May 27 |
OVEC Action
Alert Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition |
 |
First Protests
and Arrests of Summer
Thanks so much to all who have participated in or otherwise
supported the most recent round of protests over
coal sludge impoundments and mountaintop removal coal
mining. The latest actions came on the heels of the 2009
Mountain
Justice Summer Camp. At dawn on Saturday, May 23, activists locked
down to a giant dump truck on a Patriot-Coal owned mountaintop
removal mine on Kayford Mountain. Across the valley, a pair of activists donned
hazmat suits and respirators, then boated out onto the 8-billion-gallon
toxic lake that is
Brushy Fork coal sludge impoundment and unfurled a 60-foot
banner reading "No More Sludge!" At noon the same day, about 75
people gathered near the gate of the Massey Energy's Marfork
operation (where Brushy Fork is).
Participants denounced Massey's plan to blast for mountaintop removal 100 feet from Brushy Fork. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has approved permits, submitted by Massey Energy, for a 6,450-acre strip mine around the impoundment. Massey's plan includes blasting on top of one of the ridges of the dam, which sits above a honeycomb of abandoned underground mines. The emergency evacuation plan for the Brushy Fork sludge dam states that should it fail, a wave of coal slurry 50 feet high would hit Whitesville and result in the deaths of at least 998 people. Participants called instead for an alternative to the strip mine - the installation of a wind farm on Coal River Mountain, which will provide jobs and energy without increasing the risk of catastrophe associated with the Brushy Fork dam.
In total, 17 people were arrested during the noon protest and the two direct actions. Nine sent to the Southern Regional Jail were held on an unprecedented - and likely illegal - $2,000 cash-only bail. Supporters feverishly raised $6,000 overnight (they would have had the full $18,000 had there not been problems with wire transfers of money). Three people with the most pressing needs were bailed out by Sunday morning. More bail money came in, and more were released over the weekend. Four remained in jail until yesterday, Tuesday, the first working day after the holiday weekend.
If you missed all that went on over the holiday weekend, check Mountain Justice and Climate Ground Zero websites for video, photos and new releases. Please click on the donate button to give to the revolving bail and legal funds. To keep up with the news on the protests, remember that OVEC gathers and posts relevant news links daily.
More to come... and we will need you to help keep up the pressure!
June 13:
Cook-Out to Change the World ~ Energy Independence Day
If protests aren't your cup of tea (or even if they are), how about a cook-out that will
change our world?
On Saturday June 13, The JOBS Project invites residents of coalfield communities to a cook-out at the Southern W.Va. Community and Technical College, Williamson Campus (Mingo County) for workshops, live music, and plenty of food. JOBS - Just and Open Businesses that are Sustainable.
Join us for the first Energy Independence Day.
FREE Food & Music - 11:00-5:00
Workshop A - 11:00 - Energy Efficiency in Schools, National Energy Education Development (NEED)
Workshop B - 11:00 - Building Greenhouses & Nutrition, SunCatcher Design Group
Workshop C - 2:00 - Community Owned Power Generation, Windustry
Several private and public organizations will table the event with information and resources about renewable energy and sustainable industries in our region.
Got Kids? The Web of Life Ecology Center will host activities for young people during the workshops.
Workshop A
Energy Efficiency in Schools by Doug Keaton, National Energy
Education Development (NEED)
Doug Keaton leads a hands-on, technology based curriculum to improve energy efficiency and reduce power bills for his high school. His students apply what they learn outside of the classroom doing energy audits for homes and local businesses and encouraging communities to save money and energy on heating, cooling, and lighting. In addition, Doug's students are challenged to understand and operate renewable energy technology including wind turbines and solar panels.
National Energy Education Development (NEED) offers materials and resources that meet K-12 science, language arts, social studies, and technology standards and can be incorporated into existing curriculum to keep students interested and involved in learning. NEED's Kids Teaching Kids approach gives students skills and opportunities to engage their local communities in extended learning.
Workshop B
Building Greenhouses & Nutrition by Mike Duus, SunCatcher Design
Group
Mike Duus is working with students to complete the first commercial-sized greenhouse (828 square ft) at their high school. There are very few passive solar greenhouses in the world of this size. Mike's students are doing all of the work themselves, and will walk away with the knowledge to build smaller versions based on the same design. The work serves to connect students to their dietary choices and provides healthy produce for school lunches. Students learn about agriculture, passive solar design, physics, and sustainable building practices.
The principle designers of SunCatcher Design Group have worked in solar design for more than 30 years. The SunCatcher greenhouses make growing food possibleyear-round, eliminate heating costs, reduce transportation costs, and increase local food security.
