Mountain Watch [CRMW]: A Mountain and a Movie, Music, Medicine, and More

Dear Friends,

Independence Day is over, but the ongoing blasting doesn’t feel like freedom.

Imagine an 11-ton “Mother of All Bombs” blasting the mountain above your home into clouds of dust every day except Sunday. Would the nerve-rattling blast and lung-crippling dust contribute to your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness?

We didn’t think so, but that’s the effect of mountaintop removal coal mining, and it’s spreading. We at Coal River Mountain Watch work for an end to this devastation, but the agencies that should halt this abomination instead work against The People and give coal companies like Alpha Natural Resources a license to pollute. Really. Here’s the WV Surface Mine Board’s final ruling in which they determined that it would be “unfair” to ANR for the “sophisticated group” Coal River Mountain Watch to have our appeal of the 853-acre Long Ridge #1 mountaintop removal permit heard. Their reasoning? We should have known better than to rely on WVDEP officials to give us the correct time frame to appeal.

If you’d like to help support our work to end mountaintop removal, please consider a $100 donation here, or whatever you’re comfortable with. We’re not yet as “sophisticated” as the WVDEP, funded by tax dollars, or the coal companies, funded by mining the health of communities. We rely on the generosity of people who really care about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

See After Coal in Toledo Saturday, and meet me at the after-After Coal panel.

With author and former miner Gary Bentley, we’ll discuss moving Appalachia forward. Directed by Tom Hansell, “After Coal profiles inspiring individuals who are building a new future in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky and South Wales. This hour long documentary invites viewers to the front lines of the transition away from fossil fuels.” Of course, we still have the ongoing impact to communities from the coal industry, and I’ll be talking about that. The film starts at 3:00 at the Ohio Theatre in Toledo, 3106 Lagrange St, Toledo, OH 43608.

Can you chip in $25 for gas to get me there? We unfortunately still rely on that dirty fossil fuel to get around. Someday, though, we’ll all have solar-charged electric cars. Until then, we have to work with what we have.

Come to the 3^rd annual Solar Powered Music Festival hosted Keeper of the Mountains Foundation this weekend at Cantrell Ultimate Rafting in Fayetteville, WV.

The "Our Day in the Sun" festival is July 7-8. From 3:00 today until midnight (?) tomorrow, it’s a family-friendly event with loads of talent, including Elaine Purkey, Kathleen Coffee, T. Paige Dalporto, Whistle and Fish, and more. See more details here, and have a great time!

CREEK’s Rodeo on the River is July 15!

Our Coal River Environmental Education for Kids (CREEK) program is having a Rodeo on the River, with inner tubes, a cookout, and a little cleaning up with the Tadpole Project. If you’d like to participate, call the office at 304-854-2182 or email coalriver@crmw.net. And if you could chip in $25 here to support wholesome outdoor learning fun for kids, we’d appreciate it.

Mark your calendars for the herbal medicine clinic July 25-28 and the Mountain Music and Medicinals event July 27!

We’re again hosting the Herbal Medics organization at the Judy Bonds Center for Appalachian Preservation in Naoma (the Coal River Mountain Watch office and community center), and they’ll also be at the Salamy Building in Whitesville. Join us for the popular herbal clinics to receive herbal and nutritional counseling. Come and find out how herbs can help your body recover and heal! More details are here.

On July 27 at 6 PM, join us for an evening of live music, herbal health education, and free food! The Commonwealth Center for Holistic Herbalism in Boston will lead a workshop on easy herbs for digestive health. Acclaimed Nashville duo Nora Jane Struthers and Joe Overton will perform their blend of old-time and bluegrass-infused roots music. This event is 100% free. See more details at the Facebook event here.

If you could help support  the Judy Bonds Center as a community asset for these kinds of activities, we would very much appreciate it. A gift of $100 covers a week’s worth of mortgage, but no amount is too small or too large.

Then join us July 29 for the fifth annual Peachtree Falls cleanup!

It just gets better every year with the Tadpole Project making steady progress to keep Peachtree Falls as a place the community can be proud of. This stunning waterfall and surrounding area is the sort of place where memories are made. Bring the kids and a camera, and be ready for swimming and fun! Lunch is provided.

For more details, call the office at 304-854-2182 or email coalriver@crmw.net. And please consider a gift of $25 here to support this worthwhile project for clean streams and community pride.

Can we count on you to support our work in the trenches?

Tax-deductible gifts of all sizes are greatly appreciated and badly needed. You can send your gift to CRMW, P.O. Box 303, Naoma, WV 25140, or you can donate securely online here, or on our Facebook page here, by Network for Good here, or by Razoo here. We can also accept donations of stock.

We badly need to enlarge our base of regular monthly sponsors. If you would sign up for automatic recurring donations here, we would greatly appreciate it.

Please share our work with friends, including sharing our pages on Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram.

Thanks very much for your help.

Vernon Haltom

Executive director

Coal River Mountain Watch

Coal River Mountain Watch [CRMW]: Join us Tomorrow for a Town Hall on health impacts of surface mining

Dear Friends,

Speak up Tomorrow at the "Town Hall Forum" on health impacts of surface mining.

