A wreath and a list of the 29 miners who died at the Upper Big Branch disaster at the state coal miners' memorial on the first anniversary of the explosion. Photo: AP/Jeff Gentner

No amount of money will bring back the 29 men who died because of Massey Energy’s gross disregard for safety, but hopefully this will help their families start to feel a sense of justice.

According to the Charleston Gazette: “Alpha Natural Resources will spend $200 million on fines, victim restitution and mine safety improvements to resolve enforcement actions and some criminal matters arising from the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster.”

The NYT is reporting that it’s “the largest settlement ever in a government investigation of a mine disaster”.

This announcement comes a year and a half after the explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia on April 5, 2010, which killed 29 of 31 workers in the worst U.S. coal mine disaster in 40 years. The Mine Safety and Health Administration subsequently issued a report finding that “Massey’s corporate culture was the root cause of the tragedy” and fined the company $10.8 million, the largest fine in MSHA history.

What is especially notable about this settlement is that while Alpha Natural Resources is protected from future criminal charges, individual Massey executives are not.

For a more detailed analysis of the settlement, check out Coal Tattoo’s blog.

The delegation included West Virginia community members Lorelei Scarbro and Betty Harrah. Betty is the sister of Steven Harrah, one of the 29 coal miners killed in the Upper Big Branch mine disaster on April 5, 2010. Lorelei is the granddaughter, daughter, and widow of coal miners, and has family who currently work at the Upper Big Branch mine. Scarbro has been an advocate for the Coal River Mountain project, a campaign to stop mountaintop removal mining on Coal River mountain and instead install a 328-megawatt wind farm on its ridges.

Lorelei and Betty were joined by representatives from a coalition of public interest groups who are leading the call for Massey’s petition to be revoked, including RAN, Free Speech for People, Appalachian Voices and CREDO.

“Having a corporate charter is a privilege, not a right,” says Jeff Clements, Free Speech for People’s general counsel. “Delaware, as with other states, reserves the right to revoke or forfeit state corporate charters when they are abused or misused, as in cases of repeated unlawful conduct. Massey Energy has repeatedly demonstrated that it should not be entrusted with a corporation charter.”

General Biden’s office received the petition and responded that he will review the matter.

You can listen to the accompanying press conference here, including comments from Lorelei, Betty and Robert F.Kennedy Junior.

Addiction – noun \ə-ˈdik-shən, a-\: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful. (Merriam-Webster)

Citi has a problem. Despite renewing its vows in 2009 to tackle “Environmental and Social Risk Management,” including mountaintop removal coal mining, Citi is relapsing into fossil fuel addiction.

Last year, Citi raised more than $34 billion for the coal and oil industries, but raised less than two percent of that amount for companies developing renewable energy like wind and solar.

Dirty deals led by Citi last year included a $500 million bond issued by Transcanada, proponent of the Keystone XL pipeline. The $7 billion pipeline would carry crude oil strip-mined from Canada’s tar sands 1,800 miles south to the Gulf States for refining. The project would triple US oil imports from the tar sands and threaten the largest fresh-water aquifer in the world, while keeping the United States addicted to oil for many decades to come.

Citi also led the combination of Massey Energy and Alpha Natural Resources. At over $7 billion, the acquisition creates the largest mountaintop removal coal mining company in the country. MTR has devastated the Appalachian landscape and displaced hundreds of families from the region.

Other low points from 2010 include raising $1.3 billion for BP and Transocean — the companies responsible for the Gulf oil spill.

Citi needs to stop making excuses and denying that it has a problem. That’s why RAN is staging an intervention. Today, people around the world are making a difference in all of our futures by picking up the phone and calling a banker at Citi. This is no email petition, we’re actually putting our supporters on the phone with the bankers that need to know about Citi’s financing of fossil fuels so that they can help their company change course.

If you are a Citi employee reading this and want get in touch with RAN, please email answers@ran.org.

First off, we have to commend UBS and other banks for choosing to make environmental and social commitments public. Transparency is a critically necessary component of responsible banking, and UBS’ move to define certain “no go” activities also merits praise. By making these exclusions and its broader commitments public, UBS sets a good example for its industry peers.

That said, transparency doesn’t turn wrong into right. UBS still finances some of the most environmentally and socially irresponsible industries around, and we don’t expect these relatively weak commitments to change that fact.

Frankly, many of the commitments ring hollow. One wonders why it has taken so long for UBS to disavow financing illegal logging, for example. At the same time, illegal logging is so prevalent in the tropics, with more than half of tropical timber in international trade estimated to come from illegal sources, that UBS is going to have to greatly strengthen its due diligence procedures if civil society is going to have any confidence in this commitment. And that will require continuing to work closely with the civil society groups that have been raising these issues to make implementation credible.