Workshop C
Community Owned Renewable Energy Projects
Lisa M. Daniels, Executive Director and founder of Windustry, has been providing wind energy information and technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, elected officials, rural utilities and other interested groups since 1995. Currently, Lisa leads Windustry’s contracts with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and as a partner on the Wind Powering America Initiative with the U.S. Department of Energy. She was recognized in 2005 for her work with Wind Powering America’s Agriculture Outreach Team. Lisa promotes progressive renewable energy solutions and empowers communities to develop wind energy as an environmentally sustainable, community-owned asset.
Respectful note: This event is for community members, county officials, renewable energy businesses and supporting organizations. We hope that by bringing these groups together we can begin to work towards positive, sustainable solutions by working for a unified goal of transition despite our various beliefs. JOBS’ primary focus is the community, and it is for this reason that we ask that all groups to please respect the exclusive nature of this event. Our focus is to provide solutions rather that highlighting the problems. This is not an anti-mountaintop removal or pro-coal event. This event is a proactive step towards diversifying the mono-economies found in the majority of coal dependent regions of Appalachia, the communities that will suffer the most from transitional policies, such as a cap and trade program.
Volunteers
Needed For Mountain Aid Concert
The First Mountain Aid Festival will raise funds for the
Pennies of
Promise Campaign and for the event's cosponsors, OVEC and
Coal River
Mountain Watch. More great bands have been
added to the concert, which takes place at Shakori Hills in
Chatham County, North Carolina, about 15 miles south of Chapel Hill.
Click here
for the latest info. Click
here to order tickets.
We need volunteers to make this event a success. Volunteers work a three-hour shift in return for a pass. Our highest need is breakdown the day after the event. Click here for more information and to volunteer.
More Ways to
Participate - Upcoming Events
So many ways to take action to help end mountaintop removal!
In West Virginia:
Saturday, May 30, 10:00 am
–
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: 2009 Kanawha Valley Sustainability Fair.
Kanawha Valley Connections, a group of local volunteers, announces the
area’s first FREE community fair celebrating local resources that
contribute to economic, environmental and social sustainability. Bring
the family for food, fun, active exhibits, games, speakers, vendors and
live entertainment...Everything related to the local agriculture,
ecology, businesses, transportation, energy, health, arts, music, family
and community resources that sustain us! Join us at the Habitat for
Humanity ReStore, 815 Young St., Charleston. The JOBS Project will have
a table at this event. Click
here for more information.
June 1 and 2, 10:00 a.m. Raleigh County Courthouse, 215 Main St., Beckley, W. Va. Please come out for hearings for folks involved in the first wave of non-violent civil disobedience (for more on the March 3 actions, click here). They will be arguing for the temporary restraining order to be vacated and Massey will try to explain the damages the company want some of the activists to pay. It should be very interesting in the courtroom. Please come out to show your support and bring your friends!
May 30 - June 30, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.: "Awareness,"
an art exhibit sponsored by OVEC. Free. From traditional fine art
mediums to taxidermy, an exhibition of five visual artists raising
awareness of environmental issues surrounding everyday life. Venue:
Habitat for Humanity Restore, 815 Young Street, Charleston, W.Va.
Opening reception is June 24, 6-8 p.m.
See:
www.festivallcharleston.com/sponsors
Tuesday, June 9 and possibly June 10. Hearing. Attorneys for citizens in Ansted, West Virginia and the Sierra Club have appealed a permit renewal granted by the WV Department of Environmental Protection to Powellton Coal Company for mining on Gauley Mountain in beautiful Fayette County. The WV Surface Mine Board will hear this appeal on June 9, and if needed, June 10. We need you to attend this hearing. It starts at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9 at DEP headquarters, 601 - 57th Street, Charleston (Kanawha City).
In (East) Virginia:
May 30, 1 to 5 p.m. at the Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg. Save Our Mountains: The Dirty Truth About Coal in Appalachia. Join us at an
Environmental Justice Benefit for Mountain Justice Summer, Southern
Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Concerned Citizens of Giles County and the Energy Justice Network.
Co-sponsored by OVEC.
A double-feature of prize winning documentaries donated by the
filmmakers:
"Black
Diamonds" (Catherine Pancake, 2006)
"Burning the Future" (David Novack, 2008)
Tickets: $10 (donations above ticket price are tax-exempt with form); For tickets and updates, visit Homebody or email Beth Wellington at beth.wellington@gmail.com or Kim Kirkbride at kkirkbride17@gmail.com. Can't attend? Be a sponsor! Individuals $10, local businesses $20.
More events and actions are posted on our online calendar page.
And, one more action we sure hope you will take: Click here to join OVEC or renew your membership.
www.ohvec.org 304-522-0246 vivian@ohvec.org |
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