TheAppalachian Voice June / July 2009

Where the Appalachian Wind Blows The backs, forths, ups and downs of wind generated electricity

Plus: Flooding in WVa • Kayaking in Appalachia • The Backyard Gardening Craze • AV’s New Book Club Pa g e 2 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Inside this issue

TheAPPALACHIAN VOICE Buffalo Mountain Wind Farm, A publication of Appalachian Photo by Chris Morris 191 Howard Street • Boone, NC 28607 1-877-APP-VOICE www.AppalachianVoices.org ind Appalachian Voices bringsAPPALACHIAN people together to solve VOICES the environmental ScienceW literacy and problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. Our mission is to empower people to defend our region’s rich renewable energy natural and cultural heritage by providing them with tools and strategies for successful grassroots campaigns. Appalachian Voices sponsors the Upper any Americans are strug- Watauga Riverkeeper® and is also a Member of the Waterkeeper® Alliance. Mgling to understand the science and economics behind Ed i t o r Bill Kovarik renewable energy. Ma n a g i n g Ed i t o r Jamie Goodman A surprising number believe As s o c i a t e Ed i t o r Sarah Vig wind power isn’t much use because it is intermittent, or that solar energy is too expensive because it Appalachian Voices Staff is scattered. They believe renewable energy may be decades away. In fact, the technology is ready whenever the political courage can be mustered. Ex e c u t i v e Di r e c t o r ...... Willa Mays Di r e c t o r o f Pr o g r a m s ...... Matt Wasson When Jules Verne wrote science fiction about a trip to the moon150 years ago, he envisioned Ca mp a i g n Di r e c t o r ...... Lenny Kohm Americans as the people most capable of In-Ho u s e Co u n s e l ...... Scott Gollwitzer making such a journey. “The Yankees are Wind Farms in Appalachia...... p. 14 OPERATIONS engineers … by right of birth,” he said, and Ope r a t i o n s Ma n a g e r ...... Susan Congelosi Boone, NC Gets a New Windmill...... p.15 he was right. The American passion for sci- Ad m i n i s t r at i v e As s i s t a n t ...... Shay Boyd ence and technology changed the world, A Look at Small Wind...... p. 16 PROGRAMS and eventually, sent rockets to the moon. Na t i o n a l Fi e l d Co o r d i n a t o r ...... Sandra Diaz Remembering the Wooshies of ‘79...... p.17 Le g i s l a t i v e As s o c i a t e ...... J.W. Randolph It’s the same optimism and passion Searching for Conservation Strategies...... p. 18 VA Ca mp a i g n Co o r d i n a t o r ...... Tom Cormons that needs to be kindled for environmental VA Fi e l d Or g a n i z e r ...... Mike McCoy science and renewable energy technol- The Winding Road to Tazewell...... p. 17 No r t h Ca r o l i n a Fi e l d Co o r d i n a t o r ...... Austin Hall No r t h Ca r o l i n a Fi e l d Or g a n i z e r ...... Erica Palmer ogy today. Uppe r Wa t a u g a Ri v e r k eepe r ...... Donna Lisenby Parents, teachers, friends, mentors and others need to set the example and get out the word – Te c h n o l o g i s t ...... Benji Burrell Americans are going to have to sharpen their pencils and put on their thinking caps to meet the chal- IT Spe c i a l i s t ...... Jeff Deal lenges of this century. Co mm u n i c a t i o n s Co o r d i n a t o r ...... Jamie Goodman Ame r i c o r p s La n d o w n e r Ou t r e a c h ...... Amanda Lewis Failure – as a famous NASA engineer engineer once said – is not an option. Ame r i c o r p s Ou t r e a c h As s o c i a t e ...... Sarah Vig -- Bill Kovarik, Editor INTERNS St a n b a c k We b s i t e De v e l o pme n t As s i s t a n t ...... Shiva Dixit Le g a l In t e r n , UNC Sc h o o l o f La w ...... Matthew Dunand Also in this issue: Le g a l In t e r n , UNC Sc h o o l o f La w ...... Nadia Luhr Le g a l In t e r n , UNC Sc h o o l o f La w ...... Casey Weissman-Vermeulen Hiking the Highlands: VA’s Railway Trail...... p. 5 St a n b a c k Le g i s l a t i v e Fe l l o w ...... Bethany Hill Volunteers Put Mtns-To-Sea Trail on the Map...... p. 7 Le g i s l a t i v e In t e r n ...... Sarah Hostyk Vi r g i n i a Gr a s s r o o t s & Re s e a r c h As s i s t a n t ...... Jackie Pontious A Backyard Vegetable Garden ...... p. 8 Across Appalachia...... p. 10 Maria Gunnoe Receives Goldman Award ...... p. 12 Flooding Takes Its Toll in West Virginia...... p. 13 Appalachian Voices Board of Directors NEW! AV Book Club...... p. 20 Ch a i r ------Christina Howe Hollywood in Appalachia...... p. 21 Cover photo: Vi c e Ch a i r ------Heidi Binko The sun shines bright on TVA’s Tr e a s u r e r ------Leigh Dunston Opinions and Editorials...... p. 22 18-turbine Buffalo Mountain Wind Se c r e t a r y ------Matthew Anderson-Stembridge Inside Appalachian Voices...... p. 24 Farm in Tennessee. Photo courtesy At Large: Harvard Ayers, Brenda Boozer, Steve Ferguson, Mary Anne Naturalist’s Notebook - Tall Trees of VA...... p. 27 of Tennessee Valley Authority Hitt, Brenda Huggins, Lamar Marshall, Kathy Selvage, Bunk Spann, Pat Watkins, Jim Webb, Dean Whitworth, Sarah Wootton

Appalachian Voice Distribution VOLUNTEERS: Tom Cook, Kim Greene McClure, Harvard Ayers, Monica Randolph, Steve Moeller, Keisha and Chad, Rose Koontz, Brenda and Larry Huggins, Dean Whitworth, Ruth Gutierrez, Frances Lamberts, Jere Bidwell, Jennifer Stertzer, Mike McKinney, Gary Greer, Ed Clark, Steve Brooks, Gerry and Joe Scardo, Bill Wasserman, Catherine Murray, Gabrielle Zeiger, Colton Griffin, Dave Gilliam, Dave Patrick, Ray Vaughan, Lowell Dodge, Blue Smoke Coffee, Carol Rollman, Dennis Murphy, Linda Milt, Loy Lilley, Ray Zimmerman, Gail Marney, Dr. Emmanuel Mornings, Mark Kidd, Shay Clayton, Bill and Joanne Bell, Charlie Bowles, Dave and Donna Muhley, Brad Wood, Chris Chanlett, Allen Johnson, April Crowe, Jennifer Honeycutt and Jim Dentinger, Jane Branham, Kathy Selvage

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 3

that Eight are Great With tumbling rivers and cool mountain lakes, Appalachia is a paddler’s paradise. We offer a list of eight great destinations.

Story by Tim W. Jackson

hitewater enthusiasts from across the country come to WAppalachia’s rivers for their aquatic adrenaline rushes. Sportsmen often drift in canoes or open kayaks for fish- The Appalachian region is home to numerous ing excursions. A long weekend of canoe whitewater paddling opportunities for camping on a river trip is a perfect getaway New River Ocoee River intermediate and expert level kayaking. Photo by Carl Galie for many outdoors aficionados. Or perhaps North Carolina-Virginia-West Virginia Tennessee a tranquil kayak jaunt around the lake is just The beautiful New, ironically, is The Ocoee has long been a renowned what you need to refresh your batteries. Occasional Class II rapids along the way quite old. Many geologists consider the river for Southeastern paddlers, but the With so many great places to paddle, provide a chance to catch your breath. New to be one of the oldest rivers in the waterway gained worldwide notoriety as it’s tough to narrow down any list of top world. Forming in Ashe County, N.C., it host of whitewater events in the 1996 At- spots, but below we offer a list of perfect Youghiogheny River runs north through southwest Virginia lanta Olympics. The Class III and IV rapids paddling places in Appalachia. Just narrow- Maryland-Pennsylvania-West Virginia and to West Virginia where it eventually that attract many paddlers begin just west ing the list is tough enough, so truly ranking merges with the Gauley and becomes the of Ducktown, Tenn. The primary put-in Commonly known as the Yough, this them seemed impossible. Our list is not in Kanawha River. is the Ocoee Whitewater Center, which is is a tributary of the Monongahela River. any particular order. If you don’t see your The New offers many sections to a federally operated put-in used by com- Various sections of the Yough offer an array favorite paddling destination on the list, paddle and lots of outfitters can help you mercial companies and individuals. of paddling options, but probably the most let us know. We’d love to hear about your plan a trip all along the river’s span. Most The Middle Ocoee offers continuous noted section of the river flows through favorite places to paddle in Appalachia. of the river is fairly placid, with just a few action with mostly Class III rapids, and, Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. Class II and III rapids in Virginia, but the if the water is high, some Class IV runs. Continued on next page Gauley River best-known part of the river to paddlers West Virginia is in the area of the New River Gorge in Home of the Gauley Festival, this river West Virginia where you can sometimes is one of the preeminent whitewater rivers find Class IV+ rapids. in the country. The Upper Gauley offers Class V paddling and should only be ac- Nolichucky River cessed by experts. The Lower Gauley is North Carolina and Tennessee slightly tamer, but its Class III and IV waters The Nolichucky flows through a beau- can still create quite the adrenaline rush. tiful and deep mountain gorge in eastern The Gauley Festival began in 1983 Tennessee and western North Carolina. and has become a showcase for American It offers a variety of paddling from Class Whitewater, which is a national non-profit I rapids around the Nolichucky Gorge organization with a mission “to conserve Campground to the Class IV rapid called and restore America’s whitewater resourc- Quarter Mile. Playboaters will enjoy some es and to enhance opportunities to enjoy time in Jaws and Maggie’s Rock. them safely.” The dates for this year’s festival are Sept. 18-20.

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 4 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Reservoirs and lakes provide excellent nature- Paddling Appalachia whitewater kayakers and rafters as well as watching opportunities and are perfect Continued from previous page canoeists. Occasionally upon dam releases locations for beginners to familiarize themselves to a kayak. Photo by Kent Kessinger or after heavy rains the river can offer a few The Lower Yough begins after the more thrills and spills, but it’s typically a Ohiopyle Falls and flows downstream to good float even for beginners. the Bruner Run take-out. Numerous Class Lake Guntersville III and IV rapids offer thrills generally Alabama to be run only by experienced paddlers. Beginning and intermediate paddlers can Tucked away in northeast Alabama, enjoy the Middle Yough, which starts at the Lake Guntersville is a great recreational Ramcat put-in near Confluence, and ends lake. The primary access point is Lake near the town of Ohiopyle. This section Guntersville State Park, which offers cabins, generally consists of Class I and II waters. chalets, hotel rooms and camping facilities Chattahoochee River in addition to boat launching areas. Georgia As is the case with most lakes of this nature, traffic from motorboats can be an- North Georgia’s Chattahoochee River noying, especially on holiday weekends, but has long been a play place for Atlanta-area during off times the 69,000-acre reservoir can paddlers. Typical paddling runs are from be quite scenic and tranquil. Those who en- Reservoir spans the border between Penn- for someone who might want to spend a Buford Dam at the lower end of Lake joy fishing from a canoe or kayak will enjoy sylvania and New York. In Pennsylvania, long weekend — or even a week — pad- Lanier down to either Settles Bridge or a day — or more — on Lake Guntersville. the reservoir is surrounded by the Allegh- dling and experiencing the outdoors. Abbotts Bridge, but you can also run the Allegheny Reservoir eny National Forest. In New York it’s sur- river closer to Atlanta. If you don’t have Pennsylvania and New York rounded by Allegany State Park and the your own gear, several outfitters in the Allegany Indian Reservation of the Seneca Tim W. Jackson is former Editor of Canoe & In the northern end of Appalachia area will be happy to assist you. Nation. With lots of put-ins and spots to Kayak magazine and is currently the editor lies a body of water that is fantastic for Typically, the Chattahoochee is a camp, the Allegheny Reservoir is perfect of newrivervoice.com. Class I or II waterway and is traversed by canoeists and kayakers. The Allegheny

