One would probably wonder why it is that I am all of the sudden all upset over mountaintop removal coal mining when it has been going on for twenty years or more. I would wonder that as well.
One reason is that I have spent the largest portion of the last 20 years in Ohio and the coal industry along with the media do a pretty good job of keeping their secret in the coalfields. The other reason is because the coal industry has done a good job of keeping their destruction out of the public eye. You used to not be able to drive down a two lane road and see a mountaintop removal site in this part of West Virginia. They were always just over the ridge and tucked neatly out of sight.
Just in the past year I have noticed places while just driving down the road where they are no longer trying to hide the destruction. It is right out there for you to see. Drews Creek is a prime example. I noticed that site from over two miles away from route 99 on Bolt Mountain. That’s what made me go looking for it in the first place. It is obvious why the coal industry is now so bold. They have the backing and protection of every single government body designed to be there just to stop things like mountaintop removal. If I wanted to rob a bank and the state police said it was ok - I would rob every bank in the state. There is absolutely no difference.
Today while going down route 3 towards Whitesville, I saw another mountain that has been clearcut and prepped for mining. This one looms over Stickney, West Virginia. Stickney is a little coal mining town located at the base of the mountain following the main ridge down to the right. Route 3 curves around the base of the mountain into Montcoal, West Virginia. You can see this doomed mountain from both sides while following route 3.
I came back up the road with someone I didn’t know real well. As soon as we got within sight of the mountain I asked him what he thought about it. His answer, with no hesitation, “they need to stop it.”
After that short and straight to the point statement I asked him why he thought so. He said, “well just look man, can’t you see!” As a matter of fact I could see. He went on to talk about the deer and how they no longer had a place to hide. “They are all leaving… the bear, the deer, everything.” He talked some about how you can’t even go into the woods deer hunting anymore. I could relate to that because most hollows people used to hunt in now are either destroyed or owned by the coal industry.
In a crazy kind of way I am glad the coal industry has gotten more bold because mountaintop removal coal mining is no longer out of sight, out of mind. Now it is in your face and there is no denying it.
denny…. i, also, had NO idea about MTR until a couple of years ago, even though it is rampant in my home state of KY and also here in WV, where I live now and where my dad’s side of the family is from.
i knew about strip mining, which is also devastating, but when i found out that they were literally blowing up our mountains….. the most ancient mountains in the WORLD, mind you, i couldn’t keep silent.
and if i had to see it everyday, like you do….. see my home destroyed, i’d be as mad as hell, also. luckily, we live in a part of WV that values its natural resources….. not as something to gobble up greedily, but to share….. ecotourism brings a lot of money into our area. and our county government has been on board with trying to keep strip mining out. there are some permits being granted, but our local government is opposing them.
i think they aren’t trying to hide anymore b/c the word is out. now their goal is to accelerate the mining before something is done to stop it. and it seems it is accelerating, as BJ’s post above indicates…..