Coal River Valley Residents Declare State of Emergency, Seven Arrested in Sit-In

[A local]

Stop the Stupidity wrote:

<quoted text>
Well since you are such a religous person, then you must study the Bible and know that this world isn't going to be here forever and that God gave us the earth to use. To you believe that this world is exactly as it was when He created it?
And what happens when a seem of coal ignites underground and burns for years, like on Rock Creek/Horse Creek mountain. No trees grow there. Oh No!!.... The burning trees may release toxins!!! Help the children. Hmmm guess I better protest God, maybe he can pay for the medical bills and dust in my house.

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TRYING TO MAKE THE CASE THAT GOD WOULD APPROVE OF MTR!!!???? You have gotta be out of your mind to even suggest such a thing! Stewards of the Earth, my dear. MTR IS NOTHING BUT A MANIFESTATION OF CORPORATE GREED. It wouldn't even exist if i wasn't so profitable to employ less men and simply use more machines and bombs. MTR workers are mining themselves right out of a job and right out of everything else for every single one of us. It ain't right and you know it, you just have to admit it.

[jimmy]

I dont have to post my thoughts here just whatever a mr local says i agree.He or she has it down pat.They tell it like it is.Good job a local

[gog]

M T R = safe, cost effective, productive, makes unusable land available for state growth the list goes on and on heheheheh

[NewGene]

The locals who support Massey are ignorant.UMWA

[Stop the Stupidity]

A local wrote:

<quoted text>
Not going to tell us who you are huh? I didn't thinks so. Personally, I don't care who you are, but you better be willing to tell us your name if you want others to do the same. That finger points both ways. You can still tell us anytime that you like.
Which demonstration are you talking about? There have been a lot over the years. Not that any of that matters either because whether or not I was there still doesn't change the fact that I, too, am local and I, too, know people and I, as well as them, am against Mountaintop Removal.
I will tell you this, I have yet to meet anyone who supports MTR that doesn't profit from it in some way. You either work on a MTR site, your spouse works on one, or someone in your family does. Tell me I am wrong.
Well, I think standing for something that ends up poisoning people in numerous ways just because you get a check to do so is despicable. I'll say again: GET IT UNDERGROUND or do something else. You don't like that, then you are the one who should move and stop destroying/stop supporting the destruction of our home place so that you can get paid or profit or get those angry feelings about somebody picking on your cousin out of your system. Wise up, wake up, grow up. You have already admitted you know MTR is a problem. You know it. You should be helping to figure out something else so that our communities and our families will still be here in 20 years.
I tell you what. You better hope to God that dam don't break that they are blasting on right on Coal River Mountain. The coal companies own inspector estimated that if it breaks it will kill almost 1,000 people. A 40-50 wave of toxic sludge (9 BILLION GALLONS!) bouncing of the mountains spreading all through the valley in every direction. A WAVE OF DEATH . And the first thing it is going to hit it Pettus Elementary/Police Station. And it could happen any day now that the blasting has started. Think about that for a while.
Now tell me you support the blasting. You okay with that? You want that on your conscious? You want to be known as someone who supported the blasting. That is horrendous.
Let us both pray that doesn't happen, but if it does I wouldn't you on judgment day or live with that on my mind. You won't be able to say you didn't know. If you are still alive, that is. I guess that would all depend on just how local you really are wouldn't it.

Well you are wrong. I am a wife and daughter of underground miners. Mother of three children whom attend MFE. Oh and I went to school there too.

[jimmy]

If you are wife and daughter of underground miners which i believe you are I would think you would be Against this method of mtn top mining that is quickly working your underground husband and relatives outta there jobs..maybee The protesters are doing what the underground miners should be doing. I agree with mr local on saying ive never saw anyone or met anyone that supports mtn top mining unless theres a profit in it for them such as husband or relatives working mtn top mining,Not being mean here just my thoughts.Its your right to believe what you believe. Take care.