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Joe Tennis is the author of “Beach to Bluegrass: Places to Hiking the Highlands Brake on Virginia’s Longest Road” (Overmountain Press). Rail-trail leads along Piney River near Virginia’s Blue Ridge Story by Joe Tennis Vi r g i n i a Bl u e Ri d g e Ra i l w a y Tr a i l Easing along the Piney River, the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway HIKING LENGTH: About five miles (one-way) Trail chugs along a historical path, WHERE TO START: The main trailhead at the Piney River Depot is off Route 151. crisscrossing the Amherst-Nelson From US-29, between Amherst and Lovingston, follow VA-151 north (towards Clifford) for seven miles to the depot, on the right. From here, the trail goes county line. This easy to moderate about two miles to another parking area at Roses Mill (or about five miles to rail trail, at five miles in length, its current dead-end on the Martin Farm). was once the path of the Virginia PARKING: No fee required. Blue Ridge Railway. DURATION: Half-day stroll (10-mile roundtrip) or two hours (roundtrip) by bike Trains stopped rolling in INFO: Nelson County Parks & Rec, (800) 282-8223 1981, and that’s when Popie Mar- tin and her husband, Steve, feared The easy Virginia Blue the worst. They had heard the Ridge Railway Trail follows tually reach the Tye River been rebuilt, and Harper hopes to have a new old rail line might be bought by along the Piney River. on an already-rebuilt trestle. section open by Fall 2009. She’s especially various kinds of clubs. Continuing to push forward anxious to show the public the big bridge The Martins became and complete all seven miles overlooking the confluence of the Piney and especially interested, and in-kind volunteer of this rail trail is also a pos- Tye rivers. Popie, meanwhile, sounded ever considering a big chunk work of the Virginia sibility for this trail, said Emily Harper, the hopeful, saying, “We’re really ready to roll of this line rolled within Blue Ridge Railway Director of Recreation for Nelson County. on that last little bit.” eyesight of their home. Foundation. In recent years, several old bridges have “So we bought the right- Along the way, the of-way,” Popie said, “be- Martins won BikeWalk cause it was right across Virginia’s “Community our farm.” Champion” award in That was the mid- 2005, given for their 1980s. Over the next few foresight in buying the years, the couple learned railroad right-of-way, do- of other successful rail-to-trail projects in Vir- nating it to the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway ginia, most notably the New River Trail State Foundation and then continuing work to Park, linking Pulaski to Galax and Fries in make this a trail for everyone. southwest Virginia. They figured they could Originating at the old depot at Piney do the same with this old line. River, this trail lays easy along the often-flat “It’s just such a logical thing to have these waters of the river. It is particularly well- old railroad beds and turn them into trails,” groomed, with a smooth surface of white stone Popie said, smiling. “And this is such a beauti- dust, suited for strolling, horseback riding or ful, easy trail for families. People come every mountain biking. Along the trail, benches are single day and walk every day.” scattered every few hundred yards. Dating back to 1915, the Virginia Blue Eventually, Popie said, the old Piney Ridge Railway was used to haul chestnut logs River Depot at the trailhead could be turned from the Blue Ridge, about the time blight into a museum, showcasing both art and had settled on the fabled tree. Both steam and history. diesel engines pushed cars on this railway, There’s a good chance you’ll spy wild- which claimed to be “The Nation’s Longest life, like white-tailed deer, great blue heron Operating Short Line,” passing places called and red-tailed hawks, hanging out along the Roses Mill and Woodson. In 1997, long after path. You can also wet a fishing line where the trains stopped running, a volunteer group the trail edges close enough to the Piney formed to turn the rail into a trail. River to provide public access. Supported by both Amherst and Nelson After two miles, the trail reaches reach counties, this project has received more than the old settlement of Roses Mill, another $1 million in funding from Transportation stop with a parking area. From here, the trail Enhancement Act grants from the Virginia continues for about three miles through open Department of Transportation. Another fields along the river. $100,000 has come from the Virginia Depart- For now, the trail makes a dead end on ment of Conservation and Recreation, while the farm of the couple that saved the path, more help has poured in from the fundraising but plans call for continuing the trek to even-

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 6 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 7 Volunteers Put New Trail On The Map Story and photo by Sarah Vig The Mountains to Sea Trail is halfway home. With over 500 of its 1000 miles completed, the ambitious project is well on its way to spanning the entire length of Volunteers with the Carolina the state of North Carolina. Mountain Club (left) help to build new The Mountains to the Sea trail in the mountains of North Carolina, Trail (called the MST) owes its bringing the Mountains to Sea Trail nearer start, and continued to exis- to completion. In its completed form (mapped above), the trail will span 1000 miles across the state. tence, to volunteers. Perhaps it is because it is so maintainers. Many of these the best way to do that.” ambitious that it took 20 years volunteers came from hiking Alan, part of the hoisting crew, has for the trail to go from proposal clubs across the state including been going out with the Friday trail crew to possibility. But its allure, and the Carolina Mountain Club for more than six years. “My wife and I the hard work of hundreds of (CMC), the Saura Town Trails strongly believe in volunteer work,” he volunteers across the state are Association and the Carteret explains to me. “I’m giving a gift. This is keeping the dream alive and County Wildlife Club. going to last forever.” bringing the project steadily CMC has three crews Coming Together closer to completion. that go out each Monday, Dixon indicates that the trail is “get- According to Kate Dixon, Wednesday and Friday, plus ting close to completion in the mountains,” Executive Director of Friends a bi-weekly Saturday crew. meaning that from the trail’s starting point of the Mountain to Sea Trail By virtue of their size (usu- at Clingmans Dome in the Great Smokies (FMST), the idea of the MST ally between 10 and 15 people to Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring was first proposed by Howard come out on any given Friday), Gap, N.C., one will soon be able to hike Lee in 1977 at a trails confer- it is the Friday crew that most without ever touching the road. In ad- ence. At that time, Lee served frequently builds new trail, say ing place the MST holds in the hearts of dition, there are two task forces building as the secretary of the North Car- Piet Demhorst, who has headed the crew North Carolina hikers. “ It represents for large sections of trail in other areas: one olina Department of Natural Resources. with another experienced trail builder, a lot of people what they most love about between Blowing Rock and Wilkesboro, 20 years later, trail expert Alan DeHart, Skip, for nine years. North Carolina.” the other between the Triad and the Tri- “essentially got tired of waiting,” says Trail building is multi-step process. Currently the trail has more than 500 angle. These segments are expected to be Dixon. She says DeHart sat down with a After the trail is “blazed” by a team of miles of completed footpath and a nearly finished within the next 5 years. map and figured out how to use existing experienced volunteers, the route is ap- equal length of temporary trail connec- These three areas have been easiest trail systems in the state, back roads and proved by the federal or state officials as tors. The goal, however, is to move the to complete because of the availability of bike paths to complete the statewide trek. well as a biologist and an archaeologist trail entirely off the roads, and volunteer state and federal land. In other areas, such DeHart founded FMST and he and a friend to ensure that no ecologically fragile or task forces across the state are helping it as between Raleigh and New Bern on the became the trail’s first thruhikers. archaeologically important sites are being to move closer to that goal. coastal plain, or between Stone Mountain Since the inaugural hike, enthusiasm compromised. When the route is approved, and the Triad, public land is much harder and support for the trail has only grown. Breaking Ground a small team of people with the required to come by. FMST is working with land “There is a romance to the idea of walking In 2008, the Mountains to Sea trail had certifications uses chainsaws to remove the trusts to encourage donations of ease- across the state,” Dixon says of the endur- around 500 volunteer trail builders and large obstacles in the trail-to-be. A second ments, and with the state to encourage the team uses a hoist to pull the stumps out of purchase of key tracts of land. Recently, the ground, often with the help of a two- the state of North Carolina followed the sided tool called a polaski, which looks like group’s urgings and purchased $8.5 mil- an axe on one side and a pickaxe on the lion in land for the project in Beaufort, Ala- other. A third and final team takes up the mance, Orange and Johnson counties. rear, using hazel hoes and loppers to cut As the trail is under ongoing construc- the trail into the ground and remove roots tion, the FMST encourages hikers who are and smaller trees and plants. planning trips to contact them for updated The act of trail building with its chain- trail information. “Things like camping saws, ripping stumps out of the earth, haven’t been worked out yet,” Dixon and cutting into the hillside can at times says. FMST also sends out an e-mail to its seem almost violent. However, Dixon and listserv every six weeks or so with updates Demhorst both emphasize that a well-built on the newest developments. Interested and consciously placed trail protects the individuals can sign up for the listserv at land. “We want people to be able to enjoy the group’s website, ncmst.org. public land,” Dixon explains, ”trails are

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 8 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e A Backyard Vegetable Garden

Story by Kathleen McFadden According to the National Gardening Talk about a shovel-ready project! Association estimates, a well-maintained Federal legislators may not have had food garden yields about a $500 return. home gardens in mind when they crafted Some folks are keeping small gardens just to save money on growing food the American Recovery and Reinvestment bills, and an expanding number of Act to provide funding for ready-to-go people are growing larger gardens to sell infrastructure projects, but First Lady the surplus, while others simply enjoy Michelle Obama certainly did. Less than easier access to homegrown organic a month after the President signed the produce. Photos by Kent Kessinger. legislation, the First Lady was out on the about genetically altered crops and White House lawn in her tennis shoes, help- market seed suppliers. a back-to-basics mindset have all ing to break ground for an organic vegetable “Gardens inspire the kind of op- contributed to a resurgence of interest garden and making Roger Doiron a very timism the American public is craving in home-grown food. The victory gar- happy man. right now,” said George Ball, chair dens of the 1940s have been reborn in The founder of Kitchen Gardeners Inter- and CEO of the 133-year-old W. Atlee the recession gardens of the 2000s. national, Doiron launched the EatTheView.org Burpee & Co. seed company. “Children Even before the full impact of the campaign during the presidential campaign growing up during this renaissance in recession hit American families, food between Barack Obama and John McCain to vegetable gardening will learn valuable gardening was on the rise. According urge whoever was elected president to lead lessons about nutrition, nature, self- to the National Gardening Associa- by example and plant a garden at the White sufficiency and respecting the earth tion, 2008 saw a 10 percent increase House. More than 100,000 people signed by gardening alongside their parents. in vegetable gardening compared to Doiron’s White House Victory Garden peti- The state of the economy has certainly 2007, and gardeners spent $2.5 billion tion, and the Obamas responded. played a role in the increased interest that year to purchase seeds, plants, Michelle Obama’s foray into edible land- in edible gardening, but folks are not fertilizer, tools and other gardening scaping is not the first time a First Lady has set going to let their vegetable plots go fal- items. such an example. In 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt increase in nearly 30 years. This year, with low when the economy heads north,” In 2009, an estimated 7 million more planted a victory garden at the White House many family breadwinners out of work and Ball continued. “People have an innate desire households will swell the gardening ranks—a to inspire Americans to do the same. They struggling, the idea of offsetting the total on to take control of our own destinies, and veg- 19 percent increase and nearly double the 10 responded. At the peak of the victory gar- the grocery store receipt with some outside etable gardening allows us to do this.” percent growth from 2007 to 2008. As a result, den movement, nearly 20 million gardening work and a few seed packets has been an at- Dr. Marion Simon agrees that the inter- seed companies are reporting double-digit Americans produced an estimated 40 percent tractive proposition—and a financially solid est in home vegetable gardening isn’t just increases in sales this year over last and are of the nation’s fresh fruits and vegetables. one. According to National Gardening As- about the potential savings on the family even selling out of some popular varieties. Although we live in a very different sociation estimates, a well-maintained food food bill. Simon, the state specialist for small Doubtlessly, much of this spike in interest America today, the devastating impact of the garden yields about a $500 return, taking into farms and part-time farmers at Kentucky is economic. According to the U.S. Depart- recession on family budgets, rapidly growing account a typical gardener’s investment and State University, said one of the top reasons ment of Labor, grocery store food prices environmental concerns, increasing worry the market price of produce. people are turning to home food production rose 6.6 percent in 2008, the largest annual But it’s not all about money. Just ask the Continued on next page head of one of the country’s largest home- Head to the Roof with Project EMMA Growing on a roof in downtown Asheville, N.C. are beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, salad mix, radishes, lavender, rosemary, lemon balm, basil and other plants. The result of a partnership between the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project and the Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Project EMMA (for Eat better, Move More, Age well) is located on top of the Battery Park Apartments building. Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC Foundation supplied the grant for the multipartner program. ASAP’s role is to help increase access to local food for residents of two downtown apartment buildings and for clients of the Council on Aging’s Senior Meal Program. The YWCA provides exercise opportunities for seniors. Weekly activities at the roof garden include tea and pesto making, and walking trips to downtown tailgate markets provide an opportunity for seniors to get out for exercise while feasting on local produce. Nutrition talks and simple cooking demonstrations also make eating more fruits and vegetables easy and delicious.

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 9 A Backyard Vegetable Garden said, are the growing interests in eating West Virginia Continued from previous page personal health and economics are locally grown foods, in using organic attracting everyone from high school methods and in protecting wells and is their personal health. Many people Puts Its Money students to young married couples to groundwater from contamination. have told her, she said, that their doctors farmers in their 70s to the monthly work- Home gardens can produce a sig- have recommended home gardens as a shops. Among those motivators, Simon nificant community effect, Simon ex- Where the Food Is good way to help control diabetes and plained. She knows of neighbors who Three farmers’ markets in West Virginia— to tackle weight problems. sell their extra harvest to neighbors, one of them brand-new—will receive up to Simon’s department holds sustain- a factory worker who sells fresh pro- $50,000 in matching funds this year from the able agriculture workshops on the third duce to his co-workers and a number state Department of Agriculture to develop Thursday of every month for people of growers who sell their surplus on year-round farmers’ markets, giving growers large and small additional space and seasons who want to grow small “truck gardens” the side of the road—all growing the to sell their products. that will feed their families and even local market movement, distributing One of the projects will expand the es- yield some surplus to sell. The popular healthy food and making a little extra tablished Community Growers Market from a program attracts about 1,200 people each money at the same time. seasonal market to a year-round market. The year, and its popularity is growing. “A But the best thing about an or- market is operated by Heart and Hand House lot of people are looking at gardens that ganic home garden? Kentucky farmer that works with senior citizens and limited- haven’t looked at them before to save Dana Lear smiled and said, “You can income residents to encourage consumption of money on their food,” Simon said. just pick a snack, wipe if off on your healthy local foods. But several other motivators besides shirttail and eat it.” Since the mid-1990s, the number of farmers’ markets in West Virginia has more than tripled. In 2008, more than 110 farmers’ markets and farm stands were located throughout the state. Shoppers at these markets and the growers that supply them know, just as songwriter Guy Clark does, about the two things that money can’t The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is encouraging the state’s residents to plant edible landscaping. buy: “true love and homegrown tomatoes.” “Vegetable plants have pretty blossoms just like ornamental plants, but they can earn their living. Give them a home in your gardens and they’ll repay you with beauty, plus the freshest, most ripe and flavorful food you can get,” said Rob Beets, the department’s horticulture and produce marketing specialist. And Beets is also encouraging backyard gardeners to buy their vegetable plants from Tennessee growers: “You’ll know the plants haven’t been stressed from too much travel, and that the varieties you choose will grow well here. Plus, if you buy directly from the grower, you can get the absolutely vital information you need to keep plants alive and producing as long as possible.” “Growing your own food gives you a healthy, interesting activity in your own backyard,” Beets continued. “You’ll know exactly how your food was grown and al- ways have it at its peak flavor. Home vegetable gardening is also encouraged as a stress management method, a plus that’s especially useful, nowadays.”

