Appalachia in Colorado: Bluegrass and coal: One belongs, one does not...

by Janet Perry

It was a rough, bumpy start as the tiny plane took off, and I laughed to myself that It felt like we were flying in a Volkswagon bug! The woman sitting next to me was from Climate Ground Zero and I knew her to be a brave soul; she was often on the 'front lines.'  She smiled nervously, which made me feel better about my jangling nerves. I turned back to focus on the living green underneath our feet. It’s hard to describe the energy of an Appalachian hard-wood forest. This land is as rich as any rainforest. It was my childhood home and I love it. This forest is tied to summer barbecues, horseshoes, and gathering berries. Its tied to the laughter and rich life my family has enjoyed there.

Then I saw what I had climbed onto this tiny plane for; the destruction I had come to bear witness to. My blood froze in my veins and I held my exhale, suspended with disbelief at the vision before me. A giant swatch of ground was showing, raw through a gap in the green. It was filled with large trucks and dust. One end held an enormous pond filled with liquid almost glowing a sick shade of green.

The tiny plane’s engine roared, drowning out any efforts to speak. I was glad; sobs were choking my wind-pipe as I held them back. I was looking out over blight within the midst of this rich beauty. I watched as bombs went off and dirt and rock flew hundreds of feet into the air. I was bearing witness to the destruction of my Appalachian homeland by mountain-top removal.

We flew over a 'slurry' impoundment larger than the Hoover Dam, holding billions of gallons of toxic sludge, I noted the tiny speck of an elementary school at its base. I shuddered. I wondered about the children who go there. Will the coal-dust they breath daily affect them? Will they survive their ‘education?’ Indeed, if the containment wall fails on a school day, there is no hope for their survival.

Ed Wiley worked at the Brushy Fork slurry impoundment. He admits that he ‘didn’t think nothin of it' until his grand-daughter, driven home sick from school again, told him, "Pappaw, the creek’s makin’ us kids sick.”  The creek she spoke of runs behind the Marsh Fork Elementary School. The creek is poisoned by the Brushy Fork Impoundment and Massey Energy’s coal silo that sits directly behind the school. That got Wiley to thinking and he began educating himself about what was really happening to his home and his family.  

Wiley and other locals went to the WV state School Board, the Legislature and Governor Manchin of West Virginia. Ed Wiley walked the 300 miles to the White House, trying to bring light to the plight of the children of Marsh Fork. They got no help. The parents started raising money to build a new school. Once they had raised a substantial amount, an anonymous philanthropist stepped in to help. Massey Coal’s Upper Big Branch mine had just killed 29 miners and public pressure was focused on them. They pitched in to help relocate the school, and at this point the State of West Virginia pitched in the last amount needed.

The new, safe school will not be ready until next school year. Meanwhile, the school bell rings, and the children of Marsh Fork obediently enter classrooms so coated with coal-dust.  Many children, sick daily at Marsh Fork Elementary, lose all symptoms when they move on to their next school. Massey Energy insists this has nothing to do with their operations.

Wiley describes an alarm that is to be sounded if the containment wall, holding the impoundment, fails. He noted that while working at the Impoundment he had seen cracks in the containment wall; failure of the wall could happen.  Wiley said he believes the alarm is 'cruel' because the 230 children of the Marsh Fork Elementary School know what the alarm would mean. The sludge would destroy the school in about five minutes after containment wall failure. I had stood outside the school and looked at sheer cliff walls across the road, knowing the creek and coal facility behind the school would prevent escape in that direction. The Valley is narrow. There is no place for the children of Marsh Fork Elementary to run.  

Meanwhile, across the region, small clusters of earthquakes have started a new alarm. Scientists believe it is the activity of both mountaintop removal and 'fracking' or fracturing for natural gas, which involves injecting water into the rock layers to help extract natural gas. Colorado Congressman Jared Polis has introduced a bill into the House of Representatives to stop the practice of 'fracking.'  Small earthquakes have historically happened infrequently around the state of West Virginia. This new phenomenon involves frequent clusters of earthquakes which are new to the region. The question begs to be asked:  What does this mean for slurry impoundments and the safety of West Virginia’s residents? Indeed, what does this mean for the children of the Marsh Fork Elementary School?  

Activists like Wiley, are threatened to remain silent by 'coal thugs.'  In an area where judges vacation with Don Blankenship, Massey Energy’s infamous CEO, locals face harsh penalties for speaking out.

The rest of the world must speak up now. Coal has fired our world long enough. Coal is destroying communities, destroying habitats and a wealth that could sustain these same communities for eons. We must move away from fossil fuels. This practice does not just kill children. It is destroying our water and air.

The Appalachian Treasures Tour is arriving in Colorado this week. Dustin White is an affected coalfield resident. The slide show and presentation will be enlightening to Colorado. Austin Hall of Appalachian Voices will be on-hand to highlight Colorado’s link to coal and mountaintop removal through Excel Energy’s choices.

The Appalachian Treasures Tour will be joined by local Vince Herman for an evening of Bluegrass and Appalachia on Oct. 12 at the Stage Stop in Rollinsville. Music will begin at 7 p.m. Slide show and presentation at 8, with more music to follow.

The Appalachian Treasures Tour will also be appearing at Namaste’ Solar’s offices in Boulder on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. and at their Denver offices on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Check out http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/app-treasures for more information.