Youth unite for environmental justice in Appalachia!
Wednesday, January 31, will be a Mountain Justice Day of Action! Local hero, Ed Wiley walked all the way from WV to D.C. and met with Senator Byrd about the dangerous situation at Marsh Fork Elementary School, which is located beside a coal silo, a coal preparation plant and below a huge coal slurry impoundment. Byrd promised to look for funding for a new school and “leave no stone unturned.” Yet to this date, the dire situation has not improved. In support of Ed Wiley, we will call Senator Robert C. Byrd on this day and demand that he fulfill his promise to protect the health and safety of the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary School. His number is (202) 224-3954. To watch a video on Ed’s story and his epic journey click here.
The Mountain Justice Day of Action, occurring during the week of climate action, is an opportunity for young people to speak out against social injustice taking place in southern Appalachia. Coalfield communities affected by mountaintop removal and other forms of coal mining are faced with toxic coal sludge disposal, valley fills, blasting and many additional impacts that our fossil-fuel dependency is currently having on the land and people of Appalachia. Marsh Fork Elementary School is one of the most blatant examples of coal companies’ disregard for human health and safety.
These school children attend class in a lethal location. A coal silo looms above their playground and is just 125 feet from the school grounds. A nearby coal preparation plant uses chemicals, such as aniline, that threaten the health of the children. Additionally, black lung causing coal dust can be found within the school. A coal slurry impoundment, which is leaking according to Mine Safety and Health Administration, holds back 2.8 billion gallons of poisonous coal sludge and is 400 yards from the school. An active 1,849 acre mountaintop removal mine demolishes the land just about the impoundment. The blasting from this mine weakens the impoundment further. If the impoundment failed, the devastation would be cataclysmic. These children should not be asked to sacrifice their health and safety for the coal industry and our dirty energy addiction.
Marsh Fork Elementary School must be relocated to a safe location within the kids’ own community. Yet the DEP, EPA and state and local school boards refuse to take any action on the issue. Thus, in September, Ed Wiley, whose granddaughter attends Marsh Fork, walked from West Virginia’s capital building in Charleston to Washington DC. This epic journey was undertaken to raise awareness about injustices occurring at Marsh Fork and ask West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd to protect the health and safety of the children. Byrd promised to look for funding for a new school and “leave no stone unturned.” But today, these children’s lives are still at risk.
It is time Byrd fulfilled his promise. He must be held accountable. No mater where you live, you can help. On January 31st please call Byrd, (202) 224-3954, and pressure him to build a new and safe school located in the kids’ own community. You can organize folks and have them call Byrd too. Keep track of how many people called and then tell us about your success. Youth can stand with community members and demand environmental justice in Appalachia now!
There are multiple other ways students can support coalfield residents during the Mountain Justice Day of Action. Let people at your school know what is happening in our mountains! Coal mining can be considered point source global warming. Mountaintop Removal is causing the destruction of Appalachia’s rich ecosystems and the social destruction of its people. If you’d like to do more, talk with your friends, be creative, and design your own events. You could hold a workshop, show a film, or host a speaker. Use the Mountain Justice Day of Action as an opportunity to spread the word about Mountain Justice Spring Break. Students from across the country will converge on Charleston, WV from March 10th to 18th to spend a week on the front-lines of a grassroots, community-led resistance to the devastating practices of the coal industry in Appalachia. You could join us and see mountaintop removal mining sites, meet with people in the communities affected by it, take part in service projects, enjoy workshops, hear awesome music, eat good food, network with great people, take direct actions, camp, and have lots of fun!
If you have any questions about the Mountain Justice Day of Action contact Ivan Stiefel at enthusedbylife@hotmail.com or 609-221-7768.
For updates one the Mountain Justice Day of Action click here.
Register for Mountain Justice Spring Break at:
www.climateaction.net/mjsb
For more information on Marsh Fork Elementary and mountaintop removal go to:
www.penniesofpromise.org site created for Ed Wiley’s amazing walk from WV to DC to talk to Senator Byrd about Marsh Fork in the fall of 2006.
Sludge Safety webpage on Marsh Fork
Appalachian Voices webpage on Marsh Fork
Coal River Mountain Watch (community group who has been organizing around Marsh Fork) website on Marsh Fork
More on Mountaintop Removal:
www.mountainsustainablity.org
www.Ilovemountains.org
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Heck yes.
Also, great pic and description Ivan. It’s very…you! :0)