Roger Doiron, the founder of Kitchen flash widget for their blog, social network, Gardeners International and the master- website or newsletter. mind behind the EatTheView.org campaign, The petition urges the first families has come up with another idea: Food Inde- of the 50 U.S. states and territories to pendence Day on July 4. “Whet our appetites by publishing Doiron’s challenge is for your planned menu in advance of each of us to declare our food the holiday. Share your recipes and independence by sourcing the the names of the local farmers, fish- ingredients for our holiday erfolk, and food producers whose meals as locally, sustainably ingredients you’ll be using. Make and deliciously as possible and it into a friendly competition with to ask our nation’s governors to the other first families to see who can do the same. serve the meal that inspires the most while His petition is posted at www.food- traveling the least.” independenceday.org and on Facebook, We’re thinking the Southern governors and he’s encouraging people to spread the have a good chance of winning this compe- word by grabbing one of his buttons or his tition! Let’s make sure they participate.

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 10 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e

Across Appalachia Environmental News From Around The Region Hundreds Protest Duke’s Cliffside Power Plant Expansion Story by Sarah Vig ment in coal-fired electricity generation, Hundreds of concerned citizens from and it is anticipated that much of the North Carolina and from surrounding Thoreau wrote near the end of his life, coal used at the plant would come Appalachian states impacted by “if I repent of anything it is likely to be my mountaintop removal marched in from mountaintop removal mining good behavior.” protest of Duke’s Cliffside plant operations in neighboring Appalachian At 76, Bruce King, a retiree and military expansion on April 20, 2009. Photo by states. This, in addition to growing veteran – like Thoreau – was beginning to Jamie Goodman. concerns about carbon emissions and regret his good behavior. climate change, air quality and coal sions crossed the line spray-painted It was the first formal protest of his life, combustion waste, has led many North on the cement sidewalk to illegally but on the morning of April 19, King joined Carolinians to oppose the plant. trespass on Duke’s private property. more than 200 others who answered the Stop The Coalition’s Call declared that As the rest of the marchers watched, Cliffside Coalition’s “Call to Conscience” in “we cannot be silent as Duke poisons the 44 accepted arrest, one-by-one. Charlotte, N.C. our air, destroys the Appalachian It now stands as the largest ar- The Stop Cliffside Coalition is comprised Mountains, and fans the flames of rest total for civil disobedience on of 10 environmental and citizen advo- climate change for the sake of profit,” climate change in history. cacy groups partnering in opposition to the and King was not the only one partici- shortly before Earth Day, traveled through Though King was not one of 800-megawatt expansion of Duke Energy’s pating who did not fit the typical image of downtown Charlotte, stopping at Governor those arrested, he did feel that this, his first Cliffside Power Plant in Rutherford County, a environmental activist. Purdue’s office and finally reaching the protest in the name of climate change and 50 miles west of Charlotte. The plant’s expan- Of the hundreds of people gathered for Duke Corporate Headquarters. clean air, would not be his last. sion represents a $2.3 billion dollar invest- the protest, many were elderly, clergy and reg- As the group crossed the street to stand in “If I had known this was what protest- ular citizens dressed in their Sunday best. front of Duke Headquarters, their rallying cries ing was like, I would have done it sooner,” The peaceful protest, which took place faded. 44 individuals of all ages and profes- King said. EPA Assumes Oversight of TVA Coal Fly Ash Disaster Story by Chris Martin spill under the Comprehensive Environmental stream of documentation and complaints Response, Compensation and Liability Act, provided by affected residents. To date, EPA On Monday, May 11, the Environmental also known as the “superfund” law. Under the has not interfered with a court order won by Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it terms of a new agreement signed by EPA and TVA prohibiting Landon from conducting air would oversee the cleanup of coal fly ash in TVA, EPA will approve or deny all decisions and water monitoring requested by Roane Roane County, Tenn., after last December’s on the future of the Kingston Fossil Plant’s County residents. dam failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant flood- spill cleanup. The EPA proposal allots $50,000 for an “eli- ed the Emory River with 1.1 billion gallons of United Mountain Defense volunteer gible community group” to hire a technical ad- Used, wet ash. The EPA opened a month-long period Matt Landon expressed criticism of the new visor to review all the documents. The Roane Rare & Out for public comment on changes to the clean-up proposal and of the EPA’s ability to improve County government’s Long-Term Planning proposal, which closed on June 11. on TVA’s mistakes. “Until we see the results of Committee has issued a request for the funds; of Print Books The Obama administration’s new head of their new plan, we’re skeptical,” Landon said. the grassroots Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Specializing in the EPA, Lisa P. Jackson, called the spill “one He attributed the EPA’s decision to the steady Network has also expressed interest. Books about Black of the largest and most serious environmental Mountain College releases in our history” and promised that the EPA would bring its full resources to bear to Coal Slurry Contamination Case Delayed for 2nd Time protect “downriver communities.” Prior to the EPA decision, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Perhaps the third court date will be trial, originally scheduled for February and (TVA) clean-up process had been monitored the charm for the coal slurry contamination then May, was rescheduled once again due by the Tennessee Department of Environment case against Massey Energy in southern to the disastrous floods that rocked West Vir- and Conservation. West Virginia. ginia May 9. The new trial date is expected to TVA’s current plan of dredging the fly The suit, which has more than 500 be sometime in October of this year. ash from the banks of the river had come plaintiffs, brings charges of wrongful death, Meanwhile, the West Virginia State under criticism from many regional scien- personal injury and property damage among Legislature imposed a moratorium on new tists, including Dr. Gregory Button of the others against the company and its subsid- coal slurry injections. A study by the state University of Tennessee. Dr. Button has iary Rawl Sales & Processing. The group is Dept. of Environmental Protection said that Powered suing over alleged contamination of residen- “operators did not conclusively demonstrate Jean & Carl Franklin by (PV) called on TVA to exercise greater caution 103 Cherry Street Solar Cells and seek out further input from environ- tial wells with toxic heavy metals and other that, when slurry is injected into abandoned Black Mountain, NC 28711 mental experts before going through with chemicals from the injection and leakage of underground mines, it remains contained (828) 669-8149 its dredging plan. coal slurry from nearby underground mine and the surrounding hydrologic regime is [email protected] EPA found authority for oversight of the sites into the area’s groundwater supply. The not adversely affected.

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 11 GET INVOLVED Across Appalachia Environmental Events in the Region Some Permits Suspended But Mountaintop Removal Fight Goes On Mountain Aid Festival June 19 & 20 The 1st Annual Mountain Aid concert to fight against The ongoing controversy over moun- “Its great to see that all our work got into a dispute, pounding their fists mountaintop removal coal mining and promote clean en- taintop removal mining see-sawed this is paying off,” said Pete Ramey, retired on the table in disagreement, according ergy will take place June 19-20, 2009 at Shakori Hills Farm spring, as the Obama administration coal miner and president of the group to one news report. in Chatham County, NC. Proceeds will benefit Pennies of stopped seven high-impact mining per- Southern Appalachian Mountain Stew- Just how many of the overall 200 or Promise, a grassroots campaign to construct a new build- mits but then proceeded forward with 42 ards (SAMS). “We’ve spent so much time so permits will be approved is an open ing for Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia. Grammy-winning singer and songwriter and West others. Perhaps 150 more are waiting in the and energy as a community on Ison Rock question. “Of the ones reviewed so far, Virginia native Kathy Mattea will emcee and headline wings, according to an EPA spokesman. Ridge over the last two years, building roughly 90% have been permitted,” said Mountain Aid. Other performers include Ben Sollee, One of the projects halted was an this struggle and getting our neighbors Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va) in a congres- Donna the Buffalo, the Sim Redmond Band, and local expanded mountaintop removal mining involved. This really and truly is a great sional hearing. Perriello asked whether hip-hop favorite The Beast. operation at the Ison Rock Ridge mine in victory for the people and streams of that would be the percentage for the Tickets are $30 at the gate. On-site camping, food and craft vendors will be available. For more details, visit Wise County. Southwest Virginia.” remaining permits. www.mtnaid.com and www.shakorihills.org. The mine owners had proposed ex- Six other projects were suspended in “We’re not shooting for a specific panding Ison Rock Ridge by 1,300 acres, mid-May by the Environmental Protec- percentage,” said EPA assistant secretary CRC Hosts Raptor Release Party July 2 but the permit was suspended because tion Agency, which is reviewing Corps Mike Shapiro. “We’re really shooting to Carolina Raptor Center, based in Huntersville, of concerns about impacts on the Powell of Engineers permits. identify those that are seriously problem- NC, will be hosting a Raptor Release Party where a rehabilitated bird will be set free into the wild. The event River and, according to the Corps of An announcement that EPA was atic and to try and address them.” will celebrate the center’s 25th year, and will take place Engineers, because proper state permits starting the review process in March trig- Activists believe the main hope for the afternoon of Thursday, July 2, in the High Country were not secured. gered some optimism that all mountain- stopping mountaintop removal mining region of North Carolina (exact time and location to The mine would have destroyed top removal mining permits would end, continues to be through Congressional be determined). CRC is dedicated to the conservation three miles of streams and filled nine but political concerns about employment action. of birds of prey through education, research, and the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned raptors. valleys with more than 11 million cubic in the region led EPA to approve 42 of 48 “The bottom line is that we have got Bring your family and friends and come to experi- to pass the Clean Water Protection Act and yards of rock and dirt. Environmental permits under active consideration. ence this one-of-a-kind event! Wine and hors d’oeuvres impacts were not accounted for in the The external controversy was mir- the Appalachia Restoration Act,” said J.W. will be available; admission is free, but donations are Ison Rock permit applications, the Corps rored inside the Obama administration. Randolph, legislative associate for Appala- welcome. For more information, contact Heather Bofill at of Engineers said. At one meeting, two cabinet secretaries chian Voices. 704-875-6521 x 214 or [email protected] or visit their website at www.carolinaraptorcenter.org. The Firefly Gathering, July 9-12 Come learn something new and get in touch with Coal Sludge Protests Rock West Virginia your wild side! The 2nd annual Firefly Gathering July 9-12 features over 50 primitive skills and homesteading Two women in hazmat suits and “So I say to you here, the freedom of stream populations in a risk assessment, classes including bow making, permaculture, black- respirators were arrested in May after Massey is a clear and present danger to according to OSMRE officials. Although smithing, wild food walks, and homebrewing. An excit- floated a 60 foot banner in the Brushy Fork everyone that lives below Brushy Fork. the engineering work is complete, release ing kids program and evening entertainment will also impoundment “lake” which contains 8 Their freedom ends because they have of the study is being held up so that it can be available. Camping is available on site, only 8 miles from Asheville, NC. All pricing is sliding scale. For info billion gallons of coal sludge. put thousands of people at risk.” be reviewed, OSMRE said. visit fireflygathering.org or call (828)230-0960. The banner read: “No More Toxic Massey will be blasting close to the “Given the current state of emergen- Sludge.” Brushy Fork impoundment, which sits cy and severe flooding in West Virginia, To be included in our listing of environmental events Ironically, the two were charged with atop a network of abandoned deep mine we believe that this information has a for the Appalachian areas of VA, WVa, NC, TN and KY, trespassing and littering the 8 billion shafts and tunnels. This, along with the direct bearing on vital issues of public please email [email protected]. Keep in mind that our publication is bi-monthly. Deadline for the next issue gallon sludge reservoir. Other mountain- rainy spring, has led to questions about safety,” Appalachian Voices said in a will be Monday, July 20, 2009 at 5pm. top removal mining and sludge related what the government is doing to survey letter to OSMRE. protests in May included 70 people at the safety of sludge dams. Massey Coal’s Marfork mining complex Sludge study questions raised near Whiteville, WV. Appalachian Voices has filed several One focus of the protests involved the Freedom of Information Act requests to potential of sludge dams to break, killing learn more about how the federal govern- hundreds of people downstream. At one ment is studying the sludge dams. point, hundreds of shoes, representing Until recently, only a handful of the lives that would be lost, were lined randomly selected dams were studied up below a sludge dam. for technical compliance issues, accord- “We live in a free country, and you ing to the federal Office of Surface Mine can go up and down the street swinging and Reclamation Enforcement. A recently your arms as a free person. But if some- completed study focused on the safety of body comes along, and you hit that per- 15 high-risk sludge dams and their poten- son in the nose, your freedom ends where tial for breakthrough into nearby mines. that person’s nose begins,” said former The study, will be the first to combine West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler. elements of dam volume and down-

