Date: October 27th 2009

Greetings from the Coal River Valley!


We write to you today in a state of emergency. As some of you may have heard, Massey Energy has begun blasting on Coal River Mountain. Climate Ground Zero was born in the Coal River Valley when Massey first began work on Coal River Mountain this past January. Longtime local organizers, volunteers, and supporters around the country realized that it was time to draw a line in the sand on mountaintop removal and Coal River Mountain was the place to draw that line. After our first action on Feb. 3rd, work stopped on the mountain. Now they have begun moving fast, and we need your help more than ever. It is not too late! Massey has yet to even apply for the valley fill permits it needs to truly expand its operations, and our movement is growing. There are calls out to contact the EPA and President Obama about the urgent need to save the hope that Coal River Mountain represents for the future of the Appalachian coalfields. But most of all, we'd like you to come to the valley and stand with us. (If we haven't convinced you, read Bo Webb's powerful letter to President Obama.)

We have been staying busy and keeping the pressure on. A sit-in in the Governor's office last week forced Gov. Manchin into a long sought meeting with the Coal River Wind Project in which he called West Virginia "the Extraction State". A few short days later, eight activists shut down a haul road on a mountaintop removal site in Kanawha County. These actions emerged out of the most successful Mountain Justice Fall Summit in history with over 150 young people coming to Rock Creek for a weekend of training, action, and a firsthand look at the devastating effects of MTR. But it's not just the young people who have let their voice s be heard. Early this month, over a dozen elders aged 53 to 88 marched 25 miles from the State Capitol to Massey Energy's Mammoth Coal preparation plants to demonstrate their commitment to a future for their children and grandchildren. Watch footage and read the story of their journey here.

The hard work and determination of all those working to stop the abuses of the coal industry in West Virginia are beginning to pay off. We saw big victories in two long struggles. After a four year campaign to get a new school for Marsh Fork Elementary, the Raleigh County School Board voted to officially request funding for a new school from the state. This unprecedented step comes shortly after WV Sen. Robert C. Byrd blasted Massey Energy for refusing to help pay to relocate the school, accusing the company of a "disregard for human life and safety". Well, welcome aboard Sen. Byrd! We've been saying that for years. Even more surprisingly, Sen. Rockfeller and Rep. Rahall jumped on board with Byrd immediately. If coal ind ustry cheerleaders like these are going after Massey, you know something's changing. And as slow as it's going, things continue to change at the EPA. In a historical move, the EPA announced its intention to veto the Spruce #1 Mine in Logan County, WV, the largest ever proposed MTR site. This proposed mine has been successfully fought off since 1998 when Joe Lovett won the very first lawsuit outlawing valley fills (later overturned by the 4th Circuit), and this may well be the final nail in its coffin. The EPA has never vetoed a permit.

With our growing power and successes of course comes greater resistance, and the coal industry and its allies are trying harder than ever to stamp us out. The industry turned out nearly 1,000 angry (and frequently drunk) miners to attend hearings held by the Army Corps of Engineers on their proposal to end the egregious use of streamlined "Nationwide 21 Permits" for valley fills. This simple change would only require the coal companies to go through the full formal process to obtain fill permits. Yet the crowd of miners outside seemed to think the world was ending. The public hearing, intended to collect public opinion on the rule change, turned into a near-riot, with citizens supporting the rule change subjected to insults, profanity, death threats, and physical assaul ts while the Charleston Police and federal officials looked on. Eventually some of the "treehuggers" were asked to leave by the police and even threatened with arrest in the hopes of avoiding a full-scale riot. With some miners screaming things like, "Somebody get some rope!", one longtime local activist said it was the worst crowd she had seen in 25 years of working on the issue. Here in Rock Creek, we have received repeated and increasing threats directed at us, including several regarding plans to attack us and burn down the Coal River Mountain Watch office on Halloween this upcoming weekend. But what do you expect when folks like WalkerCat President and CEO Steve Walker blockade of Massey's regional headquarters. Joe was initially charged with trespassing, conspiracy, refusing to obey a lawful order, resisting arrest and destruction of property. He agreed to plead guilty to trespassing and conspiracy, just as the activists involved in the May lockdown on Kayford Mountain and the June dragline takeover had, expecting to be given maximum fines as they were. Instead he faces the first jail sentence of the campaign in a clear example of prejudicial sentencing and an attempt to intimidate us. Joe begins serving his sentence Monday but remains proud and unafraid as are we all. The fight has just begun.


For the mountains,
Climate Ground Zero