“We are all down stream of Mountaintop Removal coal mining in Appalachia this impacts everyone for every generation to

come”

Maria Gunnoe

North American Goldman Prize Winner 2009

www.ohvec.org

www.southwings.org

www.acheact.org

The Destruction of the mountains and the removal of people from Appalachia for

coal

What is Mountaintop removal?Mountaintop removal is the total destruction of a mountain and all that surrounds it for

the seams of coal that lay within the layers of rock.To date there have been more than 500 mountains blown up and over 2000 miles of

streams buried or otherwise impacted The people are often the last to leave.

As the Mountaintops Fall, a Coal Town VanishesBy Dan Barry April 12, 2011

The depopulation of Lindytown, WV was covered by national and international press. There is now only one family left.

The layers of rock are blasted into rubble. The coal is extracted and everything that remains is dumped into adjacent valleys, making up what industry calls valley fills. This was once a headwater stream of the Coal

River Valley.

William’s MTN

The Coal River Valley is the headwaters of the Ohio River which is the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Mountaintop removal is impacting the drinking water of

all life downstream.

We all have a responsibility and an obligation to protect these water resources. This is the commons; this belongs to the people. Why

would government create laws to allow these places and the people who depend on them be erased forever?

Pigeon Roost Holler’

Water is the basis of all life and that includes your body. Your muscles that move your body are 75% water; your blood that transports nutrients is 82% water; your lungs that provide your oxygen are 90% water; your brain that is the control center of your body is 76% water; even your bones are 25% water.

Our health is truly dependent on the quality of the water we drink.

There are 722 references to water in the Bible. Most of which refer to water as THE Gift of Life..

It is water that unites us globally. Water = Health= Life

A few things to think about..

This is what used to be a natural spring that runs along the bottom of the mountain. This water is now toxic to breathe. What is left to sustain life? If we have no healthy water we

will die.

Every preparation plant (where they wash and prepare the coal) produces many thousands of gallons of coal sludge each day, requiring massive disposal areas.  Most sludge is disposed of above ground in toxic lakes called impoundments.  Not only do these facilities often leach toxins and cause black water spills into our streams, there have been several catastrophic failures resulting in toxic floods, massive property destruction and even death.

Coal sludge is a waste product produced by washing the coal with our water and

chemicals prior to shipping the coal to market.

News article where my Aunt (43) and her grandson(6) died in flash flood from a surface mining operation in Boone Co, WV. When found, they were still embraced.

Black water spill in the stream that runs by my home. This stream is now a permitted “pollution

spillway”.

EPA guidelines for conductivity for water are 300-500 micro Siemens per cm (µS/cm).  Streams around

MTR test high, here more than 1800. Our stream tested 1200.

Coal sludge pollutes our streams and wells, and threatens our safety and wellbeing in our homes.

Coal waste running into The Big coal River

The coal industry has hundreds of sludge dams dotted throughout our mountains. In February 1972, a sludge dam on Buffalo Creek in Logan County, WV gave way, unleashing a torrent of thick, murky water that claimed at least 118 lives, left seven persons missing,

destroyed hundreds of homes, and left thousands homeless, including entire families who were members of our family.

My home before and after flooding in 2003.   Failed sediment control dams caused the flooding, much like the Buffalo Creekflood.  I have since been

flooded 9 times..

Sludge not stored above ground is pumped, or "injected," into abandoned underground mines. Once underground it can (and does) migrate into the groundwater contaminating local well water, especially when blasting from surface mining occurs in the area. Several communities have had their water supply quietly contaminated by underground injection causing widespread, often life-threatening illnesses.

In the town of Prenter, WV, 98 % of the people (including children) have had their gallbladders removed.

Underground Controlled Injection(UCI) The silent and permanent pollution of our drinking water at the aquifer.

Boone County has 16-20 injection sites pumping millions of gallons per minute into our aquifers

The impact of heavy metal pollution on water in the Southern mtn communities.

Toilet Bowl

Toilet tank

Heavy metal stains in bathtubs common throughout Southern Appalachia.

The coal waste in water settles in water heaters. Your water may come from the faucet clear. These same solids ends up in the human body causing fatal health problems.

Water from a water heater.