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 12 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Mountaintop Removal Activist Receives Goldman Environmental Prize Maria Gunnoe’s family connections to hollow behind my homeplace. I was and hid in these hills and hollows. Are her land in Boone County, W. Va, stretch seriously and adversely impacted we at a point in this society where we’re back to Cherokee ancestors who hid from by mountaintop removal flooding in willing to continue forced removal of forced removal by the government in the 2003; it literally washed away acres of people for extractive industries? It’s not 1830s. Her Cherokee grandfather pur- my land. Through trying to find some- only here in West Virginia. It’s bad here chased land there in the 1950s; she herself body that cared, I met Judy Bonds … in the Appalachian region, but the ex- was born and raised there, learning how shortly after [she] had been awarded tractive industries, they’re undermin- to hunt, fish and gather plants in the sur- the Goldman Award. Judy helped to ing everything in one way or another rounding forest. educate me on local issues and we’ve for one process or another. Somewhere Since 2000, when a 1200-acre moun- worked together ever since. we’ve got to get ‘em in check. The im- taintop removal mine site began operating The Goldman Award has defi- pacts are most present here, but really on the ridge above her home, Gunnoe has nitely changed my life ... It puts a we’re selling off our children’s future watched that land she is so deeply con- huge demand on your time but it also for luxury, and it’s insane. nected to be ravaged. Floods began to hit sheds a huge light on the issue and her property with increasing frequency, right now is a crucial time to shine What can we hope for from the eventually destroying her ancestral home the light on the issue of mountaintop Obama administration? and contaminating her family’s well with removal coal mining. I feel like the In order to fight this fight you mine waste in 2003. current administration is the most have to be hopeful. You have to move Gunnoe has since become a staunch hope that we’ve had in a long time. A tireless fighter for Appalachia’s environment, Maria Gunnoe forward knowing that what you’re advocate in her community, working with I feel like the fact that the Goldman was awarded the 2009 Goldman Prize for “fighting against doing number one is the right thing, environmentally-devastating mountaintop removal mining Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition on family chose me as the 2009 Goldman and you have to know that there will the need for safety regulations for coal winner really sheds the light on the and valley fill operations.” Her advocacy with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition has led to stricter regulations for the be an end to it. […] My common sense slurry and an end to mountaintop removal issue at a very crucial time. industry, but she endures constant threats and harrassment from way of looking at it tells me “Okay, mining. Her leadership at the grassroots neighbors who work in the mines. Photo by Jamie Goodman when is enough enough?” I mean, level on this issue led to her selection as the Have there been any hopeful it’s a process that has got to stop, it’s so horrible that people literally had to winner of the 2009 Goldman Environmen- signs from the EPA recently? just a matter of how many mountains will leave in order to protect their health. tal Prize for North America. The award, [EPA’s contradictory statements on be sacrificed before we get it stopped? We Now what it’s doing on the ground, given to a grassroots environmental hero changes to the review process for permits] will stop it because myself and Judy and so it’s extremely and permanently affecting on each of six continents every year, was created not only confusion, it’s also cre- many people and really around the world residents and communities here. There’s created by Robert Goldman and his wife ated just a mass extraction here, the coal are literally doing everything they can to literally communities that are disappear- Rhoda in 1990. industry’s speeding up if anything. Un- stop this process. Unfortunately, very few ing into nonexistence. What [the EPA is] Gunnoe answered questions from Ap- fortunately, with the coal industry while of them are in Washington, D.C. investigating or what they’re looking at palachian Voices and other media about their laws--the laws that supposedly guide is on paper. If you come into these com- the prize and the issues she works on in them-- [...] are being reviewed, they’re al- munities and you see for yourself what is Do you have any words of wisdom a May 13 interview sponsored by Orion lowed to move forward. for us moving forward? going on, just the human side of you tells Grassroots. In Lindytown-- that’s in Boone County you that this is wrong. I mean what’s going I think our youth is very much a part near a town called Twilight--the houses in on on paper is one thing but what’s going of our future, and I think it belongs more Where did you first hear about this town are being torn down, and that’s on on the ground... (sigh) to them than us [...] Educating the youth is the Goldman Prize and how has it because of the fact in order to get to the […] It is a human rights issue […] My critical because they need to […] recognize affected you? coal they’re having to swing the arm of the family ended up here through the removal their consumption and connect it to what’s The first I heard about [the Goldman dragline over the top of this community. of the Cherokee from the southern valued going on. Beginning this will start in the Prize] is of course when the mountaintop So the coal company came in and forc- lands, and when they were forcibly removed college and in the schools, as children are removal and flooding and sludge injec- ibly bought people out-- and I say forcibly from that land, they followed the rivers […] growing up. tion and all of the above moved into the because they made the quality of life there A GREAT SOURCE FOR LOCAL FOOD! u ou M sic from the M ntains Offering a diverse mix of music and informative programming for the diverse heart of Appalachia. Broadcast from Your listener supported radio, WMMT. the Appalshop

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Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 13 Flooding Takes Its Toll In West Virginia Coalfields’ lack of ground cover worsens flood Story by Penny Loeb whelmed design controls. However, none of the recommendations on logging passed the Tina England knows why flood waters legislature. The Division of Forestry doesn’t rose seven feet on the road up Big Huff Creek: have enough inspectors to monitor all active recent logging and new roads to gas wells at logging, Pierce said, let alone check reclama- the top of the mountain. tion. Gas-well roads can funnel high water to “Coming off a big mountain like this, the wrong places, he said, and rock fills under there’s nothing to hold it (the dirt from the roads can liquefy in storms. roads) back,” England said. “All these little After the 2001 flood, a task force recom- hollows feed down to Huff Creek. It was like mended a number of measures to control a dam let loose.” damage from flooding. In addition, a 2000 Flooding led state officials to declare a federal law requires all states and counties to state of emergency in parts of West Virginia make, and regularly update, hazard mitiga- in early May. tion plans. Though flooding is listed as the This was the 19th flood in 11 years to number one hazard in Mingo, no mitigation hit Mingo County and surrounding areas of projects had been placed in these flooded southern West Virginia’s coalfieds, and the areas, said Jimmy Gianato, director of the worst since four terrible consecutive years, West Virginia Division of Homeland Secu- beginning July 8, 2001. rity and Emergency Management, who was This year’s storms smashed mobile emergency director in Kimball in McDowell homes, tore away nearly 500 private bridges County when it was hit hard in 2001 and across creeks to homes, and covered miles of 2002. Since much of the flooded area isn’t yards in more than a foot of mud along Huff, This house, near Varney, W. Va., was heavily impacted by the fast-moving floodwaters that hit in federally mapped flood plains, Gianato Gibert and Pigeon creeks. southern Mingo County communities suddenly in May. Private bridges, roads and homes were said, construction limitations don’t apply. After the 2001 flood, filmmaker Bob affected throughout the area. Photo by Sarah Vig One quandary will be how to require better- Gates and I spent months investigating land designed private bridges, he said. disturbances above the flooded areas. At On Big Lick Fork, south of Baisden, cases could take several years. State mitigation officials also plan to nearly four dozen severely flooded areas, we Bonnie Mounts believes an old gas-well road State officials who deal with floods work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found old and new mining, slag piles, logging caused the slide that just missed her house, attribute much of the damage to the storm on computer models for ways to prevent or gas-well roads, all documented at www. but plowed into the one next door, making falling on ground saturated by nearly a week future damage. wvcoalfield.com. Though neither Bob nor it uninhabitable. A neighbor who had ridden of lighter rain. “You don’t have run off until Another option is moving people out of I could spend as much time examining the an ATV up the road said drainage had been infiltration capacity is at the maximum,” flood-prone areas. The Mingo County Redevel- recent floods, we were curious whether land rerouted about five years ago, and the hill said Jim Pierce, who headed DEP’s 2001 opment Authority expects to have affordable disturbances were involved this time, and had been sliding ever since. flood study. May 9’s peak rainfall of 3.95 housing built within two years on mountain- whether control measures, passed after the Massey Energy has mountaintop mines inches in Pineville was less than the 5.32 top removal sites on Horsepen Mountain, near 2001 floods, had helped reduce damages. along about five miles of Gilbert Creek. inches at Mullens in 2001. Gilbert and Huff the King Coal Highway and Twisted Gun golf Everywhere we went, residents pointed Mounts’ daughter believes her damage, on Creek were in a band of 2.75 inches. course. Bonnie Mounts, who runs the restau- out land disturbances, which we then exam- Pickering Creek, came from runoff from Nonetheless, Pierce believes better runoff rant at the golf course, said she’d love to move ined. Timbering above Big Huff creek is not Massey’s Frasure Creek mine, which had controls are needed for logging and gas-well to housing on high ground. a pretty site. Loggers had used newly built begun work in her area. Across from Mounts’ roads. In 2003, DEP did win passage of strong gas-well roads as access to a half dozen log- own home, a narrow gully turned into a storm water controls for mining, includ- ging areas. Few of best management practices roaring river for two days after the storm. ing revised valley fill design. For the most Penny Loeb is a journalist and the author of required by the Division of Forestry appeared Her son-in-law, who had worked for Frasure part, Pierce said, they work, though there Moving Mountains: How One Woman and to have been used. The dirt roads had not Creek, said the runoff came from the mine. A were a few places where storm water over- Her Community Won Justice from Big Coal. been reseeded. Rather than recommended new valley fill can be seen behind the Bais- gentle slopes and curves, roads were steep den firehouse. Mounts said it washed out in and straight, funneling water straight down a previous storm, and again on May 9. No the mountain. violations were issued there, but a Massey Along Route 52 near Varney, only a few mine was cited for flood damage in Rawl. Voted best barbeque gravestones at the Marcum Cemetery still Homeowners have been disappointed stand in a sea of rocks and dried mud that by the response from the Federal Emer- in the region spilled out of the mountain and blocked the gency Management Agency. Though 2,800 road for nearly a day. I hiked about 2,000 people have applied for help in southern by Appalachian Voices’ feet to the top of the hollow, climbing over West Virginia, and FEMA has examined crack staff of tasters! huge trees and boulders tumbled into the 2,200 buildings, people are reporting FEMA Hwy 321 Bypass tiny stream. At the top, I could see a new sometimes offers only $5,000 for severe Blowing Rock,North Carolina gas-well road cut around the hill, supported damage. In earlier floods, many victims by a tiny valley fill, which appeared to have (828) 295-3651 were never fully compensated. The best www.woodlandsbbq.com partly collapsed into the stream. A violation hope may lie with lawyers who have been was issued for the erosion. approaching flood victims—though court Open for lunch and dinner. Closed Mondays.

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 14 Th e Ap p a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Th e Ap p a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 15

Crystal Simmons, project manager for ASU’s wind turbine installation, holds An Old Source of Energy a turbine model at approximately the location where the windmill will peek over Appalachian ind Sparks A New Controversy the trees. Photo by Jamie Goodman

indmills were once common in the US and Europe, used for grinding grain, pumping water and sawing timber. WMAP KEY WOne of the first large transitional wind experiments took place in Boone in the late 1970s (See Whooshies, p. Existing or under construction 16). Long a symbol of “quixotic” ambitions, today they are making a solid comeback, raising new economic hopes Proposed or not yet -- and environmental concerns -- in Appalachia and across the country. The promise of wind electricity is that under construction Stalled or rejected of low-carbon footprint energy, but the concern involves birds and bats. Although far more birds and bats at this time die from other causes, the concern is real, and new regulations and guidelines are an important step (See Scientists Search, p. 18). Other concerns include viewsheds and zoning (See Tazewell, p. 19). Projects now under way will provide experience to guide the long term future for wind in Appalachia.

The Basics of Wind Generated Electricity

A single 1.6 megawatt wind turbine* will save: What a wind turbine costs • Ten acres of Appalachia from mountaintop removal mining; In an analysis of the Coal River Mountain wind farm proposal, Appalachain Wind energy on the • 80 million gallons of water; Voices in Summer 2008 concluded that electricity from wind would cost • Pollution from 600 tons of sulfur and nitrogen dioxides only 9.4 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 12.6 cents per kilowatt hour • Pollution from 10,000 tons of ash and slag; for coal, given simply the investment, maintenance, capacity and fuel costs horizon for Boone, • Pollution from seven pounds of mercury and four pounds of lead for both. Subsidies for wind power, and additional costs for pollution control • 17 tons of fine particles causing respiratory disease and carbon capture, would simply increase the disparity. Wind energy, NC residents • 1.25 million tons of carbon dioxide contributing to climate change today, is cheaper than new coal fired electrical generation.

