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Sludged Sick:Telling Our Stories in the State Capitol

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Sludged Sick:Telling Our Stories in the State Capitol In Memory of the 17 WV & KY Winds of Change Coal Miners the newsletter of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition February 2006 E Huntington, WV www.ohvec.org Sludged Sick: Telling Our Stories in the State Capitol It’s evident that coal industry campaign contributions can muck up certain politicians’ heads. Some lawmakers seem to have forgotten about We, the People. Rather than remain forgotten, the people of southern West Virginia are standing up and speaking out. From county commissions to the State Capitol, people are demanding that legislators hear our voices. For instance, on Jan. 10, 26 people from Boone, Logan, Raleigh, Mingo, Cabell and Kanawha counties converged on Charleston to tell their stories to six West Virginia delegates. A few who had never been in the State Capitol felt a bit intimidated by those grand marble columns and all those white men in suits. But, not for long. It turns out the delegates who came to meet with us are our neighbors and friends and, once they heard our stories, they really do want to help. Who could not be moved by the stories told? The delegates were truly stunned by what they heard and saw. The few ... the proud ... the Several Mingo County residents showed samples and the ENVIRONMENTALISTS. of their blackened well water and told horror stories of sick people children. Massey has been injecting coal sludge from its believe the sludge has made its way into their water supplies. Rawl Sales Processing plant into old underground mines Not only do they allege their water has been contaminated, they also feel the water is ruining their health. New Court Order Sought to Block Mothers spoke of taking their babies to the hospital with illnesses uncommon for young children – gall and kidney Three More MTR Permits in WV stones and liver trouble. One woman recounted how her by Ken Ward Jr., Charleston Gazette, Feb. 2, 2006 doctors suspected the water had almost caused her liver to West Virginia environmentalists on Wednesday fail; she remembered lying in the hospital, thinking of what sought a new federal court order to block three mountaintop would happen to her children if she died. She still worries, removal mining permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of continued on page 3 Engineers. Lawyers for the three groups asked U.S. District Inside Judge Robert C. Chambers for a preliminary injunction to Not Just Any Thursday ....................page 2 stop the mining operations. Remember Buffalo Creek ....................page 5 “Trying to get the Corps of Engineers to follow the The Scene at Sago ....................page 12 Spying on Enviros ....................page 17 law is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall; it is awfully hard to Send a Delegation to the UN ....................page 23 continued on page 6 1 Not Just Any Thursday by Janet Keating and Carey Lea We are supposed to be on vacation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but we just can’t take a vacation from our values. When we learned that Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo (the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) were still protesting the disappearance of their children that occurred between 1976-1983, we wanted to see them and as it turned out, Carey and I joined them as they marched. Although many of the mothers are stooped by age and nearly 30 years of continual protests, their spirits remain strong and steadfast. According to the Lonely Planet and Rough guidebooks, starting on April 30, 1977, 14 mothers whose children disappeared during what is known as the Dirty War, marched on the Plaza de Mayo demanding to know what happened to their children. (A military junta had taken control of the Argentine government in 1976.) The young people who opposed the military regime had banded together to form the Montañeros – considered to be a left wing guerilla Matilde Mellibovsky, one of group which resisted the new regime. the Mothers of the Plaza de A mind-boggling 10,000 to 30,000 civilians died, whisked from street Mayo in Buenos Aires. corners or from their beds never to be seen or heard from again. They vanished without a trace to be tortured, murdered or sedated, then dropped from a plane into the Rio del Plata. What began with a handful of women continued to steadily grow. The mothers, still seeking answers, met weekly on the Plaza del Mayo in an effort to embarrass the military regime and to find support in each other. The government claimed that the young people had merely gone abroad. Although Las Madres never got the answers which they were