Lorelei Scarbro speaking with Gov. Joe ManchinPhoto: Chris EichlerAs
a supportive crowd sang, “This land is your land, this land is my
land,” seven peaceful sit-in activists were arrested in Governor Joe
Manchin’s office at the West Virginia state capitol at 5 p.m. this
afternoon, as part of the growing national coalfield uprising to stop
mountaintop-removal mining.  Today’s protest called on the governor to
intervene in his state’s spiraling emergency over mountaintop removal
mining and blasting.

Among the arrested was Miranda Miller, a student born and raised in
West Virginia, who declared: “We’re here on behalf of the people of the
Coal River Mountain Community and we’re here to draw attention to the
dangers presented to them by the impending mountaintop removal coal
mining. “

The world is watching this coalfield uprising: This was the 16th
action of civil disobedience by nonviolent coalfield residents and
protests this year.  Over 100 people have been arrested.

Here’s a clip from the protest:

With clear cut forests paving the way for a mountaintop removal
permit in process in the historic Coal River Mountain range, the
coalfield residents and nonviolent protesters today coaxed Manchin out
of his office for a short meeting.  Faced with massive mountaintop
removal blasts within a dangerously short range of the earthen Brushy
Fork impoundment dam, which holds back billions of gallons of toxic
sludge, the residents are concerned for their safety—absentee Massey
Energy’s own evacuation plan noted 998 potential deaths as the minimum
number in the case of a catastrophic breach of the earthen dam. 
Meanwhile, coalfield residents and protestors also noted the
mountaintop removal mine would destroy a widely acclaimed proposal for
a Coal River Mountain industrial wind farm that would bring millions of dollars in revenues and hundreds of jobs to the community.

Miranda Miller, arrested at W.Va. CapitolPhoto: Chris EichlerThe governor’s response?  He told the coalfield residents:
“What we’re trying to do is find a balance and that’s tough to do in an extractive state.”

Extractive state?  Is that who Gov. Manchin represents?  Extraction
companies like Richmond, Va.-based Massey?  St. Louis, Mo.-based Arch
Coal?

For coalfield residents and other West Virginians, West Virginia is
the mountain state.  In their letter presented to the governor, the
residents declared:

As residents of West Virginia’s Coal River Valley we write you to
declare a state of emergency.  Coal River Mountain is our last mountain
untouched by mountaintop removal and it is in imminent danger of
blasting. This would not only threaten our communities, it would also
destroy our chance to have permanent jobs and renewable energy through
ridge-top wind power. You have the power to rescind these permits.

At any moment, Massey Energy could blast part of the Bee Tree site,
on the containing ridge of the Brushy Fork sludge impoundment.  Brushy
Fork impoundment, permitted to hold 9.8 billion gallons of toxic
sludge, is the tallest dam in the hemisphere, and it sits on top of a
network of abandoned underground mines.

We live in fear that the blasting could cause the dam to fail and
create one of the greatest industrial disasters in our nation’s
history. The emergency evacuation plan for the Brushy Fork sludge dam
states that should it fail, a wall of water 50 feet high would hit
Whitesville and result in the deaths of at least 998 people.  Given
this risk, blasting should not be allowed until your Department of
Environmental Protection has conducted a thorough geo-technical
examination of the impoundment’s stability in regards to the
underground mines.

For more information on the Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment, see the great background story and maps at the Journey Up Coal River website.
Coal River Valley residents have called on the governor to, with a particular urgency on the Bee Tree Branch
mountaintop removal permit that would destroy the area for the widely
acclaimed Coal River Wind Project.  The Brushy Fork impoundment has
also been a focus of several recent protests.
Coal River resident Lorelei Scarbro spoke recently about the Coal River Wind project for her community at risk:

For more information on today’s protest, visit: www.climategroundzero.org or mountainjustice.org.