Residents of Montgomery Creek in Perry County are resisting efforts by International Coal Group (ICG) to add more than 200 acres to its already 1,600-acre mountaintop removal mining operation that has caused them endless hardship, sleepless nights and considerable property damage. They invite other KFTC members to join them for a permit conference on Wednesday as they make demands of the state and the coal company so that their homes and quality of life will not be further diminished.
Mostly, Montgomery Creek residents say they would just like to be treated with respect.
One of ICG's targets, McKinley Sumner, returned to his family's homeplace a few years ago to care for his parents in their last years. He and other family members have consistently said NO to ICG efforts to get them to sell out, including company attempts to divide family members. McKinley even spent a considerable amount to have the land surveyed and the boundary clearly marked. Then in August 2006, ICG trespassed on the Sumner land and stole a portion of the land - literally stole it, it's no longer there. Where McKinley's mountaintop should be is a great void that drops 150 feet to ICG's mining pit.
Although there is no dispute of ICG's thievery, the company has still not been fined by the state.
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