seeking, they continue to protest once a week to this day, dressed in their iconic white scarves (the white headscarf adorned with a picture of their missing child emerged as a way to identify each other and is still worn today by the mothers). In spite of not getting the answers they sought from the authorities, they played an essential role in history as the first group to openly oppose the military junta ,which then opened the doors for later protests by others. The courageous and tenacious Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, standing up to a brutal, murderous regime (which was assisted, if not created, by foreign imperialists), offer an incredible example of the repressed fighting back. Those who oppose mountain and community destruction by the coal industry can find strength for the long haul by remembering their honor in suffering. OVEC’s Annual Meeting and Spaghetti Dinner Fund-Raiser 5 p.m. April 22, St. Cloud Commons, 17th St. W., Huntington, WV $5 suggested donation, but all are welcome Bring your appetite and join us April 22 for a family-friendly evening of great food, entertainment, and camaraderie. It’s OVEC’s annual meeting and spaghetti dinner fund-raiser! Meet other OVEC members, tell us what is on your mind, nominate someone – or yourself – for the OVEC board and help us recognize our outstanding volunteers. And, enjoy some authentic Italian cuisine prepared by Eric Fout. We’ll have live music, activities for the kids and a virtual flyover of mountaintop removal sites – for those who are up for viewing the devastation on what will otherwise be a fun spring evening. If you can, please bring a dessert to share. Mark Your Calendar – Save the Date – Join Us! 2 Sludged Sick continued from page 1 dams will break. They showed pictures of the Massey coal because her family of six still uses the well water to bathe sludge impoundment above Marsh Fork Elementary School. and wash clothes, as they can’t afford bottled water for The dam is only 400 yards from the school, and there’s anything but drinking. (See related story below). strip-mine blasting going on above the impoundment! The dangers of sludge injection aren’t the only thing Just three days after that meeting, some of the same the people from Mingo, Boone, Logan and Raleigh counties folks met with an aide to the governor, once again telling came to tell the delegates about. their stories. The aide was visibly moved. He took their foul They also talked about what it is like to live near well water samples and promised to show them to the giant coal sludge impoundments. They wonder when the governor. These folks are now waiting to hear when the governor will meet with them. As one lady put it, “I’ve dealt with this (contaminated water) for 20 years. The least the TAKE ACTION governor can do is deal with it for an hour.” You, your family and your Then, on Feb. 1, two dozen more went to visit 12 neighbors know best what is happening delegates and senators to request the politicians’ aid in around your home. Our legislators won’t stopping the health and safety problems related to coal slurry know your stories unless you tell them. injection and coal sludge impoundments. They won’t know about the changes you All visits were facilitated by the Sludge Safety need to improve your community unless Project, www.sludgesafety.org. you tell them. Don’t hesitate to speak up for change! Something’s in the Water Call your West Virginia delegates and senators and tell them to support a by Patricia Feeney ban on coal sludge impoundments and “We all get red bumps on our skin, sometimes sores coal slurry injection. Call the OVEC office on our head. We won’t let the kids bathe too long and I at (304) 522-0246 and ask for Abe for know our water isn’t as bad as others around here.” more information. Russell Elkins, a retired coal miner, lives in Rawl, WV, with his wife and two adopted girls, ages 7 and 11. He is talking about the water, and he’s right; they don’t OVEC Board of Directors & Staff have it as bad as others. Board Members “I don’t dare bathe the baby in it,” said Carole LaShonda Bare, Co-Chair Regina Hendrix Hensley of Lick Creek, “not since they told us what was in Jeff & Victoria Bosley Dan Kash it.” She takes her 6-month-old grandson to her sister’s Greg Carroll Thomas Kincaid house in nearby Williamson, where they fill up water jugs to David Duke Michael Morrison use for drinking and cooking. “We still bathe in it, and I’m Eric Fout Elinore Taylor Winnie Fox John Taylor, Co-Chair pretty sure that’s why our hair is falling out.” Larry Gibson “We have three filters,” said neighbor Donnetta Full- and Part-Time Staff Blankenship, “but after we shower, we itch and the red Dianne Bady Janet Keating Vivian Stockman bumps get worse.
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