Mountain Aid Festival introduces me to Mountaintop Removal
24 Jun
I went to the Mountain Aid festival at Shakori Hills this weekend with little (OK, pretty much no) knowledge of mountaintop removal mining. I was just planning to listen to some live music, eating some smores and enjoying nature with my BF.
Instead I was moved to tears by the powerful documentary “Mountain Top Removal” by local director Michael Cusack O’Connell. The film outlines the mountaintop removal process and follows the efforts of West Virginia residents who are trying to get the government to halt the process. They also want to relocate Marsh Fork Elementary School, which sits near a sludge pond. Take a look at this Flickr photo from “ILoveMountains.org” to see where the school sits in relation to the sludge.
The documentary shows the black water pouring from residents faucets. For me the tear-jerking moment came when 16 people were arrested at the West Virginia Governor’s Office after demanding to speak to the governor about relocating the elementary school. Whether you support them or not, it’s hard not to feel their passion and plight as police hauled off their limp bodies. I’m posting the trailer for the documentary below, it recently won the Reel Current award, which was picked and presented by Al Gore at the Nashville Film Festival.
Mountaintop removal mining involves blasting summits to reveal coal, and then dumping all the extra rock and dirt. In some cases, the coal has to be washed, creating nasty sludge ponds that no one would want in their backyard.
What really made the Mountain Aid festival hit home was seeing the same people from the documentary camping beside. Several of the folks whose lives have been reshaped by mountaintop removal were at the festival, which featured performances by Kathy Mattea, the fabulous Ben Sollee and Donna the Buffalo. Proceeds from the festival went to Pennies for Promise, which is trying to relocate Marsh Fork Elementary School.
Today I read that about 200 people gathered Tuesday at a Massey Energy operation in West Virginia (the same company that the documentary references) to protest mountaintop removal. Thirty people were arrested including actress and activist Darryl Hannah. The article by Triangle writer Sue Sturgis outlines the issue and what folks protesting mountaintop removal in West Virginia would like to see happen:
Concerned citizens of Coal River Valley, as the area is known, are also pressing for the construction of a wind farm on Coal River Mountain, which is located across the river from the elementary school. A study has found that it would be possible to build more than 300 megawatts of wind energy capacity on the mountain — enough to power 70,000 homes and put $1.7 million in tax revenues in the county’s coffers annually. However, Massey — the fourth-largest coal company in the U.S. — is seeking permits to blast off the mountaintop, which is the last one left standing in the area. That would destroy the site’s wind potential.
On Thursday, the Senate Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife will hold a hearing about “the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on water quality in the Appalachia.”
So if you’re not already familiar with mountainaid removal, take the time to do some research. You can see what your connection to mountaintop coal removal here.
Ginny Skalski: Environmental Activist. Who knew?
I worked for a nonprofit social justice organization up in rural Appalachia. Mountain top removal mining is inexcusable but the coal companies have deep pockets and a lot of friends. It’s very difficult to get anti-coal legislation passed in these states.
And federally… Just look at what they did to the Clean Water Act!
Big Coal: Oh, we aren’t allowed to dump waste into streams? Okay, well this coal waste we’ve been dumping isn’t actually coal waste, it’s “coal fill”.
Government: Oh, okay. Sounds good. Carry on.
Not to mention all the people (even children!) who die in coal sludge accidents due to improper storage.
I saw the Mountaintop Removal Documentary a couple of years ago at the Ava Gardner Film Festival. Didn’t know about until then either.
I was born and raised in South Eastern Ky. It breaks my heart the way the coal companies lie and manipulate and how the politicians sell themselves in the name of cheap energy. What do we consider cheap? there are 400,000 acres of runied forest and mountain range, 1,200 miles of filled streams. If they stopped right now there is a lot we wouldnt get back,,,but they wont, not until its gone. Its Cultural Genocide, the complete abolishment of a way of life. Please help us by staying informed, writting your congressman and donating to the cause…Stop Mountain Top Removal.