Using conservative 20 year lifespan and 40% efficiency; note that larger tur- Wind turbine energy payback Project’s leaders hope to educate bines being introduced will increase the savings. Figures extrapolated from The energy consumption for manufacturing wind power plant compo- “The side effects of a coal plant” by the Union of Concern Scientists and from students and community Life Cycle Analysis by Vestas Wind Systems. Ten acres of land assumes 4 nents, transportation to a site, and installation, dismantling and scrapping acres of direct substitution and another 6 acres for associated valley fill and of an onshore turbine is about 3.4 million kWh. In contrast, the annual Story by Sarah Vig other irreversible disturbances. Sources: www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/ power production, at about a 40% efficiency, is about 5.9 million kilowatt coalvswind/brief_coal.html; www.infra.kth.se/fms/utbildning/lca/projects%20 The neighbors are happy, the permits are signed, the money is 2006/Group%2007%20(Wind%20turbine).pdf hours, resulting in a payback within 210 days. down, and the foundation is curing. Everything is in order, and by mid-June, Appalachian State University will be home to the largest wind turbine in North Carolina. The turbine, a NorthWind 100, will Wind Farms In Southern Appalachia be erected in mid-June behind the Broyhill Inn and Conference Cen- Total installed U.S. wind capacity at the end ter on ASU’s campus. The turbine is a project of ASU’s Renewable Virginia Wise County Beech Ridge, Greenbriar Co. Proposed – Unknown number of units Under construction – 119 units, 186 MW Energy Initiative with additional funding from New River Light of 2008 was 25,170 MW, or enough to Mountaineer, Tucker Co. Developers: British Petroleum and Developer Invenergy and Power and the ASU Class of 2009. Installed in 2002 -- 44 NEG Micon Dominion The Renewable Energy Initiative plans and implements renew- Pinnacle, Mineral Co. units, 66 MW able energy projects on ASU’s campus through funding from a five serve the equivalent of over 7 million average Developer Atlantic Renewable Energy, Great North Mtn Proposed – 23 wind units, 55 MW owner FPL Energy Cost: $120 million dollar student fee instituted by ASU students in 2005. The group (near Harpers Ferry) Developer US Wind Force Rejected – 131 units, 215 MW has supported biofueled busses in Boone and photovoltaic instal- U.S. households (17 million people). Highland New Wind Developer: FreedomWorks LLC Coal River Mountain, lations, but this will be their first wind turbine. (Source: American Wind Energy Association) Highland Co. The group made concerted efforts to go about their planning Approved 2007, – 20 units, 40 MW West Virginia Boone County Detailed monitoring and mitigation pro- Proposed - 164 units, 328 MW in a manner that would include the community as well as being as gram required by state of VA Mount Storm, Grant Co. Developer – Coal River Wind scientifically accurate as possible. Learning from the resistance other Wind turbine carbon footprint compared Not yet under construction Installed 2006 – 82 Gamesa units, 164 wind projects have been met with in Western North Carolina, the Developer: Highland New Wind Devel- MW; Installed 2008 – 50 Gamesa with other energy sources ** opment units, 100 MW Tennessee group made sure to get the project’s neighbor—in this case the Broy- • Coal = 960 grams of CO2 equivalent per kWh ** Median of estimates according to Sovacool, B. Owner: Shell Wind and Dominion Energy Buffalo Mountain, Anderson Co. hill Inn—on board before going through the permitting process. • Gas = 443 Energy Policy 36, 2950–2963 (2008). See: www.nature. Tazewell County, Installed in 2000 -- 3 Vesta units, 1.98 The area adjacent to the Broyhill Inn was a somewhat obvious com/climate/2008/0810/full/climate.2008.99.html AES Lauren Mountain, MW – TVA; Installed in 2004 – 15 • Nuclear = 66 * East River Mountain choice to host the turbine, because it is simply the best wind site on Proposed -- 30 units, 60 megawatts Barbour Co. Vesta units, 27 megawatts • Solar photovoltaic = 32 university-owned land. The site has high class 2/low class 3 wind, Developers: British Petroleum and Approved – 65 units, 130 MW Developed for Tennessee Valley Author- • Wind energy = 10 ity, owner Invenergy Dominion Developer Laurel Mountain Continued on next page

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 16 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e APPALACHIAN WIND: Good Things Come in Small Packages

Story by Sarah Vig This 10 kilowatt Bergey turbine, erected by a family in Though the image of large industrial-scale Haywood County, NC, generates approximately 14,000 wind turbines has become common, seen on kilowatt hours per year—more than enough electricity to PowerShift T-shirts and sprouting out of corn- power the family’s home. Excess electricity is then sold back fields in Iowa and mountains in Tennessee alike, to the grid. Total cost for the system was approximately not every wind turbine towers on the skyline. $40,000. Photo courtesy of NC Green Power Wind turbines are made in a number of smaller sizes, more suitable for residential ap- see Valley Authority’s Green Power Switch Program plication and adaptable to different average wind or NC Green Power. These programs offer a three to speeds. This allows home or property owners to four cent premium payment per kilowatt hour above invest in and generate their own power. the standard rate for green power generators. “Small wind” is generally regarded as any Battery charging turbines can be useful for re- turbine less than 100 kilowatts, but turbines as mote locations or entirely off-grid systems, which small as 40 watts can provide enough electricity typically use a combination of renewable energy to pump water. technologies and energy efficiency to first reduce At the small wind research and development and then meet energy demands. Battery-charging site on Beech Mountain near Banner Elk, N.C., a systems can also be useful for very low-demand small number (usually between three and five) sites such as boats. of these smaller turbines are running simultane- Smaller wind turbines allow individuals ously. Here, small wind turbine manufacturers to take green power generation into their own can donate models to be tested by Appalachian hands, deciding what size and type of turbine State University students, faculty and staff for suits their needs and best takes advantage of their reliability and performance. wind resource. Depending on their size and site, the tur- According to a representative from the Small bines can either be grid-tied or used as battery Wind Initiative, small wind turbines can work chargers. on any site with at least Class 2 wind resources A grid-tied system is eligible for subsidies from (average wind speeds of five mph at 10 meters up green power purchasing programs, such as Tennes- and over six mph at 50 meters up).

Wind Energy for Boone from students, alumni, administration, neighbor, a site that raised no viewshed explains, “to offset the university’s use of Continued from previous page community members, and even Boone’s issues or objections from the 1983 Ridge fossil fuels and to serve as outreach and mayor. Simmons said the response was Law, which prohibits structures that rise education to students.” meaning at 50 meters up the wind blows at so positive she was “kind of shocked,” above 500 feet from the adjacent valley Though class 2 wind is not as ideal as an average of 6 miles per hour. These wind expecting to have had some skeptics in floor and—though it provides an exemp- class 4 or 5, the wind turbine will do some speeds are right at the threshold rate for the the audience. tion for “windmills”—has been used by to offset the university’s fossil fuel use, pro- turbine to produce power. Admittedly, the project did not have opponents to argue against wind power viding almost 14,000 kilowatts of electricity “Getting your neighbors on board is to face some of the obstacles faced by on peaks, and a mission that goes beyond in each year of its 20-25 year lifespan. Even extremely important,” explains project many other wind projects. REI had the economic payback. selling the power back to the grid at 10 cents manager Crystal Simmons. Though she said benefit of a supportive landowner, a single “REI’s mission is two-fold,” Simmons per kilowatt hour, the turbine will never Broyhill Inn manager Doug Uzelac came in pay back the $520,000 cost of the project in with some reservations, after hearing REI’s simple financial terms. According to Sim- proposal and seeing their research—which mons, the costs averted by generated green included studies on noise, migratory bird and power are more than just a few cents per bat patterns, ecologically sensitive lands and kilowatt hour. “When you determine the flicker effects­—he agreed to be on board. costs of [wind] power, you don’t have to After Uzelac’s approval, the group factor in the price for the children who have got the necessary zoning permits and ap- asthma, etc.,” she says. provals from the university, found a local Beyond kilowatt hours, the REI and contractor to do all the onsite work, and the university hope that the presence of a held a community forum in early March to turbine on campus will show students and present information and hear any concerns. community members what wind power The forum turned up only positive remarks today looks like. “Wind in our region has to overcome perception,” Simmons says, Local contractors lay the foundation for a new “as we see projects actually happen we’ll wind turbine on Appalachian State University’s see perception adjusted. People will say campus in Boone, N.C. The foundation had to ‘It’s not so bad, and, it’s actually good,’ cure one month before the turbine can be erected. or ‘Hey, this is not that big old thing on Installation is scheduled to start right after press Howard’s Knob.’” time. Photo courtesy of Crystal Simmons Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 17 APPALACHIAN WIND: Remembering the Whooshies of ’79 Appalachia’s first industrial NASA’s MOD-1 experimental windmill was dedicated scale windmill attracted praise, on Howard’s Knob, in Boone, NC, July 11, 1979. It condemnation and cranks represented the alternative response to the energy crisis and was one of the first major experiments in commercial Story by Bill Kovarik scale wind power in the US. It was dismantled in 1983, although it could have been repaired for a fraction of its They said that Boone, NC’s wind turbine didn’t original cost, partly because of noise and partly because work, that it was too loud, and that, like some kind design questions had been answered. A new generation of of gigantic drunk, it attracted wierdos. wind turbines would face upwind, use closed towers and Well, two out of three. employ a better-balanced sets of three blades instead of two. Appalachia’s first wind power project, built Photo by NASA, courtesy of The Mountain Times in 1979, did work – sort of. The $30 million twin bladed NASA turbine did generate two megawatts into the local grid for a while. faced answer that they were “Whooshies,” and When it was dedicated on July 11, 1979, it was that they worshipped the great windmill god hailed as one of the experimental energy technolo- “Nay-zuh” (the windmill had “NASA” written gies that would “break the OPEC stranglehold.” on it) because it “brought energy from the heavens But it was outdated when it was built, and down to the peoples of Earth.” within a year, its operations would be curtailed “With the TV cameras rolling, these Boonenites on weekends because of an “annoying, swishing proceeded to act the perfect fool.” Apparently the TV noise” that affected people and TV reception. crew fell for the tale. By 1983, it was shut down and sold for about The take-down $50,000 – the value of its scrap metal, and called a “failed experiment.” The immediate reason for dismantling MOD-1 Historian Natasha Thompson rejected that was the failure of 22 bolts in the drive shaft. With conclusion in a 2003 paper. “Despite the problems repair costs approaching $500,000, the Dept. of that plagued the project… the Mod-1 project did Energy decided it would cut its losses and take not deserve its reputation as a complete failure,” the windmill down. Thompson said. “The machine provided scientists But the shift in the nation’s political mood was with important information on the feasibility of us- an even more important factor. With the election ing wind turbines to generate electricity.” of Ronald Reagan, budgets for renewable energy research were slashed and even the solar collectors The times they were And so, NASA engineers who thought they under- were taken off the roof of the White House. a’changin’ stood aerodynamics found they had their hands full trying The windmill came down in 1983, much to the chagrin Boone’s MOD-1 windmill was one of a series of ex- to understand the dynamics of wind machines. The attempt of the Whooshies, who lost the object of their worship, periments into wind power that were a reaction to the two to design a wind machine from the top down had proven but who are still remembered in the bars and blogs of OPEC oil price shocks of the 1970s. far more difficult than expected. Boone, NC. Originally designed by NASA at the height of the space A second and third line of MOD turbines followed, and program using high-tech contractors, four “Mod-O” wind Wooshies take the stage all were dismantled after a few years of operation. The gov- turbines of increasing size were built in Ohio and New Marie Freeman, a photographer at Appalachian State ernment’s wind research program, by the 1987, had crested Mexico. The Boone MOD-1 windmill was to be the first University, remembers the times on Howard’s Knob $427 million at a time when commercial wind farms were of an industrial line of turbines. fondly. already under development in California and Europe. The MOD-1 design was based on a German design. “The views from the Knob were fantastic at the time so The MOD program was one of the most spectacular It had two blades facing downwind and a cross-braced it became a sort of lover’s lane,”Freeman said. “We would research failures in history, wrote Paul Gipe in the 1995 tower which created a large wind ‘shadow’ – a problem hike up the mountain, stare in amazement at the gigantic book, Wind Energy Comes of Age. Research in Germany that had been noticed on a MOD-0 model but not corrected. windmill, then watch the sunset on the town of Boone.” and the US was channeled through large corporations and Another problem was that the MOD-1’s blades were made Freeman and Boone native Tony Hagler nearly made approached on a theoretical basis, with almost no guidance from steel, not the fiberglass composite first envisioned. a faux-documentary about the adoration that the windmill from practical experience. A third problem, according to wind historian Darrell created. It was to be entitled “Whither the Whooshies?” In contrast, Danish windmills, which now dominate M. Dodge, was that the in borrowing the German design, “Sadly, in those pre-video days, the costs (of a film) the world wind energy industry, were developed from NASA engineers did not notice that a flexible hub was used proved beyond my fund-raising abilities,” Freeman said. small, reliable crafts techniques that were gradually scaled between the top of the tower and the generator housing But one notable event, Freeman said, was the reaction up, Gipe said. called the nacelle. The combination of the three problems when Appalachian State University students heard about Historian Matthias Heymann reached a similar conclu- created enormous stresses on the machine. the arrival of a TV camera crew on the Knob. sion, calling the top-down research program an example “NASA engineers were astounded by the huge dy- “The townies/students moved quickly, donning bed- of “technological hubris” in a 1998 article in “Technology namic loads (generated) whenever a blade entered the sheets and beads, picking up drums and whatnot, and then and Culture.” dead space behind the tower,” Dodge said. racing up the mountain so that when the film crew arrived In the end, the Howard’s Knob wind project not only The initial response was to downsize the generator at the top of the Knob, they found a bunch of freaks sitting helped the country learn about wind power, but also taught from 2 megawatts to 1.5, which allowed a slowing of the around chanting prayers.” a valuable lesson about the need to integrate ground-up turbine speed from 35 rpm to 23 rpm. The downsizing “When the TV people asked them who they were and technical know-how with top-down theory. eliminated most of the noise complaints. what they were doing, the locals gave them the straight-