UBS totally misses the mark on palm oil. Practically speaking, limiting financing to companies that are members “in good standing” with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil won’t limit financing at all. “Good standing” has more to do with paying membership fees than changing practices (more on that from Ashley’s November post). A proper palm oil policy would suspend financing of palm oil plantations linked to social conflict and environmental destruction.

UBS’ forest commitments also need to go farther. Avoiding clients severely damaging High Conservation Value Forests is, of course, a good thing. But I suspect we’d differ on which clients fall within that description. The commitment also needs to include high carbon value forests and peatlands, the destruction of which is a major contributor to climate change

On energy, the new UBS policy doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. On mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), the bank says “we need to be satisfied that the client is committed to reduce over time its exposure to this form of mining.” Back in November we called this commitment “a step in the right direction.” Then came Saturday’s announcement that industry heavyweight Alpha Natural Resources would acquire the notorious Massey Energy. And just one day after the policy announcement at UBS, guess who advised Massey on the deal? That’s right, UBS helped to create the largest single mountain top remover in the country, responsible for fully 25% of coal production from MTR mines. How’s that for due diligence!

So far, no word from UBS on what kind of linguistic gymnastics it took to squeeze that deal through its apparently worthless MTR policy. Prove us wrong!

Bill Barclay also contributed to this post.

On Saturday Alpha Natural Resources announced that it had bought out the company in a deal worth $8.5 billion.

That’s a high price for the stock – metallurgical coal looks lucrative to short-sighted investors as the competing Australian coal industry took a huge hit from the recent flooding.

The paradox here is that the more coal that we burn, the more extreme weather events, such as floods, we’ll have to endure, and that’s a terrible long-term investment choice.

That’s why we’re calling on the finance industry to get out of the coal game. No reputable bank should have anything to do with a company like Massey, or a company like Alpha. Citi and Morgan Stanley, two banks that guaranteed money to Alpha for the deal, are failing their responsibility and need calling to account.

A Massey sell off has seemed inevitable for months, especially following the departure of the “Dark Lord of Coal Country” Don Blankenship in December.

It remains to be seen what this sale will mean for the people who live and work in the coal-producing communities, who for years have endured extreme environmental devastation and worker safety violations. At a glance, it’s not looking great: the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward has the lowdown about Alpha’s dubious safety record.

So, farewell, Massey, soon you’ll be gone, like the mountains and lives you’ve destroyed. And what a legacy you leave: from violently busting unions, to poisoning countless families’ drinking water, from blowing away Appalachia’s mountains, to the deadliest US coal mining disaster in 40 years. We’ll have no fond memories of you.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Massey “has formed a committee to study a number of options. Those options could include a sale to a rival or a private-equity firm, acquiring another company or remaining independent.”

Standard & Poor (S&P) put Massey’s credit rating ‘on watch’ this Tuesday, in the uncertainty of this news. Massey’s credit has been rated at BB- (a junk bond rating) even before the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in April, when 29 Massey miners were killed.

We reported in August that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the company.

Massey CEO Don Blankenship, image from ABC

Here’s a guest post from “NY for Appalachia Rising”, who are calling for their state retirement fund to divest from Massey Energy:

What can you buy with $15 million dollars? A blog, for one. Banking blog Bankaholic sold for that amount to a company called PadContent in 2008. An email: 15 million was the quote in 2008 for a single email written by Sarah Palin while in state office. Not impressed? How about a Beverly Hills eco-mansion? Jennifer Anniston paid 15 million in 2006 for hers. As silly as these investments seem, they’re relatively harmless. You’d still rather see your money put toward any of them than toward 306,000 shares of Massey Energy, the anti-union employer of 29 miners murdered in an underground explosion last April and the company responsible for more mountaintop removal mining than any other coal operator. That 15 million makes up less than 1/100th of a percent of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s approximately 126 billion in assets. But the small percentage the shares represent does not diminish the sin of their holding. Recent articles have called for a charge of manslaughter for Don Blankenship, owner of Massey Energy, for the lives of the miners lost in the Upper Big Branch Mine. If there were a law – and maybe one day there will be – he would also be charged with the murder of hundreds of mountains.

Even one share held in a company as ethically bankrupt as Massey is too many. What then is 306,000? The value for a given commodity, like coal, can change overnight, but mountains should be forever and human lives are priceless. By divesting from Massey Energy, New York State could lead the way in a chain reaction of divestments that could lasso and take down the corrupt and dirty giant that is Massey Energy.

A coalition of New York mountaintop removal activists have come together to initiate a campaign asking New York State Common Retirement Fund to divest from Massey Energy. This divestment would be a tangible victory setting a precedent for environmentally and socially ethical investment in New York and beyond. While the organizers recognize that Massey is not the only environmentally destructive or ethically corrupt company in which NY State invests, it is arguably the worst. How about putting that $15 million toward a few hundred thousand shares in wind energy instead? An investment to ensure a good retirement should also be an investment in the future, not fuel to the fire of those who damn it.

