By Bob Weaver
West Virginia author Denise Giardina used her crticially acclaimed book titled to describe the power of coal and government in West Virginia - "Storming Heaven."
Yesterday, a Marsh Fork grandfather, using Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's campaign slogan to unseat a Supreme Court judge last fall - "For the sake of the kids" - sat down in front of the state capitol protesting Massey's location of a coal silo only 150 feet from the Marsh Fork Elementary School grounds.
Concerned families and friends of the Marsh Fork students say, "For the sake of the kids - stop poisoning them."
"I want the governor to explain to me why Massey Energy's profits are more important than these kids' health and safety," said Ed Wiley (pictured above).
Marsh Fork School sits only 400 yards below a 2.8 billion-gallon coal
waste dam - protesters remind people to "remember Buffalo Creek"
Wiley met with Gov. Manchin yesterday, expressing his concern for the health and safety of school children, including his granddaughter.
He called off his protest after Manchin said he would look at relocating the school.
Manchin sent a team of educators to the school site today to see what can be done about the school.
Massey Coal said it is a legal operation, approved by West Virginia officials.
The Department of Environmental Protection has also renewed a permit for a 385-foot-high dam 400 yards above the school that holds back 2.8 billion gallons of liquid coal waste.
Locals say the waste dam is poorly constructed and kids are continually being exposed to coal dust.
The DEP granted the controversial permits to Massey in spite of overwhelming community resistance and protests that had so far resulted in 20 arrests.
Protesters arrested and removed from Massey site
At a hearing on May 26, the DEP allowed residents only two minutes each to voice their concerns over the permits. Over fifty speakers spoke against the permits, and no one spoke in favor of them.
At a rally at the Massey plant on May 24, two Coal River Valley residents were arrested when they were refused admittance to present their demands.
On May 31, sixteen people were arrested, including an 82-year-old grandmother, at the same site as a much larger rally supported by Mountain Justice Summer.
On June 29, another Marsh Fork parent and a Mountain Justice Summer participant were arrested at Massey Headquarters in Richmond, Va.
Photos courtesy of Coal River Mountain Watch
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