This is what my water does to the insides of my facets. I have to replace these about every 6 months or they completely close off. I purchase all of the water we

consume by the gallon.

Well water and entire aquifers are polluted by coal waste and this makes people sick! Cancer

is as common as colds in Appalachia

AnilineAcenaphtheneAcenapthyleneAnthraceneBenzidineBenzo(a) anthraceneBenzo(a) pyreneBenzo(b) fluorantheneBenzo peryleneBenzo(k) fluoroantheneBenzyl alcoholbis (2-ethylhexyl)phthalatebis (2-chloroethoxy)-methanebis(2-chloroethyl)etherbis(2-chloroisopropyl)etherButyl benzyl phthalateChryseneDibenzo anthracene

DibenzofuranDibutyl phtalateDiethyl phthalateDimethyl phthalateDioctylphthalateFluorantheneFluoreneHexachlorobenzeneHexachloroethaneIndeno(1,2,3-c,d) pyreneIsophoroneN- Nitrosodi npropylamineN- NitrosodiphenylamineNaphthaleneNitrobenzenePhenanthrenePyreneAcrylamideHexachloro-1,3-ButadieneHexa-Cl-1,3-Cyclopentadiene

1,2,4-trichlorobenzene1,2-Dichlorobenzene1,3-Dichlorobenzene1,4-Dichlorobenzene2,4-Dinitrotoluene2,6-Dinitrotoluene2-Chloronaphtalene2-Methylnapthalene|2-Nitroaniline3-3'-Dichlorobenzidine3-Nitroaniline4-Bromophenyl phenyl ether4-Chloroaniline4-Chhlorophenyl phenyl ether4-Nitroaniline

Chemicals found in Coal Sludge

The coal industry said that “the

contents of coal sludge is a trade

secret” when asked what's in

this stuff??

Chronic exposure to the metals found in coal sludge can damage virtually every part of the body. Health problems caused by these metals include intestinal lesions, neuropathy, kidney and liver failure, cancer, high blood pressure, brittle bones, miscarriages and birth defects among others. Studies of the effects of coal slurry on human cell tissues have found evidence that coal slurry causes cancerous proliferation, cell death and damage to kidney cells.

We won a moratorium on sludge injection in the state of WV. Sludge injection is no longer being permitted, however we are still dealing with what did get permitted.

Impacts of Coal Sludge on Human Health

There are nearly 5.5 million pounds of blasting material (ANFO)detonated each day in WV & KY alone.

The repercussions from blasting cracks home foundations, breaks windows and rattles the nerves of the people in nearby homes. It is like living in a war zone.

The air pollution from the blasting alone is poisoning the people that live in the valley below these massive operations.

Even our gardens are being made unsafe for consumption by the chemical fall out from MTR.

The act of blowing up mountains over our home and pushing the waste into

the valleys is polluting our air!

In 2007 Jupiter coal company used WW II munitions igniters (that was too toxic for war) in their blasting on

this site 3500 feet above my home. This Tetryl was contracted for disposal by the US Department of Defense, the WV DEP and Jupiter Coal Company.

Photo by Antrim Caskey

These photos were taken from my yard

The air pollution from mountaintop removal coal mining is heavily polluted with particulates that are known to cause cancer. There are silica and coal dust and the chemicals used in these explosives are being found in

our homes and bodies.

Health Study Articles on the Effects of Coal Mining How Many Mountains Can We Mine? Assessing the Regional Degradation of Central Appalachian Rivers by Surface

Coal Mining (July 2012) PowerPoint: Atmospheric Particulate Matter in Proximity to Mountaintop Coal Mines (presented in 2012) Summary: Atmospheric Particulate Matter in Proximity to Mountaintop Coal Mines (presented in 2012) The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central

Appalachia,19962003  (May 2011) Health-Related Quality of Life Among Central Appalachian Residents in Mountaintop Mining

Counties (May 2011) Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia with and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining (July

2011) Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal  (2011) Chronic Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Mountaintop Mining Areas of Central Appalachian

States (2011) Poverty and Mortality Disparities in Central Appalachia: Mountaintop Mining and Environmental

Justice (2011) Residence in Coal-Mining Areas and Low-Birth-Weight Outcomes(January 2010) Mountaintop Mining Consequences  (January 2010) Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates (April 2010) A Comparative Analysis of Health-Related Quality of Life for Residents of U.S. Counties with and without Coal