You can sign their petition here

The art of the brand jam is something Rainforest Action Network has worked hard to perfect over the years. This month, we gave folks in the RAN community a shot at it themselves AND a chance to win tickets to our biggest benefit party of the year- REVEL.

We chose three dastardly corporations- Chevron, Massey and Cargill- to be donned with new brand-jammed taglines. The votes came in and the winners are…

Grand Prize: REVELATION ($2,020 value) 2 tickets to REVEL Sponsor Dinner, REVEL dance party with full bar, 2 commemorative RAN 25th Anniversary glasses, shots with the most fun people on RAN’s staff & a photobooth session with RAN luminaries

Winner: Branden Barber

1st Prize: REVEL Posse ($640 value) 4 tickets to REVEL dance party for you and your friends with full bar, 4 commemorative RAN 25th Anniversary glasses & 1 fabulous bottle of organic wine to share with your crew

Winner: Michael Klein

2nd Prize: REVEL Lovers ($320 value) 2 tickets to the REVEL dance party including full bar, 2 commemorative RAN 25th Anniversary glasses & 1 delicious bottle of organic wine to share with your date

Winner: Lopa Brunjes

Congratulations to all the winners of REVEL IN ACTION-can’t wait to party with you tonight!

Drills are seen outside the San Jose collapsed mine in Copiapo, Chile, Monday, Aug. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/ Roberto Candia)

33 miners are trapped deep in a gold and copper mine in Chile – they’ve been there for over three weeks and will likely stay trapped for at least another three.

I just read an absurdly upbeat story by the AP which appears meant to calm fears for safety of the trapped miners. The article describes the air in the mine as “breathable, if hot and stuffy” and “enough to last 17 days or more.” Of course, later in the article mining industry leaders estimate the amount of time it will take to rescue the miners at somewhere between 25 days to 4 months.

If there are no “rock-bursts,” “rock falls” or earthquakes while the miners are trapped underground, and the copper in the water that the miners can collect and drink doesn’t make them too sick, and the “90 degree Fahrenheit” temperature underground doesn’t cook them then they might have a chance for survival. I sure hope so. Too many lives have been lost to mining operations.

Instead of making me feel confident, however, reading this article makes me realize that all of the talk we hear in the news about “mine safety” is absurd. Underground mining is inherently dangerous and guaranteed to kill people. Perhaps Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, said it best when he stated that coal mining disasters are “oftentimes unavoidable.” Blankenship was referring to Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners earlier this year.

If coal mining disasters are unavoidable and mine safety is a joke, then shouldn’t we be re-thinking underground mining in the first place? I am keeping the 33 trapped miners in Chile in my thoughts and I hope they make it out of that mine alive. But I can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever see a day when people aren’t sent underground to risk their lives for metal, diamonds, or dirty coal or anything else deemed worth the sacrifice in our society.

Arch Paid Out These Politicos: DirtyEnergyMoney.org

Last week you may have heard about how International Coal Group is conspiring to pour money into three key election races in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Now you can track which of our elected representatives have already sold out to the coal industry, thanks to this DirtyEnergyMoney.org, a new online database from our friends at Oil Change International.

Just enter a politician’s name, coal company or a zipcode to follow the money trail from coal companies to Congress.

Q: Which politicians are taking money from mountaintop removal (MTR) coal companies?

A: Who’s not?

Arch Coal, recipients of the only new permit to create new MTR mines and valley fills since the EPA’s ‘tough’ new guidance was announced, has made financial contributions to more than 100 different Senators and Representatives. These contributions total more than $800,000 and include a substantial $40,300 check to Representative Shelly Capito (R, WV).

Patriot Coal, operators of the Hobet MTR mine complex, contributed almost $20,000 to Nick Rahall (D, WV). Rahall has also received monies from CONSOL and Arch.

Massey Energy has donated over $20,000, split between eight different politicians. The biggest Massey check went to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY), who also appears to be the politican most indebted to Big Coal and Oil. Since 1999, Mitch has received a whooping $1,147,558 campaign funding from these industries.

No surprises that McConnell is leading the attack on the EPA’s attempts to tighten regulations around mountaintop removal mining.

Visit DirtyEnergyMoney.org, enter your Congress members’ names and let us know how much dough they’ve gotten from ol’ King Coal in the Comments section below.

Two years ago no bank had a policy on coal mining, and Wall Street was providing finance and credit indiscriminately to the most destructive form of mining in the country. Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo have successively passed public policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.

The move comes as a response to more than three years of national pressure. In 2007, we began with a campaign focused on Bank of America, the lead financier of MTR coal mining companies at the time. We have gone on to work with all of the largest banks in the country to encourage the entire industry to shift its policies. These policies signal a sector-wide shift away from a mining practice that has become increasingly controversial and a move toward more environmentally conscious fossil fuels financing.