[Stop the Stupidity]

There is coal close to the surface that cannot be mined using the conventional method. Coal will also continue to be deep mined. MTR isn't used for all coal extraction. The environmentalist are against all coal. The silo at Goals that they are protesting also acccomidates coal from the Parker Peerless underground mine. And the Marfork operation has 9 different underground mines. A long wall operation just went into Performance and another is scheduled to be installed. Longwalls need less men than bolt method. No matter how coal is mined, with tech. less men are going to be needed. At least it's continueing and the fossil fuel can be used. The environmentalist want to cease all coal production.

[jimmy]

few protesters are against all coal but most of them here is only against stripping.

[Tremere]

Many in my family were, and are, underground miners. Our family has been in mining for generations. I was a steelworker, as was my father and uncle. I lived in the area in my youth, and I remember what the land looked like when the coal was stripped, which is not much different from MTR.
It was ugly, no one wanted to live there. The runoff ruined the rivers and streams for miles, and the erosion of the land was devestating.
It wasn't until it was stopped, and the companies were forced to replace the topsoil and replant, that the land returned to something resembling what it was before. And that took years!
I'm not against mining or coal, in fact I think it is very much neede as a bridge to get us where we need to be, which is energy independent.
However, if the MTR is allowed to continue uncontrolled, as it is now, we will return to the fifties and sixties, when the land was bleak, and nothing would grow.
So, don't tell me that I don't care about poeple, or thier jobs! I do, however, care about hte future of West Virginia. How many people will want to come to "Wild, Wonderful, Beautiful" West Virginia to look at the giant dirt piles that will be left behind, do you think?
Think about the future of your state, and not about just your pocket.

[A local]

Stop the Stupidity wrote:

<quoted text>
Well you are wrong. I am a wife and daughter of underground miners. Mother of three children whom attend MFE. Oh and I went to school there too.

Well, I am not against underground mining. All the miners in my family were and are underground. We have a few things in common. I went there too before it was an Elementary school and before the silo was there. I graduated from MFHS. I have kids there too and cannot say anything publicly because I don't want my kids to be treated any differently. I am excited they are talking about a new elementary school, but I am afraid they are going to put it on an old MTR site, since they are talking about Massey considering land for it. I got a feeling that is what they are going to do and that would be a mistake. After reading about that prison in KY that they call SINK SINK I don't think that would be a good idea. I read that it sinks and average of 2 inches a year. The foundation is all messed up and they have all kinds of other problems because the land is not fit to use post-mined.

[A local]

NewGene wrote:

The locals who support Massey are ignorant.UMWA

Agreed. Massey don't give a damn about none of ya. They'll use you just like they have everyone that has ever worked for them. When they're done with ya, they will toss your ass out and not give 2 hoots. Yall better study your history when it comes to Massey. You need to know what kind of company you are working for and what to expect. There is no promise of a job or career with Massey. I would be worried about my paycheck too even more if I worked for them because they could just cut you loose tomorrow for no reason.

Here is a good video to watch about the 1984 strike in Blackberry Creek.

http://appalshop.org/film/minewar/stream.html

[A local]

jimmy wrote:

few protesters are against all coal but most of them here is only against stripping.

Thats what I gather.

[A local]

Stop the Stupidity wrote:

The environmentalist are against all coal. The silo at Goals that they are protesting also acccomidates coal from the Parker Peerless underground mine. And the Marfork operation has 9 different underground mines. A long wall operation just went into Performance and another is scheduled to be installed. Longwalls need less men than bolt method. No matter how coal is mined, with tech. less men are going to be needed. At least it's continueing and the fossil fuel can be used. The environmentalist want to cease all coal production.

When people say they are no coal they mean that they are against using coal as an energy source because of climate change. Energy can be produced many different ways. And in WV we can do a lot of them. It don't matter if people are no coal for energy because coal going to be mined as long as the world needs steel. That is just a fact. So being no coal is not the end of coal mining. I am NOT against all coal but, they don't have to do MTR to get it.

