the image asked, “What’s that?” I told them it was once a mountain. They both said they hated it (MTR), and it destroyed the place’s natural beauty. About a year or two ago, my niece went by an MTR site and said, “That is stupid!” Or maybe she said “They’re stupid.” I can’t recall for certain. Then she asked me, “Why would they do that?” I told her a bit about the reasons and how there were much better alternatives. She turned 11 less than a month ago, so she would have been 9 or 10 at that time and she had more sense than a lot of adults that I knew. These are the people who will inherit the earth when we are dead, and many of them aren’t pleased with this.
November 21st, 2009 at 3:37 pm
We must work as a world community to stop global warming or we will lose. Barbara H.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:17 am
I believe that mountain top mining is the worst of all environmental crimes