One of the major impacts of these mountaintop mining policies is that the banks are no longer financing Massey Energy. In particular, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the notorious company.

We took a tour of some local bank branches to say “Thank you!”,

'Spike' Maynard and Don Blankenship vacationing in the French Riviera

Earlier this year, the supreme court ruled in the “Citizens United” case that corporations can spend unlimited funds on candidate elections.

The coal industry is getting set to take advantage.

The Lexington Herald-Leader obtained a letter sent by Roger Nicholson, senior vice president International Coal Group to other coal companies proposing they pool their resources in some key election races. He writes:

“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard … a number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats.”

International Coal Group wants to target Democratic U.S. Reps. Ben Chandler of Kentucky and Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky. While all of these politicians consider themselves “pro-coal”, they are facing challenges from some real coal-industry lapdogs.

For example Jack Conway is running against Tea Party darling Rand Paul who last week declared his love for mountaintop removal mining with this soundbite: “We’re not talking about Mount Everest. We’re talking about these little knobby hills that are everywhere out here.”

Nick Rahall is facing a challenge from ‘Spike’ Maynard. If that name sounds familiar, then you may remember that Maynard came under intense criticism for casting the deciding vote in favor of setting aside a $76 million judgment against Massey Energy Company when it later emerged that Maynard was close friends with Massey’s CEO, Don Blankenship, and has vacationed in the French Rivera with him.

International Coal Group is the 5th biggest producer of MTR coal, mining more than 4.5 million tonnes in Appalachia in 2009. Like Massey, they have come under scrutiny for a poor safety record, 12 miners were killed in disaster at ICG’s Sago mine in 2006.

MARFORK, W.Va. – Protestors associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice have locked to and shut down a highwall miner on Coal River Mountain today. Colin Flood, 22, and Katie Huszcza, 21, are locked to the mining equipment on Massey Energy’s Bee Tree Surface Mine, near to the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment. Their banner states “Save Coal River Mountain” alongside images of ginseng, a morel, a deer and a bear.

The human rights activists locked down in order to bring attention to the many local resources that will be lost if blasting on Coal River Mountain continues. This destruction led the four protesters, including 22-year-old Jimmy Tobias and 20-year-old Sophie Kern, both of whom acted as direct support, to take part in the action. “These mountains are home to some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world and contain a variety of precious flora and fauna including edible and medicinal plants that can save lives, a wide array of extremely nutritious mushrooms, old growth forest and an abundance of deer and trout,” Huszcza said. “Coal River Mountain is priceless.”

Local resident Ed Wiley laments the loss of wildlife caused by the construction of the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment, built in what was once some of the densest, oldest forest on the mountain.

“You could look off through the woods there and see a big Mamma bear with three or four cubs,” he says “But now they go on in there and remove the timber, and then start removing the overburden, and Momma bears with their cubs don’t come out of their dens until about the end of May, so they’re getting buried alive.”

“When the timber is gone, when the topsoil is gone, when the air and water are destroyed, the less than 4 percent of our nation’s energy needs that mountaintop removal provides will be small consolation,” said Flood, one of the four protestors, “The coal companies and land companies are blasting this land, ruining its rivers and poisoning its people for the sake of flat screen TVs, pick-up trucks and profit margins.”

The activists are spotlighting dangers associated with the massive Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment, which is permitted to contain 8.2 billion gallons of toxic coal waste and estimates put the current level at seven billion gallons. Brushy Fork’s foundation is built on a honeycomb of abandoned underground mines. If the foundation were to collapse, as in Martin Co., Ky., the slurry would engulf communities as far as 14 miles away, according to Marfork Coal Co.’s emergency warning plan regarding the impoundment.

“The Brushy Fork sludge dam places the downstream communities in imminent danger. The threat of being inundated by a wall of toxic sludge is always present. Blasting next to this dam increases this risk at the same that it destroys the opportunity for renewable wind energy,” said Vernon Haltom, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch, in reference to the Coal River Wind Project.

“The protesters expect a long fight before blasting on Coal River Mountain stops and they remain committed to that fight,” said Tobias, one of the members of the support team. “This is a fight for the heart of Appalachia and the soul of America,” he said. “Land and freedom have always gone hand in hand. When you strip bare the land, you strip bare freedom. We won’t stop until the land is safe in the hands of those in the community who care for it.”

“It [the destruction of wilderness] makes mountaintop removal an act of treason,” Flood said.

Climate Ground Zero’s action campaign, begun in February of last year, has kept up a sustained series of direct actions since that time, continuing decades-long resistance to strip mining in Appalachia.