They are not protesting the silo because it gets coal from a deep mine. They are protesting it because of how close it is to the school because of the dust that makes it way over to the school. If you go over to the school you can see the black streaks under the windows from where it has rained and left coal dust residue under the ledge. Everybody knows that breathing coal dust is bad for you. Those kids should not be beside that silo. Also the sludge dam - do I really need to elaborate on the threat that poses? Many good reasons to move that school that have nothing to do with being against all coal or being an environmentalist. It's just common sense to want them away from possible danger.

[minerswife88]

My husband is an underground miner and we are not in total support of MTR but all of those hippies that are bashing massey are not only against MTR but underground also.. i know about a month ago we went to an underground miners protest in charleston those environmentalist wanted to bann underground mining as well as MTR. you should have seen the flood of people that would have been affected if they closed the underground mines.. YES my husband works for massey as an underground miner he is a miner man and believe me if he could go union he would.. but none of the union mines are hiring right now.. so before you go defending the people bashing massey think about the people that do actually do underground for them i know that at least 90% of them would go union in a heartbeat but they can't.. and as far as only having 20 yrs of cal left they can not say that for sure.. and at best guess there is enough for the miners that are working this year even the ones that just went in to retire on ... so if you think i am defending MTR your wrong what i am defending is the underground miners that are also being effected by the protesters!!!!

[Stop the Stupidity]

A local wrote:

<quoted text>
ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TRYING TO MAKE THE CASE THAT GOD WOULD APPROVE OF MTR!!!???? You have gotta be out of your mind to even suggest such a thing! Stewards of the Earth, my dear. MTR IS NOTHING BUT A MANIFESTATION OF CORPORATE GREED. It wouldn't even exist if i wasn't so profitable to employ less men and simply use more machines and bombs. MTR workers are mining themselves right out of a job and right out of everything else for every single one of us. It ain't right and you know it, you just have to admit it.

Well I believe that God provides. As he has provided for the men and women working at all the MTR sites. I would hope that these people are good people and that they should not be judged because they are providing for their families. I stated before, God gave us this earth to utilize. We aren't following the instructions of the Old Testament. Since you have knowledge of the Bible, then you surely know what is written. That we as humans may try to turn an oblivious eye to the inevidable but it is written that this world will end. It is not going to to be here forever. The only problem I have against the MTR is the way our residents behave. The environmentalist have my respect because they do not display ignorance with their protest. They however need to realize their wrongdoings. We all do.

[Webster]

Unfortunately we can go back and forth with this and nothing is happening except typed words of opinions/facts/and your time spent. BOO! No need to defend or not defend coal. Even if you fight your opinion, strike, and march in Washington on the steps of the White House they are going to do what they want or see fit for the future of coal.

[tatersalad]

UMWA

[rock creek eyes]

A local wrote:

<quoted text>
ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TRYING TO MAKE THE CASE THAT GOD WOULD APPROVE OF MTR!!!???? You have gotta be out of your mind to even suggest such a thing! Stewards of the Earth, my dear. MTR IS NOTHING BUT A MANIFESTATION OF CORPORATE GREED. It wouldn't even exist if i wasn't so profitable to employ less men and simply use more machines and bombs. MTR workers are mining themselves right out of a job and right out of everything else for every single one of us. It ain't right and you know it, you just have to admit it.

could not have said it better.

[Mylissa]

From WV live in NC now.

http://junkscience.com/Wanted/images/jswanted...

I got this today out of the South Charlotte, NC paper and found it online. Thought you might want to know you are not alone.

[Stop the Stupidity]

Webster wrote:

Unfortunately we can go back and forth with this and nothing is happening except typed words of opinions/facts/and your time spent. BOO! No need to defend or not defend coal. Even if you fight your opinion, strike, and march in Washington on the steps of the White House they are going to do what they want or see fit for the future of coal.

This is true. The topix forum is not what determines the laws in Washington. To quote Henry Clay,a statesman from the 1800's,

"An oppressed people are authorized, whenever they can, to rise and break their fetters"

I blog on this forum, giving my opinions and views, with hopes that my one voice may be considered by everyone who reads. Possibly influencing decisions made by all who may hear.