It’s Getting Hot In Here

The fight against coal is gaining momentum. Proposed plants are being taken off the drawing boards thanks to community pressure and national campaigning, more groups are taking up the call of “No New Coal” and holding politicians’ feet to the fire, and the media is beginning to wake up that coal may be on its way out. But at the same time, there is still an incredible fight ahead.

One of the many heroes of this struggle is Ed Wiley. He’s been fighting coal for a long time, motivated by his own experience in the industry and the 230 children at Marsh Fork Elementary School who are threatened by the 2.8 billion gallons of coal sludge upstream. For the month of September, Ed will be standing in Rockefeller Plaza in NYC to target the camera’s of the Today Show and draw the media’s attention to his struggle.

There are a number of ways you can help, especially if you are (or have friends who live) in New York City. Read on for a full press release about Ed’s work and to find out how you can get involved.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUGUST 29, 2007

CONTACT:

ED WILEY: (304) 731-9127

COAL RIVER MOUNTAIN WATCH: (304) 854-2182

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APPALACHIAN GRANDFATHER SEEKS JUSTICE IN NYC;

Schoolchildren, communities threatened by coal industry abuses

NEW YORK, NY – West Virginia grand-father Ed Wiley, 49, will arrive in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza at 7:00am on September 1 , 2007, to voice his concerns about the safety of some 230 elementary school children in the southern West Virginia coalfields. Targeting the live cameras of the “Today Show” and the crowds at Rockefeller Plaza, Wiley will stake out his spot to draw the nation’s attention to the dirty business of Mountaintop Removal / Valley Fill Coal Mining that is ravaging the Appalachian region and its people.

Wiley will stand at Rockefeller Plaza from 7-am – 3-pm each day, targeting the morning show cameras from 7-am – 10-am and the crowds from 10-am – 3-pm.

Wiley hopes to garner attention to the dangerous proximity of the Massey Energy-owned Goals Coal plant to the 230 students at Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, WV. The school grounds are just a few hundred feet from the plant which includes a toxic coal sludge dam; a coal dust – spewing coal processing plant and a mountaintop removal coal extraction site.

Concerned residents worry that the coal sludge impoundments will breach, unleashing a deadly flood of toxic waste onto the school and the Coal River Valley, jeopardizing the lives of 977 people. Concerned residents allege that the coal dust in the school is making the children and teachers sick. The sludge dam holds 2.8 billion gallons of coal waste just 400 yards upstream from the school. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Coal River Mountain Watch, testify to the fact that the dam is leaking and ill-constructed, citing numerous and repeated violations deemed to be “serious or substantial” by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

Ed Wiley knows his stuff when it comes to coal mining and coal-waste storage. “I’ve worked on every Massey site in West Virginia,” he says. Between 1996 and 1999, he worked with TW Pew, a contractor “who was tied in tight with Massey.” On the mountaintop removal mine sites, Wiley helped build roads and coal sludge ponds, moved equipment, and ran water and slurry lines. “That’s how I know they’re pumping sludge into those mountains,” he adds. He laid the groundwork for it.

“I was blinded by the $13.50 an hour I never had,” he continues. “I was blinded by the medical card I never had. I didn’t realize that I was setting up something that could one day kill my granddaughter…They’re putting a price on their own children’s head.”

Wiley has helped draw an ever-widening audience to the irreparable damage that mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining is wreaking on the land and people of West Virginia. In July, 2005 he staged a sit-in on the steps of the WV state capitol; in August, 2006, Wiley walked 455 miles from Charleston, WV to Washington, DC to speak to lawmakers. This summer Wiley says, “I’m going to let New York City walk by me.”

On Thursday, December 14, 2006 at at the Carnegie Institution Building in Washington, D.C., Ralph Nader presented Ed Wiley with the Joe A. Callaway Award For Civic Courage for Wiley’s efforts to help secure the safety of some 230 students at Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, WV.

The movement to save the children of Marsh Fork Elementary School has drawn the attention of Bobby Kennedy, Jr and actor/activist Woody Harrelson, who have both personally promised Wiley that they will stand with him in Rockefeller Plaza.

Ed Wiley will be available for meetings/lectures and presentations, evenings throughout September in New York City. To schedule a meeting, lecture or presentation with Ed Wiley in New York please contact our Presentation Coordinator, Jordan Freeman at (310) 245-7815.

For more information contact:

Pennies of Promise

Coal River Mountain Watch

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

I ♡ Mountains

Why is Ed Wiley so concerned about the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary School??

Previous Media Reports on the issues:

ABC World News Tonight, “Is Coal Making the Children Sick?”

Living on Earth, “Learning in the Shadow of Coal”

WV Public Broadcasting, “History of Appalachian Coalfield Protests”

DoubleTake magazine, “Mountaintop Removal / Valley Fill Coal Mining in West Virginia”