For West Virginia coal miner’s widow Lorelei Scarbro and leader with the Alliance for Appalachia, who has met numerous times with the EPA, the decision is nothing less than an act of betrayal to the Appalachian people. In a personal letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson yesterday, Scarbro wrote:

Dear Ms. Jackson:

I just finished reading what amounts to a green light by Region 3 EPA on the Pine Creek permit in Logan County, WV.  I have to say that this disturbs me.

I have been involved in the battle to stop, not regulate, mountaintop removal coal mining since the coal mine moved in next door to my home at the base of Coal River Mountain in Rock Creek, WV.

I watched my husband die of black lung after 35 years as an underground union coal miner.

I watch as people I love get sicker each day from contaminated water after raising their family in Prenter Hollow, WV.

On April 5 of this year I made phone calls to family and friends to make sure they made it home from work after the explosion at Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, WV.  And, I pray everyday that my 26 year old son-in-law (the father of my 2 grandchildren) gets to see the sun again after a long hard day underground in a Massey mine.

I have left my very peaceful home 3 miles up in Rock Creek and traveled to DC many times in the past 2 years to help the powers that be to really see the face of coal.  I hope that by telling the people on Capitol Hill how the decisions they make affect the lives of the people in the mountain communities they might begin to see us as valuable.  Too often we are treated like collateral damage or just the price of doing business.

I have been in many meetings with David Evans, Brian Fraizer and many others at EPA in DC and Region 3.  I have met with CEQ, OSMRE and many other regulatory agencies and countless numbers of Senators and Congressmen trying to make a difference.

I was on the call on April 1 when you released the guidance for conductivity levels and I was very excited when I heard you say “ You’re talking about no or very few valley fills that are going to be able to meet standards like this.” The release of this guidance and your words brought hope to many people that long ago lost it.

I have been very thankful for all of the steps this EPA has taken to improve life in the mountain communities of Appalachia, but I was heartbroken when I saw the decision on Pine Creek.  Although I live about 1 ½ hours from this area I stand with the citizens there and I fear that this is just the beginning of many more permit releases.  We believed you when you spoke about “zeroing out valley fills”.  Where I am from, sometimes all you have is your word.  People here have historically made life altering decisions on nothing more than a handshake and their  word.

I am a 54 year old widow of a coal miner and the most important thing to me is clean drinking water for my grandchildren.  I don’t believe that is possible if we continue to destroy and cover head water streams in Appalachia.  Once again, I have lost hope.  Please don’t let this be the final word on Pine Creek Surface Mine.

Thank you.

If you want to support them, please donate to the legal fund.

Magistrate Snodgrass of Boone County sets two $100,000 bails for non-violent protesters

Madison, W.Va. – EmmaKate Martin and Benjamin Bryant were arrested this morning while blockading the driveway to Massey Energy’s regional headquarters in Boone county, W.Va. Magistrate Snodgrass set their bails at $100,000 each for misdemeanor charges of trespassing, conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, obstructing an officer, and littering.

Nick Martin, EmmaKate’s older brother and participant in Climate Ground Zero’s campaign of civil resistance, stated “As I hugged my little sister following her arraignment this morning, I was awed by her calmness and high spirits. I admire her courage, and her willingness to put her freedom on the line for the well being of Appalachian communities and the environment. I will worry about her constantly until she is free. My sister is my hero!”

EmmaKate Martin was perched on a platform suspended in a tripod, a structure built with rope and three log poles, and Bryant was locked to the base of a pole. Both Martin and Bryant underwent extensive non-violence training prior to their action. Their banner read “Massey, Profits Before People & Mountains, Fight Back!”

They articulated their motives and the sense of responsibility that impelled them to act in an open letter to Massey shareholders and the American public. The letter can be read at www.climategroundzero.org/openletter. Among their top concerns are mountaintop removal and the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment on Coal River Mountain.

Climate Ground Zero’s legal team is researching the legality of the unprecedentedly high bail and will seek legal recourse.

“Boone county is not giving these bails to simply punish EmmaKate and Ben. Boone county, and the state of West Virginia, is using high bail as an intimidation tactic to deter others from standing up for the health of communities and against mountaintop removal and Massey’s mistreatment of workers,” stated Sarah Seeds veteran non-violent activist.

There is an emerging pattern of non-violent protesters receiving heavy-handed punishment while those who use violence against them are let off the hook. On July 4, 2009, on Kayford Mountain, Adam Pauley threatened to kill families who had gathered to celebrate Independence Day at the Mountain Keepers Festival. He was not arrested, but was given a $100 fine and six months unsupervised probation when found guilty of verbal assault in a February 2010 trial brought against him by Mountain Keeper Larry Gibson. Rock Creek resident, Ruth Tucker, slapped Judy Bonds, outspoken mountaintop removal abolitionist, at a non-violent protest on June 23, 2009. She was released on personal recognizance and given a $100 fine six months after the fact. Climate Ground Zero activist, Jacqueline Quimby was recently sentenced to sixty days in jail for an act of non-violent civil disobedience at a Kanawha County mine site.

