Massey Energy has begun blasting on Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has stated that the mining operation on the mountain is “actively moving coal.” Workers have been seen moving heavy equipment up to the mining zones, and blasting and plumes of smoke were seen and heard near the Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment.
The Brushy Fork impoundment is an enormous retention pond holding 8.2 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry waste. If the impoundment were to fail due to the blasting, hundreds of lives will be lost and thousands more will be in jeopardy from an enormous slurry flood.
A 2006 study confirmed that Coal River Mountain—the highest peaks ever slated for mining in the state—is an ideal location for developing utility-scale wind power. Local residents have rallied around this proposal as a symbol of hope, a promise of a new and cleaner energy future, but that hope may be destroyed unless quick and decisive action is taken right now.
There is a reason that certain states have never been in my research for a retirement home…And mountaintop removal coal mining is it.
It’s sad, because West Virginia is a beautiful state. Beautiful mountains, great people, nice towns but always the shadow of the coal companies hanging over everything.
It is time in America for a new direction. It’s time to stop the cost shifting of the coal mines. It is only by being able to delay the costs of cleanup of the environment that coal is a viable energy source in this day and age.
via Take Action and Make History – help save Coal River Mountain » iLoveMountains.org.