Support Marsh Fork Elementary, support your fellow activists arrested taking a principled stand for what is right. Energy Justice and a new Marsh Fork Elementary in Coal River Valley!
Donate to the Marsh Fork Elementary legal defense fund!
On Friday March 16, more than 100 Coal River community members,
students and concerned West Virginia citizens converged at the state capital in Charleston, WV to demand that Joe Manchin build a new school for the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary.
The rally came just days after the Surface Mine Board overturned the DEP's decision to withhold a permit allowing construction of a second coal loading silo behind the school. After more than two years campaigning for a new school through every legal channel possible the decision was a deep and personal blow for community members concerned about the school's safety.
In a collective act of non-violent civil disobedience, thirteen people were arrested during the demonstration. Although the activists behaved in both a respectful and non-violent manner, some were dragged from the building with excessive force and others were man handled. Among those arrested was Ed Wiley, who walked 455 miles from Charleston, WV to Washington, D.C. last summer to raise awareness about the situation about the school.
This is a shameless plea for cash to cover the legal costs incurred from this action. Any donation, small or large, will be greatly appreciated and go towards a running legal fund for this and any future Marsh Fork Elementary campaign activities of this kind. Click here to contribute via: PayPal or send checks to Mountain Justice Summer (please write MFE Legal in the memo section of the check) P.O. Box 86, Naoma, WV 25140.
For video of the demonstration and background information on the school, please see below.
With great thanks and respect,
Snow White and the Dirty Dozen
Larry Gibson, Frank Young, Sarah Kidder, Chuck Nelson, Ed Wiley, Bill Price, Colin Cascia, Michael Morrison, Abraham Mwaura,Winter Ross, Abram Racine, Hill Hosta, Matt "Ivan" Steifel
Background:
Marsh Fork Elementary (MFE) is a K-5 school in Sundial, WV, in the heart of the Coal River Valley of Southern West Virginia, Raleigh County. Whereas most kids can go outside and play during recess without having to be exposed to serious threats to their health, these school children attend class in a potentially lethal location. A coal silo sits just 225 feet from the school building and 150 feet from the school grounds. The silo is part of a coal processing plant complex that sits adjacent to the school. The school is also 400 yards downstream from a 385 foot tall sludge dam holding back 2.8 billion gallons of toxic coal waste.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says the dam is seeping. Behind the dam, another subsidiary of Massey Energy, Alex Energy, operates an 1849 acre mountaintop removal mining site. In an independent study, samples of dust were taken from various classrooms in the school. Analysis confirmed that all seven samples showed coal dust contamination, which has been proven to cause respiratory problems, especially in children. The school has just more than 200 students and 21 teachers.
Marsh Fork Elementary School is one of the most blatant examples of coal companies' disregard for human health and safety.
We are asking for any contribution that you can make, no matter how large or small to help cover the legal costs of the action on March 16th 2007. Click here to contribute via:
PayPal or send checks to Mountain Justice Summer (please write MFE
Legal in the memo section of the check) P.O. Box 86, Naoma, WV 25140.
Thank you for your on going support. Together we're one step closer to getting a new safe school built in our community.
-Snow white and the Dirty Dozen
Here at the University of Washington, the Sierra Student Coalition group launched a Notebooks for Mountains fundraiser this spring, which gathers moo-lah for Mountain Justice Spring Break events and work. We’ve crafted recycled notebooks made out of single sided pages and cardboard cereal boxes for the notebook covers. We’ve also stapled info pages on mountain top removal and a plug for http://www.ilovemountains.org inside each notebook. Our pitch is, “Well, the notebooks are $3 to $5…. depending on how much you like mountains…” and the majority always gives us $5 for each notebook, which is cool. The recycled notebooks idea was yet another awesome thing that came out of the Northwest Climate Justice Summit back in February. SSC @ UW rules!