Marsh Fork Elementary School, will be moved to a safer location. West Virginia Governor Manchin held a press conference on Friday to announce that funding has been secured for the move.

This announcement follows a six year campaign to get the school relocated from its current site, adjacent to a coal silo constructed by Massey Energy, and sitting at the foot of the company’s mountain top pond that holds back hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic coal slurry.

Congratulations to all who have fought hard for this victory, including Ed Wiley, grandfather of a Marsh Fork student, who walked all the way from Charleston WV, to Washington DC in 2006 asking state and federal officials to intervene and relocate the elementary school.

There’s a good summary of the campaign here on “It’s Getting Hot In Here”

Illustration by Ian Murphy

In the search for answers, much attention is focusing on the mining company that owns Big Branch, Massey Energy and Massey’s outspoken CEO, Don Blankenship.

Yesterday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who also served at the helm of the United Mine Workers of America for 13 years, commented: “Those miners died because Massey Energy cares more about a lump of coal than human lives”.
Mr. Blankenship has made no secret of his contempt for both environmental and safety regulations, blaming them each for interfering with his company’s ability to mine coal as cheaply as possible.

Photo via WV Gazette

When I think of Don, the first image that comes to my mind is of his bold posturing last year on Labor Day. Dressed in a ‘stars and stripes’ shirt, while posing in front of the US flag, he mocked local elected officials who attempt to ensure miner safety, calling their efforts “as silly as global warming”.

He has eagerly positioned himself as the ‘spokesperson’ for the mountaintop removal mining industry and consistently works to block a future that all Appalachian’s can benefit from: development of renewable energy and preservation of mountain heritage.

From his twitter feed:

“America doesn’t need Green jobs — but Red, White, & Blue ones.”

How cruelly ironic that Don Blankenship invokes the imagery of American patriotism, while setting the scene for two of the greatest American tragedies: the tragedy of disregarding his workers’ safety and the tragedy of mountaintop removal mining.

The school is adjacent to a coal silo constructed by Massey Energy, and sits at the foot of the company’s mountain top pond that holds back hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic coal slurry.

Well, this week, Massey Energy pledged $1 million to help the school relocate. Here’s a response to that news from West Virginia’s Senator Robert Byrd:

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., today said he welcomed as a “good start” the announcement by Massey Energy that they are pledging $1 million toward the construction of a new $8.6 million Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County.

Byrd last October blasted Massey Energy officials for their refusal to provide assistance to efforts to replace the existing Marsh Fork Elementary School because of potential health and safety concerns.

“This is a welcome and good start by officials at Massey Energy in announcing their pledge of $1 million for the construction of a new $8.6 million Marsh Fork Elementary School,” said Byrd.

“As Massey Energy moves to acquire Cumberland Resources through a stock offering, and helps pay for mountain top mining music concerts, I would hope that they will continue to keep the welfare of the young students at Marsh Fork Elementary in their hearts and in their minds. These children are our future and it is my hope that all the necessary funds will be made available to construct a relocated Marsh Fork Elementary School soon,” Byrd added.

I agree with Senator Byrd, this is a welcome start.

Now that Massey have acknowledged that is inappropriate for children to have to live amongst mountaintop removal mine sites I hope that they will apply this thinking holistically and end their participation in this filthy practice once and for all.

We had the great fortune of meeting with four equally impressive people in the area.  Each works with a different non-profit group that is fighting to stop this insane large scale devastation.  Mike Roselle from Climate Ground Zero talked about the campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience work that this new and emerging organization is doing where local and non-local volunteers are putting themselves at great risk for trying to stop MTR.  Mike is great.  He is truly a leader in the national and international environmental movement.  I know I want him on my side to stand up for a worthy cause.  It’s tough work, but thanks to Mike and the people at Climate Ground Zero, they’re bringing national attention to this horrid practice of MTR.

Mike Roselle (at right)

Judy Bonds from Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW) comes from a family that has lived in Coal River Valley for 10 generations.  She clearly and powerfully talked to us about the rich history and culture of the people there and the mountains they live in.  But now, medicinal herbs such as ginseng, black cohosh and goldenseal are disappearing due to MTR.  Wild boars are almost extinct and the survival of 150 species of trees is being threatened.  People are being forced to move from their homes where they have lived for generations.  Where people were once connected to their land, they are now getting denied their culture.  It’s becoming a cultural genocide.  Gratefully, Judy and CRMW are both working to stop this environmental and cultural destruction and doing what they can to save and rebuild their communities.

Judy Bonds

Maria Gunnoe from Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) has family roots in the region dating back to the early 1800s.  She still lives on her family land, even though mountaintops around her have disappeared and the polluted river running by her house has flooded many times due to the lack of vegetation.