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 18 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e APPALACHIAN WIND: Scientists Search for Conservation Strategies

properly-sited wind power as a clean to reduce bird deaths have been worked Story by Bill Kovarik Townsend’s alternative energy source that reduces the out in court, but (as Dawn Stover Increasing numbers of windmills will big-eared bat. threat of global warming.” In a statement, notes in this issue) the road Photo by Bureau of pose threats to bats and migratory birds, the society said that wind power facilities to compromise has been Land Management scientists have warned in recent years, “should be planned, sited and operated rocky. unless conservation strategies are put on ridgelines are a to minimize negative impacts on bird and Offshore wind into place. particular problem for wildlife populations.” farms may be among Many states, including Virginia, are Appalachia. One 2005 Perhaps the worst example of wind the safest kinds of beginning to include stringent monitoring study found that during a farms affecting bird populations comes developments for birds. In a study pub- and mitigation plans in the wind energy six-week study period, 398 from California, where over 5,000 wind lished in March 2009, Peter Rothery and permitting process, and a set of federal bats were killed at the Mountaineer wind turbines in the Altamont pass have killed colleagues observed offshore wind farms guidelines from the US Fish and Wildlife farm in West Virginia and 262 bat fatali- over 26,000 birds in the past 20 years, ac- near Blyth, England for 26 months before Service is under development. ties were observed at the Meyersdale, Pa. cording to the Audubon Society. Strategies turbine construction, seven months dur- In a 2006 study of windmills and bird wind facility. The study found that the ing construction, and 32 months after conservation, the National Acad- deaths were not clustered around specific For more information construction. No collision deaths emy of Sciences pointed out that turbines, but rather tended to occur on Bat Conservation International were observed over 352 hours. “Most millions of birds are killed each specific days and in early evening, when www.batcon.org seabirds flew below the height of the year by cars, airplanes, tall build- food and other conditions brought large Audubon Society rotor blades,” Rothery said. ings, power lines and cell towers. numbers of bats near the turbines. Re- www.audubon.org/campaign/windPowerQA.html Wintering farmland birds in Similar studies by the National searchers also found that bats were some- National Wind Coordinating Collaborative Europe are also not affected by wind Wind Coordinating Collaborative times attracted to wind turbines. www.nationalwind.org farms, according to an article in the found that cats, buildings, hunt- This has led to recent research into Journal of Applied Ecology by CL ers, vehicles and cell towers killed US Fish & Wildlife Service wind energy guidelines using high frequency sounds to make tur- www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.html Deveraux, who said, “This should be over 1 billion birds in the U.S. bines less attractive to bats (by ultrasound) welcome news for nature conserva- every year. Opposing some wind development and use of radar to decrease speed or shut www.vawind.org tionists, wind energy companies and In 2007, the Audubon Society down wind turbines during periods of policy-makers.” said that it “strongly supports Promoting some wind development high bat activity. www.awea.org Bat populations that congregate

Western North Carolina Renewable Energy Initiative 2009 Renewable Energy Workshops

June 19 - 20 - Community -Scale BioDiesel Production

July 17 - 18 - Micro-Hydro Power with Brent Summerville

August 22 - Solar Thermal with Brian Raichle

August 26 - PV and the National Electric Code with John Wiles

September 12 - Small Wind with Brent Summerville

September 26 - 27 - Solar Thermal with Chuck Marken

Register at Bachelors and Masters degree programs available wind.appstate.edu [email protected] 828-262-2744

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 19 AppalachiaN Wind: The winding road to Tazewell Story by Bill Kovarik is not an exception,” Madden said. “It receives two cents per kilowatt hour for The two-lane road to Tazewell, Va. “Everybody says they’d “We feel our 10 years. But, the subsidies received by fades to gray like a pair of blue jeans in an like to see more economic mountains are wind energy and all renewable energy old photo. It winds past small but prosper- industries are miniscule compared to the ous homes, along pastures rimmed with development ... We need beautiful and should subsidies that are provided for other en- split rail fences, and through some of the to start with green energy.” be protected.” ergy sources.” most beautiful mountains in Appalachia. The reaction from the crowd was loud Once it simply connected this quiet — Alex Payne — Frazier Miller moaning and shouts of “you’re wrong” town to the nearby coalfields and the and “that’s not true.” In response, the outside world. son, have a more nuanced position. “I am living, so the very large setbacks from prop- chairman pounded the gavel and shouted: Today, the road to Tazewell leads to not against wind energy -- I just don’t see erty lines are not necessarily safety oriented. “Please be quiet in the audience.” a crossroads of a contentious energy and how this project will benefit anyone but The effect of requiring a 1,200 foot setback “Many of us believe that the only real environmental debate. BP [or] Dominion,” she said. Since they from a property line, without the possibility future for us economically is the tourist Earlier this year, Richmond, Va.-based have made no promises to stop coal use, of permission from the landlord, would be industry,” said Tazewell resident Teresa Dominion Power and British Petroleum she believes the project “will not stop or to make the wind farm impossible, BP wind Paine. “When I first heard about this proj- (BP) announced the purchase of 2,500 acres even reduce one single ounce of CO2 or developer Jim Madden said. ect I was heartsick. It’s not just a matter of mountain and proposed the Bluestone prevent mountaintop removal.” In a planning commission hearing in of losing the value in my property that Wind Project – a 60 megawatt, 30 windmill The wind project is one of two planned May, many people in the audience seemed I have poured so much of my time and development along the ridgeline of nearby by BP and Dominion for Virginia. The to believe that wind turbines require more financial resources into. I also love East East River Mountain, a ridgeline that runs other will be located in Wise County. energy than they produce. When Madden River Mountain in a way that I can only south of Bluefield and Tazewell, Va. One Wise County resident saw the insisted that wind turbines were net en- describe to you as spiritual.” Dominion is one of the nation’s larg- wind project in a different light. “Over 20 ergy positive, several dozen people in the “Wind power is being forced on the est electrical utilities, running hundreds percent [of Wise County] has been strip crowd groaned, saying “that’s not true.” American people without regard to the of nuclear, coal, and gas generating fa- mined,” said Henry Oppenheimer. “We In the same planning commission negative fallout of wind turbines,” said cilities. BP is one of the world’s largest oil live in ground zero for coal production in hearing, Madden was asked about wind Bluefield resident Frazier Miller. “We feel companies. The two energy giants have the U.S. Our county is sick, our streams power subsidies. “Every source of energy our mountains are beautiful and should partnered on several other wind facilities are dead and our people are suffering. Our receives a federal subsidy--wind energy be protected.” in other states, but the Tazewell project is water supply is being poisoned every day. the first in Virginia. We desperately need renewable energy In a series of public hearings this win- to replace coal production because it is ter and spring, Tazewell residents have destroying our way of life… Wind is the into summer expressed support, outrage and every ing most environmentally friendly option we pr possible position in between. have today.” Some, like Alex Payne, believe that wind S At the heart of the political process for with a Brighter Smile! power can create jobs for the region. “Every- BP and Dominion is the question of how body says they’d like to see more economic a county will regulate zoning rules, espe- development so their sons and daughters cially property line setbacks. Although don’t have to leave the county,” he said. “We Tazewell doesn’t have a zoning ordinance, need to start with green energy.” it is considering a safety ordinance that Others, like Mark Tyson, believe wind would ensure windmills were set back power itself is an outright scam. “The three times their height from a property only thing green about wind energy is the line or residence. money that’s coming from the government Property lines typically run along ridge- to build these wind farms,” he said. lines, where there are no buildings or people Other opponents like Ann M. Robin-

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Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 20 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Something’s Rising: Appalachians Against Mountaintop Removal Editor’s Note: In this issue, we region. We also hope this feature inform them as they explore a tragedy ginning of each chapter, an intricately as- would like to introduce what we will encourage you to start through its victims in their collaborative sembled mix of personal history, snippets hope will become a regular fea- your own book clubs that endeavor, Something’s Rising, an intensely of interview and small details of personal- ture in this publication, the explore environmental personal and frequently moving series of ity. These sections allow the reader to have Appalachian Voice Book issues and the liter- narratives of fellow Appalachians. The a fuller sense of the person before reading Club. Every issue, we will ary treasures of the book is part oral history, part ecological their unfiltered words, and to experience select a book, provide you region. Enjoy! education with elements of both the liter- the tenderness and kinship the authors with a short review and - - - - - ary and the scholarly. feel with each individual they questions to guide your Authors Silas Each chapter profiles an have chosen to profile, whether reading and discussion, House and Jason Appalachian engaged in the they are famous musicians like and point you to resources Howard, both natives fight against mountaintop Jean Ritchie or Kathy Mattea where you can learn more of Eastern Kentucky, removal mining. House and or old friends like Anne Shelby about the topics the book ad- describe themselves as Howard attempt to provide and Jessie Lynne Keltner, sisters dresses. Throughout the course of this “children of [the] war [against the most complete sense of who perform in a band, Public feature, we hope to cover all genres of literature mountaintop removal] and children of each unique individual by Outcry, with the two authors. and read authors from across the Appalachian Applachia.” Their past and their passions giving the reader a sort of - - - - - “character study” at the be- Review by Sarah Vig Reading Questions Many of the narratives mention the role Do you think that role could change? There are conflicting notions of what kind take that and not try to make myself feel better unions have played in supporting moun- of movement needs to occur in order to by blaming somebody. I don’t think I’m going to 1 Many of the people profiled in this book 3 taintop removal mining. It seems that some of change the direction of stripmining in Appala- do any good that way” (129). Bonds however, mention their deep connection to place. this anger, especially from former miners or 2 chia: On page 60, Denise Giardina says that seems to be more of the philosophy that the How do you see place being connected to mining families like Shoupe and Bonds, stems in order for change to occur, “Mountaintop coal companies need to be taken to task for the culture and memory? In what ways do you see from the fact that the unions have historically removal needs everybody against it. Change injustices she feels they have inflicted upon her the mountaintop removal mining to be affecting been the only tool to fight the coal companies is not going to come from this region, even.” people. Which view do you align more with? these individuals’ sense of these things? Do in the region. How do you interpret their sense Nathan Hall, however, feels differently. He says Do you think there needs to be a single ap- you believe people have a right to have those of betrayal? What do you see as the union’s on page 215, “As long as it’s a movement proach to any movement? Do you think either things respected? role in the continuation of this mining practice? that’s based on outsiders, then it will always approach detracts from their cause? be weak.” Why do you think these different House and Howard chose to profile perspectives originate? Where or who do you a number of individuals who spread think needs to join the movement to make it 5 awareness through artistic expression (Ritchie, effective? After reading this book do you feel Mattea, Giardina, Shelby and Keltner). In differently than you did previously? many ways the book itself also uses artistic . Similarly, there are very different approach- expression to contribute to the cause. What 4es to confronting problems presented per- role do you think arts and literature play in haps most clearly by Kathy Mattea and Judy social awareness? In activism? After reading Bonds. Mattea says, “For me, when I get angry this book, do you feel that it has accomplished about it, or I get really sad about it, I have to its purpose? Online Resources On YouTube Coal Tattoo (blogs.wvgazette.com/ Video of Jean Ritchie singing “Black coaltattoo): The coal-focused blog of Waters” to images of mountain- Charleston Gazette Reporter, Ken Ward top removal: www.youtube.com/ Jr. Amazingly comprehensive, with up to watch?v=kFVdp1KJiqM date news and analysis on mountaintop removal, sludge and slurry, and other Video of Kathy Mattea singing “Black coal issues Lung” from her album “Coal”: www.you- tube.com/watch?v=3RVVVSCR2I8 Jeff Biggers on Huffington Post (huffing- tonpost.com/jeff-biggers): Jeff Biggers, Winchester Sun coverage of I Love who wrote “United States of Appalachia,” Mountains Day 2009 in Frankfurt, Ky. a regularly blogs on mountaintop removal rally sponsored by Kentuckians For The news and the people fighting it Commonwealth in support of the Stream Saver Bill: www.youtube.com/watch?v Further Reading =i8ZJoWXHay4&feature=related United Mine Workers Association Presi- Websites and Blogs dent Cecil Rogers’ Official Statement on UMWA’s position on including surface I Love Mountains (ilovemountains.org): mine workers in UMWA: www.umwa. A comprehensive resource for moun- org/index.php?q=news/cecil-roberts- taintop removal information including letter-umwa-surface-mining-members interactive maps, news, and information about current legislation

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 21 Coal Country: Film about Mountaintop Removal Mining to be Screened July 11 in West Virginia Story by Linda Coutant Theatre. The public is invited. sumption. It’s important for When to Watch Evans and director Phylis Geller spent people to see this film and see Whenever you turn on your lights or Premiere of three years working on “Coal Country.” what’s happening as a result air conditioning, filmmaker Mari-Lynn “Coal Country” They began the project after Evans saw of mountaintop removal.” Evans wants you to consider who pays July 11, 7 p.m. the environmental and human impact of Geller La Belle Theatre, South the price for that electricity. Evans and visited mountaintop removal coal mining in her the homes of people directly Charleston Museum “The people of Appalachia will be Charleston, W.Va. home state and other parts of Appalachia hard to forget after people see their faces affected by the mining pro- while interviewing residents for “The and hear their stories,” says Evans, a na- cess, who tell of health prob- Appalachians,” a three-hour series she opment, including wind tive of West Virginia whose documentary lems, dirty water choking released with the Sierra Club in 2005. and solar power, which “Coal Country” will be released this fall their wells and streams, and the loss of the could simultaneously by Sierra Club Productions. “It changed my life,” she said of her area’s natural beauty. They also talked to diversify the region’s A free screening of Evans’ film – which visit to mountaintop removal mining- miners and coal company officials, who economy and preserve examines the impact of mountaintop damaged areas. “I came back home to are concerned about jobs and the economy the natural resources for removal coal mining on Appalachia’s Ohio and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I and believe they are acting responsibly in future generations. citizens and economy – will be held in decided to make a film about mountaintop bringing power to the American people. Learn more about the film at www. Charleston, W.Va., July 11 at 7 p.m. in removal in the larger perspective of the coal “Coal Country” also explores the re- sierraclub.org/scp/coalcountry the South Charleston Museum’s La Belle industry and its role in U.S. energy con- gion’s options for future economic devel-