Mining (July 2010) Learning Outcomes among Students in Relation to West Virginia Coal Mining: an Environmental Riskscape

Approach (2010) A geographical information system-based analysis of cancer mortality and population exposure to coal mining

activities in West Virginia, United States of America (2010) Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statistical Life Lost  (July 2009) Higher coronary heart disease and heart attack morbidity in Appalachian coal mining regions (September

2009) Relations Between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia (April 2008) Mortality Rates in Appalachian Coal Mining Counties: 24 Years Behind the Nation (2008) Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia (May 2008) Lung cancer mortality is elevated in coal-mining areas of Appalachia(February 2008)

SEE THESE STUDIES AT WWW.OHVEC.ORG

An ever-growing number of peer reviewed health research reports prove that MTR, the associated water and air pollution is killing

people that live near these massive operations.

Lawyers from the firm Crowell & Moring are attacking the latest study by Melissa Ahern and West Virginia University’s Michael Hendryx indicating that people who live near mountaintop removal operations face a greater risk of birth defects.

But the internet posting from four of the firm’s lawyers  was, well, here’s what it said:

“The study failed to account for consanguinity, one of the most prominent sources of birth defects.”

I had to look this one up…

“consanguinity : of blood relation refers to the property of being from the same kinship.

Inbreeding

Insults are the only way the coal industry lawyers has responded to the health

research.

Taken from my yard in Bob White, WV.  A  plume of dust rises from the blasting, and  settles on our homes and in our

bodies.

A published study by researchers at the West Virginia University School of Medicine and School of Public Health is the first of its kind to suggest that exposure to air pollution particles from mountaintop mining sites may impair blood vessels' ability to dilate, which may lead to cardiovascular disease.

Air pollution particulate matter consisting largely of sulfur and silica was collected through a vacuum system within one mile of an active mountaintop mining site in southern West Virginia.

Adult male rats were exposed to the air particles and, 24 hours following the exposure, their blood vessels' ability to dilate and function normally was significantly reduced.

"This is the first study of this kind to directly associate mountaintop mining air pollution with a lack of vascular function. West Virginians who live near mountaintop mining sites are exposed to comparable levels of air pollution, and, with pre-existing health conditions in West Virginia, certain populations are pre-disposed to cardiac distress," Tim Nurkiewicz, associate professor in the WVU Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, said.

"It is going to be foreseeably worse for those individuals who live near mountaintop mining sites," Nurkiewicz said.

The second phase of the study will be to examine specific bodily organs that are affected or stressed by mountaintop mining air pollution exposure, Nurkiewicz said.

The State Journal

WVU: Air pollution at mountaintop mines may cause heart trouble

Even our dead don’t rest in peace!

Jarrell Cemetery

Asbury Cemetery

Bailey Cemetery

Twilight Surface Mines 25 square miles..

The tactics of the coal industry is much like it was 150 years ago

May 11, 2011

“Coal Curriculum Called Unfit for 4th Graders”By TAMAR LEWIN Activities included getting chocolate chips out of cookies with minimal damage

This is a scanned page from our children’s history book it says in reference to surface

mining "in some instances that the land is left in better than before condition.”

One local 12-year-old child was asked to do a report on surface mine reclamation and was

failed because he couldn’t come up with anything positive to say about it. His

ancestral cemetery is now inaccessible because of MTR.

These coal companies are imbedded in our schools.

The three groups — Rethinking Schools, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free

Childhood and Friends of the Earth- worked to have this taken out of scholastic curriculum, using our grass

work as their example why it should be taken out.

“Generations of West Virginia coal miners have dedicated their careers to making Patriot and the entire coal industry a success. These employees and retirees have spent decades working hard under the promise of fair wages, safe working conditions, secure pensions, and lifetime health-care benefits. I am therefore troubled that Patriot has indicated that it is reviewing pension and health-care benefits as potential sources of savings as it restructures — especially since all of these benefits were contractually agreed to or voluntarily assumed by Patriot.”

Senator Jay Rockefeller to Patriot CEO

Patriot Coal is attempting to file bankruptcy on 22,000 coal miners health and retirement benefits this will impact

1000’s of local people.