Maria Gunnoe

She took us on a tour of the area where we saw yet another town, Lindytown, turning into a deserted and destroyed ghost town because Massey Coal is taking over.  We heard about the polluted rivers and polluted air and the fact that more people including young children are getting cancer and dying from the toxins.  We heard about all the violence coming from Massey Coal to the local people there who are standing up against MTR.  Death threats, homes burned, dogs poisoned and delivered to bus stops for children to see, horses poisoned, verbal harassments, conflicts in stores, and attempts to run cars off the road are all now happening.  Are these acts necessary?  Is this really America?  This is very hard for me to understand.  It saddens and angers me to hear such stories.  I respect Maria and her values and thank her and OVEC for speaking up and educating communities about the environmental dangers of MTR.

Larry Gibson - Keeper of Kayford Mountain

Larry Gibson from Keeper of the Mountains Foundation is an impressive man who is also standing up against MTR.  His family has lived on or near Kayford Mountain since the late 1700s.  We walked a very short distance from his home there to the edge of one of the coal strip mining projects.  We looked down to see a 12,000 acre flattened gravel yard…an area that was once Kayford Mountain.  No picture can adequately convey what I saw and what it must feel like to live in an area that was once a beautiful, rich and secluded mountain, but has now been turned into a massive, ugly and barren open-pit dirt yard.  It’s mind boggling.  It’s beyond destructive.  It’s beyond unconsciousness.  Larry isn’t a brave man, he’s just a man standing up and speaking up for what is right.  And it’s right to save the mountains, preserve the values of the mountain culture and stop coal strip mining from destroying the history of these people and the glory of these mountains.  Many thanks to Larry for risking his life and telling his unbelievably sad story.

From above the destruction is extreme

It was a pleasure and honor to meet such passionate, concerned, authentic and caring people.  Against personal threats and other acts of hate crimes, these people are standing up not only for their land, culture, heritage, families, health and lives, but they are standing up for the health of the planet by dealing with the serious problem of coal contributing to climate change.  They all need support in whatever ways we can give them.  For information on the above non-profits and how to help, visit:

www.climategroundzero.org
www.crmw.net
www.ohvec.org
www.mountainkeeper.org

Finally, many thanks to Rainforest Action Network (RAN) for allowing me to join them on this valuable yet difficult trip.  RAN is a phenomenal non-profit group that affectively takes aggressive action to protect environments throughout the entire world.  RAN is supporting these groups in WV by actively fighting for a coal-free energy future.  According to Judy Bonds, RAN’s corporate campaigns to stop major banks from funding coal, logging, and tar sands are making a big difference.  RAN is also offering training, fundraising support and general advice to these smaller WV groups.

For everyone involved in standing up against MTR….I deeply thank you.

Sue Thompson
Boulder, CO

And just last year I saw her accept a Goldman Environmental Prize for her efforts as an organizer working to save the mountains and the communities she’s from and committed to. As a result of efforts and this attention Maria is gaining some notoriety, and with it there are pros and cons. On the one hand the issue is certainly gaining awareness which is critical if we are going to then raise the consciousness that will lead to an end to this terrible, destructive assault – on the other, those that support Coal (or more likely, the few that benefit the most from it) see Maria as more of a strident agitator than ever.

She’s an 8^th generation “mountain holler girl” who lives where her forebears made their home. She’s encircled by mountains – or their remains – and is just at the back of the town of Bobwhite, West Virginia. She has a teenage son and daughter, and a bunch of baby kittens, and two dogs – one her pet, the other for security.

One of Maria's new kittens

There is also a big, shiny chain link fence around her house. You don’t see many of these in this part of the world. This is for protection – something most folks here don’t need as much as Maria and her family does, though there are several who can very much relate to this necessity.

There used to be two mountains here in front of Maria's house

But it hasn’t always been this way. Only since the death threats, the killing of her daughter’s dog that she raised from a pup delivered to her school bus stop, the trucks trying to run her off the road, and more. Recently the coal trains that pass by her house have photographers at the back, cameras pointed her way.

Maria is one of many West Virginians who has deep roots in this part of the world. The old barn has GUNNOE painted on the side – her grandfather built the barn and her Brother painted on the name. And she and her forebears were baptized in the river that runs nearby – though now the water is polluted with chemical waste, part of the “coal washing” process, so the baptisms take place in the church.

The incidence of cancer is on the rise, and given that the water tests show the presence of the same chemicals that you get from processing coal, it’s obvious there is a link between the two. And this link is killing people.

And it was when the mountains around her home began to disappear, when the flooding started as a direct result of the valley fill behind her house, when what were the Twin mountains in front of her home became one mountain, and the frogs disappeared – these were all some of the signs that the coal companies were damaging her world, and she stood up to them.

Maria isn’t one to run from a fight, and she’s not backing down from this one.

“The people around me are my friends, I’m not so worried about them. It’s the ones who come from outside to work for Massey – they’re the ones who are causing us all trouble.”

