Not long ago I wrote a post about my good friend Elbert and his wife Alvie.

This is a couple that have been married for fifty years and are both in their 70’s. The house they live in is where they have been living throughout their marriage. They have raised three children and their home is truly home to them and their children’s families.

Elbert and Alvie are a couple with intentions to spend all of their remaining days in their little house on the hill. They have lived a good life, raised three great kids, and deserve a peaceful retirement.

King Coal moved into Clay’s Branch which is directly behind Elbert’s house and the blasting is literally destroying his families roots.

I was visiting with Elbert and Alvie a couple of days ago and I found they have added a new fixture.

This brace is here for the sole purpose of trying to keep the house from falling down. With daily concussions from blasting on the nearby mountaintop removal site in Clay’s Branch, it’s only a matter of time. Elbert and Alvie’s living room is directly over this brace.

They have filed a complaint with the blasting department of the DEP and have already received quite the run around. The fact they had to brace up their home made me madder than hell. The subsequent bs from the DEP added fuel to the fire. The DEP is about to meet the Backwoods Drifter for the second time.

Elbert and Alvie, and many families just like them, shouldn’t be forced to abandon their life so King Coal can make a buck. I honestly get tired of preaching about how wrong that is. If you are a friend of coal then you support blowing up Elbert and Alvie’s home – plain and simple.

Mountaintop removal coal mining – a win win?