Appalachia and her people are not a lost cause and we will not leave our ancestral homes. We were here long

before coal was discovered & We are fighting to END MTR NOW!

“We gotta fight everyday for everything, but at the end of the day it’s worth it all.. We are still

at home. Quinnie Richmond last resident in Lindytown,

WV

Why should we be sacrificed for the wealth of Wall Street? Why should we have to pay with all evidence that we

ever existed?Is it because we are Hillbillies or

because the coal industry thinks we are stupid Hillbillies?

Larry Gibson 2003 www.keepersofthemountains.orgLast resident of Kayford MTN

Regionally we “Proud Hillbillies” have helped to organize community members to improve their own lives and stop expanding MTR. Through organizing, awareness, education, non-violent protest, litigation, coalition building, networking with committed organizations and determined individuals we have help to change the face of coal nationally. We now have community members helping to point out non- enforcement of current regulations to government agencies and government leaders on both federal and state levels. We have testified in Congressional hearings and lobbied in DC year round. We have educated the banks that fund this insanity. We have slowed the permit process for MTR and valley fills in our headwater streams substantially in the past 10 years. All this work began at the grassroots. The coal industry has found it difficult to obtain valley fill permits and yet currently this same industry has found loop holes that allows them to continue MTR operations without these required permits. The people in Appalachia don’t belong anywhere other than Appalachia. Our roots and our culture is tied to these mountains. If we leave our culture will die. We value our connection to these mountains as this is how we have survived for many generations. Through the rise and fall of the coal industry our people have learned to live from these mountains. We gather food and medicines in all seasons of the year. These mountains are our churches and our gift from God who appointed the people as stewards of His creation. We will always survive as long as we have clean water, healthy air and mountains to flourish in-- if not we die.

We have grown from town hall meetings with only a few attendees a into a national movement. We demand an end to the abuse of the people of Appalachia and our human rights. We deserve a life with healthy land, clean water, clean air, security in our homes and a clean, sustainable energy future for our children.

Judy Bonds North American Goldman Prize Winner 2003

We have had major actions with 1000’s of supporting members and member

organizations and 100’s of arrests for non- violent civil disobedience.

OVEC now owns property (with 20 feet of intact coal reserves) in the town of Twilight to stop the depopulation of this town. This property

stands in the way of expanding MTR depopulating yet another one of our rural towns. We call this a carbon sequestration project. It’s a proven

technology!

We organized locally and nationally to win a new school for the kids in Sundial, WV. In the 2013-2014 school

year the children will be attending a new school, upstream from this sludge dam, prep plant and MTR

operation.

Marsh Fork Elementary..

Debbie and Ed Wiley Grandparents who committed their lives to a new school in Sundial, WV. www.crmw.net

We have filed lawsuits to force the companies to clean up their selenium

pollution in our streams AND WE WON!

Alpha agrees to $50 million for selenium treatment

Monday, December 12, 2011

Breaking: Patriot agrees to huge selenium cleanupWednesday, January 18, 2012

Because of our victories we have been under violent attack by industry supporters,

including our own politicians.

Headlines from Ken ward at the Coal Tattoo

WV Senator Joe Manchin “ I will take on anyone who tries to

stop us.” Does he know that it’s WV

citizens standing in his way?

csmonitor.com

Army Corps Fails to Consider Human Cost of Proposed Coal MineGroups Contend Army Corps of Engineers Ignored Health Studies When Issuing a New Mountaintop Removal Permit in W.Va.

Boone County, W. Va. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to account for the negative health impacts on people living near a massive new mine in Boone County, according to a lawsuit filed today by the Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Coal River Mountain Watch.

October 17, 2012 we filed another lawsuit..

112TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5959

To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining

until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and

Human Services, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 19, 2012

14 Congressional Reps introduced the ACHE ACT

Please help support and follow this bill at www.acheact.org

Contact your state Congressional representatives and find out if they have signed on in support of HR 5959

The Ache Act and if not ask them to do so.

Join us in the struggle to save all that is Appalachia see www.ohvec.org

We are holding our ground and we need your help. We have recently introduced a bill to END MTR specifically

because of the impact on our health and the health of our unborn. The Ache Act HR 5959 calls for an

immediate moratorium on all new MTR coal mining permits and no expansion for existing MTR permits