Written by Sam McCreery and Jen Osha.

In southern West Virginia, the people and the land are paying the price so the rest of the nation can have cheap energy from mountaintop removal coal mining. Here in Rock Creek, men and machines are working 24-7 to remove the “overburden” over the coal seams. What many people don’t realize is that the “overburden” that is removed includes every living thing on the mountaintop, including the animals that can’t escape.

The Black Bear is the state animal of West Virginia. Mountaintop Removal is decimating their habitat by the thousands of acres. Long time resident of Rock Creek, WV, avid hunter and woodsman, Ed Wiley knew the site of a black bear den where the overburden was being shoved over. It was springtime, and he knew that the mother would still be inside nursing her cubs, so he hiked up to take a look.

“They had done cut all the timber off of the site,” Ed remembers. “I got to sit there lookin. Dozers were pushing the soil off. I saw that the momma bear had poked out her head, heard the dozer, and then gone back inside. They kept gouging her way… and then I watched them doze her in.” As Ed watched, the momma bear was buried alive with her cubs at her side.

“Now I’ve heard a bear die, and it depends how they’re shot. But there ain’t nothing like hearin that momma bawl, knowin her babies are dying as she gets dozed in. Those cubs don’t even have their eyes open. They might have been old enough to crawl, but they weren’t old enough to escape. What it witnessed that spring, it bothered me. It hurt me. I feel something needs to be done.”

As a result of this conversation with Ed, Jen wrote a song which she sang at the Mountainkeepers festival. This is the chorus:

“Sing for the children, in their Appalachian homes
Who hear rain on the roof and go to sleep in their clothes
While their parents keep watch because nobody knows
If tonight is the night the slurry dam will blow

Sing for the bear cubs, snuggled safe underground
In their dens with their mamas when the mountain comes down
I say what is it worth, this cheap energy we’ve found
When her babies are buried and our children might drown”

We are hoping to work with the DNR to move the bear cubs before they are buried alive, but so far there has been no progress.

Previously, we produced a CD compilation of music and interviews entitled Moving Mountains: Voices of Appalachia rise up against mountaintop removal with Falling Mountain Music to raise funds and awareness about MTR. This summer, we (http://www.auroralights.org/) are working together to use pictures, stories, video, and music to express the consequences of mountaintop removal. We’re collecting stories here, but we need your help, too. Have ideas about musicians? Artwork for the cover? How to get the word out? Want to help try to move the bear cubs? Please be in touch with us at jenosha@auroralights.org or sam.mccreery@gmail.com.

Photos by Sam McCreery

Youth unite for environmental justice in Appalachia! Whether you live in the heart of coal country or thousands of miles away, what happens in West Virginia and its surrounding states matters to your future. Wednesday is a national day of solidarity with communities in Appalachia that confront many consequences of our fossil fuel addiction.  Coalfield communities affected by mountaintop removal and other forms of coal mining are faced with toxic coal slurry disposal, valley fills, blasting and many additional environmental burdens. The Mountain Justice Day of Action, part of the Week of Action, is an opportunity for young people to speak out against these injustices.

TAKE ACTION: Call Senator Robert C. Byrd and demand he fulfill his promise to Ed Wiley and that he protect the health and safety of the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary School. His number is (202) 224-3954. Marsh Fork is one of the most blatant examples of coal companies’ disregard for human health and safety. This school is located beside a coal silo, a coal preparation plant and below a huge coal slurry impoundment. For more info and resources, including talking points, handouts and a press release, go to www.climateaction.net/mjdoa.

Also, you can call WV Governor Manchin and request that he accept 500 letters from children who are concerned about the health of Marsh Fork Elementary. For more information read WV Governor dodges meeting with children.

There are innumerable other ways you may support coalfield communities. Appalachia must not be a national sacrifice zone! Come to Mountain Justice Spring Break for a week of education and direct action in Charleston, WV, from March 10-18, and to speak out against mountaintop removal coal mining and the circumstances at Marsh Fork Elementary School. We shall converge on the front lawn of the state capitol! The week will include educational activities, workshops, speakers, a musical shindig, church service, poetry, letter writing, vigils, protest, a massive sit-in, and more!

To watch a short video about Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining click here.

To watch Ed Wiley speek about Marsh Fork Elementary click here.

To register for Mountain Justice Spring Break, click here here.

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