Coal River featured in two upcoming cinema releases O’Connor, the film is currently in soft release and film adaptation. Horton, an actor-turned-filmmaker, slated for full release sometime this summer. Visit is executive producer and director of NBC’s The community of Coal River, West Virginia, shot over a four-year period that follows the trans- www.oncoalriver.com for updates. “The Philanthropist” and executive producer of which has been the center of a battle between formation of four remarkable individuals as they the CW’s “Body Politic.” Paul Haggis, who won residents wanting to save Coal River Mountain uncover the toxic effects of America’s increased Coal River an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture for and a coal company planning to destroy it, is now demand for cheap coal and begin to fight for the Michael Shnayerson’s non-fiction book “Coal “Crash” in 2006, is the film’s producer.Publishers at the center of two upcoming films. survival of their way of life, and the lives of future River,” which focuses on a legal battle between Weekly calls Shnayerson’s first person reporting generations. At the center of their concern are their environmentalists and the coal industry in West an “incriminating indictment” of the coal industry. On Coal River children whose school building is located below Virginia, is being made into a film by United Artists. “Coal River” was published in 2008 by Farrar, “On Coal River,” directed by Francine Ca- a mountain valley dam holding 2.8 billion gallons Peter Horton has been hired to write and direct the Straus and Giroux. vanaugh and Adams Wood, is a documentary of coal sludge. Produced by Jullian Elizabeth

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 22 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Editorial Making Realistic Choices Proposals for new wind energy projects are gener- ating controversy in Appalachia. Opponents of wind projects, such as the ones in Tazewell or Highland counties of Virginia, or Barbour and Randolph counties of West Virginia, are worried about biodiversity, about safety, about property values and about views of the mountains. This is perfectly understandable. The legitimate con- cerns of wind power opponents cannot be dismissed, nor will they be. The monitoring and mitigation plans being developed by scientists working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, along with emerging state regulations, are keys to appropriate wind power development. We understand the concern, but what’s hard to fathom is the extent to which wind power opponents feel that they live apart from the rest of the world. They argue for the mountains they love as if they can either June, 8 2009 -- Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens met Southern governors at a conference in Biloxi, Mississippi to discuss the future of energy. take wind power or leave things as they are. We believe that is not the realistic choice. It is vital Letters to the editor to consider the impact of larger events and forces, and to recognize that things are simply not going to stay Appalachian Voice welcomes letters to the editor and comments on our website. Letters are subject talists, but what a hypocrite! as they are. The climate is rapidly changing and the to editing due to space limitations (letters can be read in full on our website). The views expressed He wastes more energy and mountains and watersheds of Appalachia are being in these letters, and in personal editor responses, are the opinions of the authors and are not does more harm to the envi- sacrificed at an alarming rate. necessarily the views of the organization Appalachian Voices. Write to [email protected]. ronment by heating his pool We have to conclude that the realistic choice is be- and flying around in his pri- tween renewable energy, leading to an Appalachia worth vate jets. My mom taught me living in, and the current unsustainable path, leaving an wind turbines? And around and around we Jobs depend on a few life lessons that may arid, flattened, poisoned wasteland in its wake. go. This feud is never-ending. It also takes mountaintop removal be of great value to you also True, renewable energy sources like wind power at least a two-year technical engineering To the Editor, such as, if it isn’t broke...don’t aren’t perfect, but so far, they are the best answers we degree to work in the fields of wind, solar I am writing in regard to an e-mail that fix it. Mind your own busi- have. and nuclear powers. We are on the verge was forwarded to me by a mountaintop re- ness. Sweep around your In the end, if we choose a livable, sustainable Ap- of losing everything that we have worked so moval opponent. My husband mines coal back door before you sweep palachia for tomorrow, we cannot complacently choose hard for now, and for what? So that some- by mountaintop removal, and is right now around mine. Don’t throw a business as usual today. one can say that they have a victory. Well laid off. brick at a glass house. Are congratulations! I hope it’s worth it to you. My husband and I were born and raised you getting my point? Maybe Why West Virginia and why now? Our vation projects. Also, it’s worth noting that in the great state of West Virginia. We be- you could reconsider your fight. How about economy is bad enough, but West Virginia most people opposed to mountaintop re- lieve it is one of the most beautiful places the war on AIDS in Africa, helping disabled had dodged the bullet the nation had taken, moval mining do not come from outside the to live. My husband is an avid outdoorsman veterans, finding a cure for cancer or work- due to the coal economy. Doesn’t the way region. In fact, public opinion polls show that and loves to hunt and fish. However, lately ing in a soup kitchen (you may even see that coal is mined in China bother you? a large majority of residents oppose moun- we are being forced to consider moving. me and my family in line). Maybe you could They are a third-world country and are not taintop removal coal mining and prefer to The thing I find most intriguing is that the move back home. Your family misses you, held to the strict guidelines that the United save the region’s environment. majority of the people who are here protest- but we won’t. States are. I wonder what the carbon foot- ing mountaintop removal were not raised Sincerely, print is there? Is that not a battle you want Siting is critical for here in the hills of West Virginia, but Mon- Scott and Heather Underwood to fight because you would rather be reli- wind projects tana and various other states. ant on a foreign source for energy? Our oil My whole life, I have been surrounded I agree whole-heartedly that we need Editor’s note: We sympathize with any- comes mainly from foreign sources, so why by the beauty and protection of the moun- renewable energy sources such as wind, one unemployed. Recent mine layoffs have not coal? Apparently President Obama is tains. I too Love Mountains! solar, and nuclear power, but those things been due to low demand and competition more concerned with making friends than The proposed wind energy project in are well into the future, and our family is from western coal, and even mining ex- making jobs. President Bush wasn’t an Tazewell County will not stop or even re- suffering now. It takes approximately ten ecutives don’t see that trend changing, no enemy of the environment, he just under- duce one single ounce of CO2 or prevent years to construct a nuclear plant and for matter what new environmental regulations stood that making rash, overnight decisions Mountaintop Removal. I am not against it to come online! How long before wind are eventually put in place. There is hope. would cost people jobs. He didn’t cower Wind Energy, I just don’t see how this proj- and solar sources are in place and begin Skilled people will soon be needed to rebuild down just because a few people thought it ect will benefit anyone but BP/Dominion. to be used? Aren’t you also fighting a battle the nation with jobs like pouring footers on was wrong. against all those who are opposed to the windmill sites or contracting energy conser- Al Gore is the voice of the environmen- Continued on next page

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Wind Power: A View from the West killed at least eight times as many raptors By Dawn Stover Large wind projects are as predicted in its first year of operation, sprawling industrial devel- and twice as many bats. Climate change is the I live in the Pacific Northwest, where greatest environmental chal- opments. A single project can have as many as 500 turbines hydropower once held the same promise lenge of our time, and virtu- that wind power does today: clean, renew- ally everyone agrees that connected by a network of heavy-duty access roads and able energy without all those dirty, heat- renewable energy must be trapping air pollutants. Unfortunately, part of the solution. Unfor- power lines. The 400-foot-tall machines, with blade tips hydropower has had unintended and tunately, the scramble to unanticipated consequences, decimating implement “green” tech- spinning at speeds that can exceed 200 mph, are not your salmon runs on the Columbia River and its nologies—primarily wind tributaries. But that hasn’t stopped energy power—is rapidly transform- father’s windmills. The jury is still out on companies from turning the hills above ing landscapes across the the river into the latest sacrifice zone, with United States. And in the rush whether modern turbines kill fewer birds and bats than larks and kestrels now going the way of to erect turbines, wildlife the coho and chinook. impacts are too often over- older, smaller models. The main lesson learned from I support the responsible develop- looked or underestimated. Smaller wind turbine blades turn just at cruising height for the raptors of studies of wildlife mortality ment of wind power, but I also believe that Many Eastern environ- Altamont Pass, a flat, sloping terrain with strong stead winds located east of at existing wind projects is wind turbines kill more than birds and mentalists seem to believe San Francisco Bay. The open lattice towers also invite nesting. An estimated that location is everything. bats. They kill the ethic of conservation. that wind power is just fine 1,700 to 4,700 birds are killed every year, or around one bird for every one or two windmills per year. Wind proponents say taller towers will help solve the If wind turbines are respon- They hold out the false promise of bound- for the “empty” expanses of problem, but others say the jury is still out. Photo by Bill Kovarik sibly sited—set back from less growth and risk-free technology. They the American West but not ridgelines, for example— suggest that there is a silver bullet that appropriate for forested Ap- to tax incentives and state mandates for their impacts can be kept will enable us to reverse climate change palachian ridges. The inconvenient truth the development of renewable energy. The to a minimum. Unfortunately, wildlife without changing our lifestyles. about wind power, however, is that tur- industry’s cheerleaders are environmental concerns do not currently play a major role We’ve all seen those pretty pictures of bines take a heavy toll on wildlife here in groups eager to be “for” something, and in siting decisions, which are typically left white blades spinning in blue skies, but the West too. And not just at California’s well-meaning utility customers willing to up to local officials with little expertise. how many of us have taken a hard look Altamont Pass, which wind industry rep- pay more for green power. The result is that wind projects are being at a decapitated hawk or a bat with an resentatives often point to as a “unique” The U.S. Department of Energy claims installed where transmission lines are read- exploded lung? That is the price of growth. site because turbines there have killed so that wind power could meet 20 percent ily accessible and where prevailing wind Before we carve deeper into the wild, it’s many golden eagles and other birds. of our nation’s electricity needs by 2030. conditions show the highest probability time to consider the consequences—and In 2007 the National Wind Coordinat- However, doing so would require a three- for economic profit, with little regard to whether it might be better to address our ing Committee—which includes represen- fold increase in the already-rapid rate of considerations such as migration routes energy problems through conservation, tatives from the wind industry, government installations. University of Cambridge and cumulative habitat impacts. improved efficiency, population control, agencies and environmental groups— physicist David MacKay recently calcu- Pre-construction surveys can help and a simpler way of life. estimated that wind turbines would kill lated that even if Americans were able to 900,000 to 1.8 million birds annually by identify the areas that are best suited reduce our energy demands by half, we for wind development. However, wind 2030. Those numbers are already out of Dawn Stover lives in Klickitat County, Wash- would still need to cover an area the size developers hire the consultants for these date because the wind industry is growing ington, a hotspot for wind development. She of California with wind turbines just to get studies, and post-construction monitoring much faster than predicted, thanks in part has served on technical advisory committees for a third of our power from wind. often shows that the wildlife impacts are three wind projects, and has been an appellant in more severe than “anticipated.” The first several cases involving wind project siting. Letters to the editor wind project constructed in my county

Continued from previous page stop mountaintop removal mining, we too want to protect our area from what we con- They have made no promises or pledges to sider a destructive environmental disaster. stop their coal usage. It is only adding a dis- This will not bring one clean cost efficient mal amount of power to the grid. There are kilowatt of electricity to Tazewell County. much less destructive sites for Wind Farms The power generated will goes back into than on the Mountains of Appalachia. the grid for resale to other larger commu- Proper siting of Wind Farms is critical. In nities. We are once again raped of one of the Midwest where you have vast amounts our most beautiful resources our area has of land that are sparsely populated and to offer - the mountains. Virginia would do have the best winds. These areas may be better to begin a serious conservation ef- more suitable. From what I have read, off fort if it really wants to make a difference. shore sites may be well suited too. I am un- Please rethink your position and help us certain about the ecological effects of this. with our fight. Check out wvhighlands.org To destroy the integrity of the Appalachian and www.vawind.org mountains is a crime. Just as you fight to Ann Robinson, Tazewell County

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Pa g e 24 Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Inside Appalachian Voices Appalachian Voices Welcomes New Executive Director, Willa Mays Appalachian Voices is pleased to an- a group of talented and totally dedicated bership and income in just two years, and nounced the appointment of Willa Coffey individuals who are working for something created the EcoXplorers Club for parents Mays as our new executive director. outside themselves.” and children. She also organized and led Mays brings 20 years of experience Mays graduated from college with a regional conferences addressing air quality, working with non-profit organizations, BA in Psychology, and earned a dual Mas- recycling, and leadership challenges, and ten of those with groups focused on the ters degrees in Business and Healthcare developed the highly successful Environ- environment, working in marketing, Administration at Pfeiffer University in mental Studies Alumni Association. fundraising, leadership, and program Charlotte, NC. In 2007, Mays accepted a position as development. Her first foray into environmental work Director of Development at the Blue Ridge “To have an executive director with took place at the beginning of her career, Parkway Foundation, a job which was the breadth of experience and knowledge with High Point NC’s Keep America Beau- more in line with the conservation and such as Willa Mays has is nothing short of tiful campaign. During her year with the advocacy work she had done with Greater a blessing for Appalachian Voices,” said organization, she developed the city’s first Yellowstone Coalition. At the Foundation, the organization’s Campaign Director newspaper-recycling program and a “keep Mays worked with the National Park Ser- Lenny Kohm. your butts off the street” campaign to ad- vice, partners, donors, and foundations to Mays’ work with non-profit groups dress the problems of cigarette littering. Mays led fundraising, marketing, com- generate the annual $1.2 million budget, has taken her to North Carolina, Virginia, After ten years working in a non-profit munications, and membership efforts for providing vital funding for Blue Ridge Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and she has health care organization, where she honed the coalition, successfully designing and Parkway projects and programs that would been involved with organizations as diverse fundraising, development, and leadership managing a $3 million “green” headquar- otherwise go unfunded. as the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and skills, Mays moved to Bozeman, Montana, ters capital campaign and increasing the “We were really fortunate to hire Willa,” the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. to work for the Greater Yellowstone Coali- organization’s membership from 8,500 to said Matt Wasson, Director of Programs at “Appalachian Voices has a great repu- tion, an environmental advocacy organiza- 13,000 in just three years. Appalachian Voices. “She’s the right person tation and it is an honor to be ED,” Mays tion that works to promote and preserve She also headed the initial fundraising at the right time to take Appalachian Voices said. “More than that, it is a pleasure to lead the ecosystem of the Yellowstone region. and community organizing efforts for the to the next stage. Under Willa’s leadership, Snake River Wild and Scenic Campaign, a I think we’ll have a greater focus not just on project that culminated in the river receiv- stopping the bad things that are happening, ing conservation protection when President but on getting out into communities and AreAre youyou aa Barack Obama added 387 miles of the Snake making good things happen, like develop- River to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System ing green jobs and renewable energy.” this past March. Mays’ primary motivation is simple, Mays was deeply influenced by theo- she says. “I really care, and I’ve always logian and ecologist Thomas Berry, and been mystified when others don’t seem to Steward? visited with him in Greensboro in 2004. Steward? care. Fine people who live in the coalfields “He was a saint with a deep environmental and have worked hard all their lives are Chances are, your piece of the Appalachian Forest didn’t ethic,” Mays said. “At that time he was losing their homes and quality of life for come with an owners manual. Your forest is an investment deeply engrossed in a paper he was writing the greed of a few people who do not even for you and your family. It also comes with a responsibility about animal rights. There are those people live in the area they are obliterating...and for good stewardship. That’s why we made a handbook who think about the big picture...who are the headlines are about what a celebrity that gives you the knowledge and resources you need idealistic and seek a higher path.” did or didn’t wear...its amazing. When In 2005, Mays returned to North Caro- to make smart decisions about your forest. is it enough to grab the attention of the lina to serve as Assistant Director of the world? When others make it an issue... nd 2nd editionedition Catawba College Center for the Environ- and that is exactly what we are doing at ment (CCCE) in Salisbury, NC. While at Appalachian Voices.” Managing Catawba, she tripled the division’s mem- Your Woodlands A Guide for Southern New and Renewing Business League Members Produced by: Appalachian Landowners April 2009-May 2009

