Date: November 23rd 2009

Greetings from the Coal River Valley!

It is a good day here in the valley. Last Saturday, four hellraisers shut down a drilling rig on the Bee Tree Surface Mine on Coal River Mountain, preventing blasting from occurring that day. Dea Goblirsch locked herself inside the cab of the rig, and Nick Martin locked himself to the drill itself. Both of them and their two fantastic support people were arrested after many hours and charged with trespassing, obstruction, conspiracy and littering. They were held on $2,000 cash-only bails and we sprung the last of them this morning. They are safe, happy and proud here in Rock Creek.

Their act of defiance came just days after the EPA officially announced that it has deep concerns that Massey is moving forward with this operation despite not yet having its valley fill permits (which, unlike blasting permits, are subject to EPA scrutiny). This proves that the community's concerns about this permit is shared at the highest levels of government and the massive pressure campaign surrounding Coal River Mountain is working. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of folks from all over the country have called or written the EPA demanding an intervention to halt the blasting. If you haven't been one of them yet, what are you waiting for? Our call-in action days have jammed the fax machines and clogged the phone lines. On October 30th, we took the fight right to their door with demonstrations at every single EPA branch office in the country. The day of action called by Rainforest Action Network, Mountain Justice, and Energy Justice Network was headlined by 14 folks sitting in all day at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., shutting down one of the entrances to the building. They got a meeting with the EPA's Deputy Press Secretary to air their concerns about Coal River Mountain and a whole lot of encouragement from EPA employees who oppose mountaintop removal and told us to KEEP UP THE PRESSURE.

And we need to. We just discovered yesterday that Massey is not only working on the Bee Tree permit, but they have begun road building on the much much larger Eagle 2 permit, also on Coal River Mountain. Every day that goes by, more and more of Coal River Mountain and the hope of a different future for the Coal River Valley is destroyed. Residents of the valley are calling for a massive demonstration outside the WV Department of "Environmental Protection", the agency responsible for issuing the permits to destroy the mountain, on December 7th. This will be the largest demonstration opposing mountaintop removal ever. Please if it is at all possible, come to Charleston, WV and show your solidarity. There is no time to lose.

For the mountains,
Climate Ground Zero



Legal Update:

Joe Hamsher, the first person sentenced to jail for taking action to stop mountaintop removal, was released a week early on Friday the 13th! Lucky day! And while we may face hostility from some coalfield folks, others are clearly big fans.

We face continued harassment from the courts however. Zoe Beavers, who was arrested supporting the treesit in August, recently had her charges dismissed because the police failed to appear at her pre-trial. The next day, the state re-filed the charges, issued an arrest warrant, demanded an additional $1,000 bail, and jailed her again until we brought the money. We remain undeterred and greatly appreciate the support we receive from y'all.