Lindytown and Twilight from Above - this gives you some idea of where and how big this is

Maria took us to visit her friend, Laura Webb, after driving us through the remains of Lindytown and Twilight – the latest community that Massey has been intimidating and buying out in an effort to depopulate what stands in the way of cheap, easy coal. Laura was one of the last to agree to a buyout – and there wasn’t much reason to stay. Her neighbors had all moved away. The coal operations around her home were literally right above her – and across from her – and behind her. There was no safe place for her or her family anymore here.

The view from Laura's front yard - one of two MTR sites and the entrance to the Twilight Mine

And even after she signed the agreement to sell her property, she was given more messages to get out. One day a truck drove up and a man on the back used a boom to pull down her phone and power lines.

And in an example of how cruel the actors behind the intimidation are, while she was out looking for a place to move her mobile home, her horse was poisoned – she returned home to find it lying on its side in distress, its water trough empty and overturned.

“I stayed up all night with him, but there was nothing I could do to save him.”

Laura Webb was intimidated by Massey Coal

When I saw her she was two days over the agreement date and had a bunch of belongings as well as her house that needed to be moved. Massey could come along at any time and claim whatever is there, even have her arrested for trespassing. For some reason – small blessings – she hadn’t been bothered further as she scrambled to get out of what’s left of her town.

We wished Laura and her family well and Maria then took us up a rough road into the holler. We were going to visit one of three ancient cemeteries that were under threat from mining.

(CGZ blog post http://climategroundzero.org/2009/08/protecting-the-cook-family-cemeteries/)

The company builds fences and erects gates, using public safety as the justification for keeping people out of what had once been their common ground. In fact, for people to now visit any of these burial grounds, if they want to go lay some flowers on their grandparents’ grave or visit an ancestor’s final resting place, they must first undertake a safety training course (on their own dime), engage a company security guard to escort them (on their own dime), and wear hard hats and steel-toed boots which they must provide for themselves.

The cemetery we were heading for today was not available for visitation anymore and its future was in serious doubt. By law the company must provide a 100-ft buffer around such areas, but when Maria and others marked that off they found that their makers had been moved further inwards.

We made it up some treacherous road only to find that the company had moved the line once again, and before we could get to the site we had to turn around or risk arrest and the impoundment of Maria’s jeep. Something she said was assured and not something she could afford. So we turned around.

She took us through what was left of Lindytown – rows of empty houses, many of which had been looted and vandalized. Maria asserts that the coal company, Massey, that purchased the properties, opened up the materials to employees if “there was anything they would find useful.

Lindytown home that was vandalized

She showed us where less than a year ago children played and families made their home. She showed us where a woman died of a heart attack on the very day she was set to move from her home – her only home, where she had been born. She showed us the failed union hall – a sad statement in an industry-controlled area where unions have no presence, where workers get paid low wages and receive no benefits.

Used to be an underground coal mine would support up to 500 miners – which was good for the community, good for families, and better for the mountains. Non-union MTR employs as few as 19 miners per operation, and once the mountain has been dropped 800 or so feet, the operation closes up and moves on to the next site.

Maria then took us back to her house, passing a “We Support Coal” sign on the local grocery – a business she says serves many more miners than it does locals. Most locals aren’t coal supporters – most locals don’t work the mines. Most locals are suffering from poverty, poisoned water, and constant blasting and would be happy to see King Coal unseated. Maria has many friends locally.

Bob White Grocery - "We Support Coal"

Sometimes she gets chased by mine company employees trying to keep her from making her rounds of visiting sites and people affected by coal mining, and working to protect what’s under threat. She’s had to stop in at friends to switch cars so many times to throw off pursuit she can’t count how many its been. So far she’s been lucky – but she’s afraid of what would happen if she got caught out where there were no witnesses, where she was alone. But she doesn’t dwell on it.

Maria is a bright spirit who has a smile for everyone she meets. She’s gregarious and friendly and she tends to elicit smiles even from the coal miners she comes across at the gas station or convenience stores. Once at the grocery store a Massey employee, dressed in his work uniform, called out above the shoppers to affirm, “I work for Massey and I support Maria Gunnoe 110%!”

These are the kinds of things that show her that this battle can be won. Appalachia can support all sorts of economies, all kinds of industry, from tourism to herbalism to alternative energy. But it’s not going to happen until our government stops issuing the permits that allow the destruction to continue. It’s not going to happen until the Appalachian Restoration Act is made into law.

And it’s not going to happen while Don Blankenship and his ilk continue to hold sway in matters of politics and law enforcement in West Virginia.

But the day is coming when the blasting will stop and the mountains will be peaceful again. That day must come – and soon. The mountains can survive only so long while this assault continues with the support of State and Federal government.

You can find out more about Maria from this Google search, or by visiting the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition site.