Now with a FREE DVD: Blue Ridge Mountain Sports ... Charlottesville, VA To get your FREE copy: “Landowner’s Guide to Steven Airey, D.D.S., P.A. ... Boone, NC Sign up at: www.appvoices.org Sustainable Forestry” - from the PPALACHIAN OICES Appor contact:AlAchi 1-877-APP-VOICEAn Voices Model Forest Policy Program We encourage you to patronize members of the Business League. [email protected]@appvoices.org To become a business member visit www.AppalachianVoices.org or call us toll free at 877-APP-VOICE Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 A V Th e App a l a c h i a n Vo i c e Pa g e 25 Inside Appalachian Voices Team Beltway Weighs In: Clean Water Virginia AV Office Opposing Surry’s Protection Act Reaches 151 Cosponsors Behemoth Coal Power Plant By J.W. Randolph mittee, and 25 bipartisan members of the By Mike McCoy Appalachian Voices full T&I Committee. In the Senate, S 696 The federal Clean Water Protection is working with a new will go to the Subcommittee on Water and AV’s Virginia office Act (HR 1310) has reached 151 cospon- group, “The Coalition to Wildlife, and then the full Committee on is focused on prevent- sors in just under 4 months of cosponsor Keep Surry Clean,” to the Environment and Public Works (EPW). ing a behemoth of a coal recruitment, Appalachian Voices ‘Team reach out and grow the Appalachian Voices has garnered 6 bipar- plant from being per- Beltway’ is pleased to announce. During opposition. We hope to tisan cosponsors in the Senate, including 5 mitted and built in the the last Congress, it took 21 months to convince the Town Coun- members of the full EPW Committee. small town of Dendron, reach the same goal. Virginia in the Hampton cil that the coal plant is not This shows that our grassroots work Also his month, “Team Beltway” is the way to go. excited to announce the arrival of our very Roads area. Nine Virgin- across the country to educate the public ia electric cooperatives In addition to gath- about mountaintop removal mining has talented intern team of Stanback Legisla- ering signatures and tive Fellow Bethany Hill from Duke Uni- are partnering in a 1500 had a positive impact on our efforts in megawatt coal plant that educating neighbors, we Congress. versity and Sarah Hostyk of Appalachian have purchased a few State to Washington DC. In their first few will have massive envi- We are working diligently with our hundred “No Coal Plant” days in the District, the team has already ronmental impacts. The Old Dominion champions to set up hearings for the CWPA signs, pictured, to add visibility to our picked up a cosponsor of the Clean Water Electric Cooperative (ODEC) has started in the House and for the companion bill, the movement. Within a week 250 signs were Protection Act (HR 1310) in Congress- the permitting process, and before ODEC Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696), in the placed in people’s yards, with 30 on Main woman Jackie Speier (CA-12), and have can move any further they must secure Senate. In the House, the CWPA will go to Street. And how is this affecting the Town begun leading their own meetings with approval for the project from the “Local the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Council? The outlook is good. key members of both the House and Sen- Governing Body” which in this case is the the Environment, and then on to the full Also, the Virginia office is welcoming ate. Their presence is critical in allowing Dendron Town Council. Committee on Transportation and Infra- a talented new intern, Jackie Pontious, who us to increase our capacity to reach out to ODEC is trying hard to convince structure. Appalachian Voices has played comes to us from Virginia Tech with a degree more Members of Congress than we ever the Council as well as the town that this a crucial role in garnering the support of in Environmental Policy and Planning. She have before. will provide jobs and not affect anyone’s 15 bipartisan members of the Subcom- health, but of course, a quick search of an is doing research for possible legislation that would provide economic diversification in EPA website debunks those claims. Appa- the coalfields as well as already providing lachian Voices, along with the Wise Energy Appalachian Voices’ Attorney Puts Duke critically needed help for our grassroots ef- Coalition are spearheading educational and forts across the Commonwealth. CEO Jim Rogers in The Hot Seat organizing efforts in the area.

While several dozen people were out- removal coal mining as its existing coal side Duke Energy headquarters protesting purchasing contracts expire.” He also ex- Former Appalachian Voices Director CEO Jim Rogers’ decision to construct pects “increased regulation of mountain- new coal-fired power plants in North top removal from Washington, D.C.” Mary-Anne Hitt Recognized by Alma Mater Carolina and Indiana, Scott Gollwitzer, “So it’s neither moral or immoral?” Appalachian Voices’ In-house Counsel, pressed Gollwitzer. “It was a yes or no Mary Anne Hitt, who served framework for the cam- was inside asking questions at the annual question.” as Appalachian Voices’ Executive pus’ sustainability agen- shareholders’ meeting. “For us it’s a little bit of a balancing Director from spring 2004 until No- da. She also founded the When it was his turn, Gollwitzer briefly act, but I think you’re on the right side vember, 2008, recently received the campus’ first environ- described the devastating social and environ- of this issue,” replied Rogers. “It’s not University of Tennessee’s Notable mental group, SPEAK, mental impacts of mountaintop removal coal sustainable.” Woman award. or Students Promoting mining for those present. According to Goll- “Jim Rogers has all but admitted that The award, given every year Environmental Action witzer, approximately 50 percent of Duke’s burning mountaintop removal coal is im- since 1995 by the University of Ten- in Knoxville. The group coal is extracted by mountaintop removal moral. This is a huge step in ending the de- nessee Commission for Women, continues to make an process because it is allegedly less expensive struction of the people, communities and honors “a woman whose accom- impact on the campus than other Central Appalachian coal. ecosystems of central Appalachia,” said plishments bring distinction to today. Then Gollwitzer mused, “I think ev- Gollwitzer after the meeting. “Honestly, the university.” Margaret Crawford, who Since graduating from UT in 1997, eryone in this room would agree that just I was flummoxed by his candor because serves as chair of the commission, says Hitt has worked tirelessly to end moun- because something is legal, say slavery, Duke has been working to scuttle state leg- they were drawn to Hitt because she “ex- taintop removal in Appalachia. While at doesn’t make it moral. I ask you then—and islation that would prohibit the purchase emplified a person who was committed Appalachian Voices she spearheaded the this is a yes or no question—just because of mountaintop removal coal.” to the type of work that she was doing as partnership with Google Earth Outreach mountaintop removal is legal, is it moral The legislation Gollwitzer refers to, an undergraduate.” to use satellite images and the Google to burn it to maximize profits when alter- the Appalachian Mountains Preservation Hitt’s thesis for UT’s College Scholars Earth tool to show the devastating effects native sources of central Appalachian coal Act, would prohibit North Carolina’s program, entitled “The Greening of the of mountaintop removal mining in Ap- are available at comparable prices?” investor-owned utilities from renewing Big Orange,” examined campus policies palachia. She now serves as the deputy Rogers answered that “Duke will be their contracts for mountaintop removal- concerning recycling, energy use and director of the National Coal Campaign looking to move away from mountaintop mined coal. waste disposal, and has since become the for the Sierra Club. Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 GFM ApplacianVoices-9.#864D.pdf 11/24/08 12:00:44 PM

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Naturalists Notebook Large leaves of the mayapple shelter a single white blossom, which later yields The Modest Mayapple the plant’s fruit. Photo by Rick Mark

Story by Alison Singer something like an egg. long rhizomes, mayapples tend to While the flower blooms What first caught my eye was the grow in clusters, and they can be seen in May, the fruit which gives tightly wound green bundle atop the throughout the region, blanketing for- the plant its common name, stem. They looked like closed umbrellas. est floors. does not appear until later in “What are those?” I asked, pointing. “It’s The flower that bows its head be- the summer. The “apple” is Jack-in-the-Pulpit,” my friend told me, neath the great leaves reminds me of a a yellowish fruit one to two and I let the name slide over my tongue. I supplicant, which in turn reminds me inches long, and is the only pictured a preacher clasping his hands in of my own relationship with nature. part of the plant that is not front of his congregation, his head bowed. While most flowers struggle to attract poisonous (ed. note: unripe “It’s bloodroot,” my father contradicted, pollinators with their bright colors open fruit are toxic like the rest of and I imagined piercing the thick stem to the sky, the bashful mayapple seems the plant, ripe fruit are de- with a needle and watching red liquid to hide. In the same way, I am hidden as scribed as soft, yellowish and ooze out of it. I walk beneath the canopy of trees. I find have a cloyingly sweet smell). What I’d seen, and was so enthralled sudden rain squall. Not being Lilliputian, peace and solitude in the woods, away Though I have never tried one, the apple with, was neither Jack-in-the-Pulpit, nor and thankfully not suffering from skin from “pollinators,” from people wanting is described as tasting anywhere from bloodroot, but Podophyllum peltatum, com- cancer or warts, the only use mayapple my attention, needing me for something. completely tasteless to lemony. monly known as the mayapple. Within a has for me is its beauty and uniqueness, In the mayapple’s unusual flower, I Though the plant is poisonous, and matter of days, the leaves had unfurled, which luckily is enough. have found a metaphor for myself. And classified by the FDA as “unsafe,” there spanning several inches, looking even When I returned to the first spot I had more than just a metaphor. A reminder of are many purported medicinal uses, most more umbrella-like. They took over the found them, I was amazed to see how the how I want to approach the mayapple’s of which I fortunately have no need for. ground, preventing me from seeing any- small, bundled plant had grown into a forested world – humble, shy, non-intru- Native American tribes used to gather and thing beneath their foliage. My favorite giant (relatively – the stems average 15 sive. Nothing more than a supplicant bow- dry the rhizome (the underground stem part of the mayapple is the flower peeping to 20 inches tall, and the leaves span 10 ing my head as I search for peace beneath which can grow up to six feet in length), out from beneath the leaves, hidden from to 15 inches) umbrella. Because of their the dappled greenery. grinding it into a powder. They brewed the above, different from the typical flower- powder like a tea, and drank it as a laxative ing plants whose color bursts forth atop and cure for intestinal worms. In modern their stems. medicine, extracts from the plant are used Mayapples are different. Each May, all to treat genital warts and skin cancer. over the eastern United States and Canada, While not one to blithely disregard their flowers bloom. The plants are either cancer treatments, my fascination with the one or two-leaved, and only the two- mayapple stems primarily from its physi- leaved plants produce flowers. If you look cally dramatic entrance. The initial sight: beneath the unfurled leaves, a delicate an aerodynamic structure, like a missile bloom emerges from the crotched stem aimed towards the sky. Then the leaf, or (Peltatum is Latin for “shield-like,” an apt leaves, slowly unwinds from the stem and term for the broad leaves that shield the fans out, arching over the ground. Were flowers from view). The petals are milky I tiny, I would happily grab the nearest white and about two inches across with a mayapple leaf to cover myself with in a yellow center, making the blossom look

Ju n e / Ju l y 2009 Non-Profit Organization THE APPALACHIAN VOICE US Postage Paid 191 Howard Street Permit No. 294 Boone, NC Boone, NC 28607 www.appalachianvoices.org

Crystal Simmons, project manager for a wind turbine slated to rise over the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC in mid- June, peers down the bolt assembly which will provide a foundation for the turbine. The bolt assembly, which is approximately seven feet in diameter, descends over 20 feet underground. The NorthWind 100, standing 153 feet tall with a 68 foot blade span, will be the largest wind- powered generator in North Carolina, and the state’s first commercial scale turbine. Photo courtesy of Crystal Simmons Become a friend of the mountains The Appalachian Mountains are among the most beautiful places on earth. They are our home, our heritage, and our way of life. They are our children’s inheritance. But their future cannot be taken for granted.

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