This past weekend, my wife and I attended her family reunion in Wyoming County. We decided to drive down through Boone County rather than going by interstate since we weren’t in a terrible rush. It had been a few months since we had been through Boone County and I must say, things have changed…and not for the better.
One of the most stark changes was on the ridges around the little towns of Bim & Bob White. I remember the last time we drove through there, there were these two little mountain peaks that were both about the same size and they loomed rather impressively over the town of Bob White. Well on this trip, I looked for the mountain peaks but there was only one of them…that’s right, one of them had been destroyed and in its place was a little flat, barren spot and wide-open sky. Being who I am I looked at the creek below there and just on visual inspection, it looks horrible. The last time we drove down through here, we saw people fishing in the creek, I doubt that there is any fish alive in this creek now. As we drove on up around the bend, we saw a huge MTR site in full operation, I’ve no doubt it is only a matter of time before the 2nd little mountain peak is laid low.
What impresses me the most is the people who live in Bim & Bob White are able to continue to live their daily lives there, I don’t know that I could live that close to all that crap, knowing what goes on there and the dangers their operations posed to me, and also knowing full well that your government doesn’t care what you think. I applaud them for standing and fighting for their homes, it definitely takes a special kind of person to be able to do that.
I was really shocked to see how quickly a mountain can be destroyed. I was aware that MTR activities had increased over the past few months but I suppose I didn’t fully understand the extent of the greed of man when coal is $120 a ton.
On the way back to Charleston, we decided to drive down through Coal River to see all of the changes that were sure to have happened there. We had hoped we’d see Pauline and Mary out in their yards so we could stop and see them again, but we didn’t see any sign of them when we went through Sylvester. It had been a couple of years since we traveled that road, and I’ll just say this, if a person wants to see the real costs of MTR, just take a drive through Boone County, WV.
I can’t believe that we, as a society, continue to allow this to occur!
Matthew nice post.
I just have one comment: we, as a society, don’t allow this to occur. It is not up to us, as a society, but instead to a small group of elites who run business as they wish without regard to ’society’ in general or these people in particular.
I am in total agreement with your comment, Folkface,however it is still a society in which we are forced to be part of. Maybe Thomas Jefferson was right, maybe we do need a revolution in every generation.
I drive though Boone County all the time on rt 85 and have not seen all the destruction that you are talking about.
There was definitely another peak right next to
this one. There is now what looks like a rock
outcrop. It is definitely gone. Maybe if a
person drives a particular area on a regular
basis it is easier to ignore or become used to
the surroundings; however, what is going on
throughout this stretch of road would seem to be nearly impossible to ignore. That missing ridge was only skimming the destruction in that area. I challenge anyone to drive Route 85, the area in question,
then go drive the Midland Trail in Lewisburg.
Then say that there is no devastation in Boone
County. Anyone who can’t see the blatant
difference is, quite frankly, turning a blind
eye.
Matthew you can find some of your missing mountain scattered about in this post –
http://endmtr.com/2008/06/27/jupiter-holdings-llc/
To Tony Stewart. I was borned and raised in Sylvester. From the time I was a youngster growing up, it was the greatest place in the world to be raised up in. Since then ,it’s been turned into a third world war zone for residents living near this criminal offense. People’s lives are being destroyed for the sake of a few jobs.