The National Academy of Sciences wants to hear from YOU. Their review of the peer-reviewed health studies includes a series of four meetings. The first was held in Washington DC on March 7. The one tomorrow is at the Chief Logan Lodge in Logan, WV, the next is July 11-12 in DC, and the last is August 21-23 at a location still to be determined.

Tomorrow may be your last chance to speak in person.

Please attend tomorrow, May 23 at

Chief Logan Lodge, Hotel and Conference Center

1000 Conference Center Drive

Logan, WV 25601

The hearing will be in two parts. The first is the "open session," consisting of three panels, from 12:45 until about 4:00: state agencies at 1:00, coal industry at 2:30, and environmental groups Coal River Mountain Watch with our friends from Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and WV Highlands Conservancy at 3:00.

The second part is the "town hall forum," where citizens can speak for three minutes each, from 6:30 until 9:00. The town hall is first come, first serve, so please show up early to get your place in line.

We'll be on hand passing out talking points at 5:30.

If you're on Facebook, please let us know if you're coming and get updates by signing up at the event here.

More information on the study can be found here.

For more information or to register to attend, email rchapetta@nas.edu or call 202-334-2766.

You can also send comments here. Please share with the committee your thoughts and feelings about the practice of letting unregulated hazardous dust blow from the mountaintop removal sites into the lungs of people. If you or a family member has suffered the health impacts of mountaintop removal, or you fear for the health of your family, please let them know.  

Schedules are subject to slight change, so follow us on Facebook to stay current. If you can't be there, please consider chipping in $25 here to support CRMW's ability to attend and speak.

That citizen's complaint we filed last week resulted in a Notice of Violation to the coal company.

The WVDEP issued a sediment control violation at the Middle Ridge site for allowing sediment pollution to drain from a sediment control pond offsite through an old culvert. This is the fifth notice of violation issued for this permit, and the third sediment control violation issued since July. The previous one is still open, having missed three deadlines for abatement. When a serious pattern of violations develops, the WVDEP has the authority to terminate the permit.

We need your support to monitor these sites.

Please consider a tax-deductible gift of $100 today to hold polluters accountable and make the regulatory agencies do their job. Whether you make a one-time or recurring donation here, give directly on ourFacebook page here, or mail to CRMW, P.O. Box 303, Naoma, WV 25140, it's all appreciated and badly needed. Thank you!

The CREEK kids are going to the Exhibition Coal Mine.

Field trips are some of the important learning activities we provide for the Coal River Environmental Education for Kids (CREEK) program. This one to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine on May 29 will give them insights into the industry that has had such an impact on the environment and history of the area. Please chip in $50 to help support this important program, if you can.

Join us June 4th for the Fifth Annual Peachtree Falls Cleanup.

This great time for a great cause has gotten more popular each year. The Tadpole Project has given extra attention to keeping this local beauty spot clean as a place for each generation to make memories. The more hands, the better! Meet up at the CRMW office (the Judy Bonds Center) across the street from the Naoma, WV, post office at 10 AM and plan to work until 2. We'll provide gloves, trash bags, drinks, and lunch. Please consider sponsoring this popular project to restore clean streams and community pride with a recurring monthly gift.

We hope to see you tomorrow! Thank you!

Sincerely,

Vernon Haltom

Executive director

Coal River Mountain Watch 

Coal River Mountain Watch [CRMW]: Vote for Our Garden and Water Our Governor

Dear Friends,

Please vote for our garden to receive a grant!

It takes just a couple of clicks and helps a lot. Please vote here and share with your friends! Coal River Mountain Watch is in the running for a grant from Seeds of Change to support our community garden at the Judy Bonds Center for Appalachian Preservation, but we need lots and lots of votes. Please vote every day between now and April 19 to support a greener, healthier community! Thanks!

Contact Gov. Justice to veto this bad water bill!

The West Virginia legislature has passed some real stinkers, including the Cancer Creek bill, HB 2506. This bill would allow polluters to increase the amount of pollutants that they can discharge into WV streams.

Please sign the petition here to urge Gov. Justice to veto this giveaway to polluting industries, orcontact him here. Thank you!

There was a coal sludge spill into the Coal River last week.

Alpha Natural Resources, the same company blowing up Coal River Mountain, spilled approximately 5,400 gallons of toxic coal preparation waste into Drawdy Creek, a tributary of the Coal River. Two water intakes downstream were temporarily shut down until the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection said it was safe. Remember, this was the same agency that said the MCHM that got into the homes of 300,000 people in 2014 was "nontoxic." Expect the WVDEP to scowl at Alpha, or perhaps even issue a strong finger-wagging. A slap on the wrist is probably too harsh of an action for the WVDEP to consider. Watch this video by our friends at Kanawha Forest Coalition.

Join us for Blood on the Mountain April 5!

Less than a week away! Join us at the Judy Bonds Center for Appalachian Preservation on April 5th at 6:00pm for a free screening of Blood on the Mountain and panel discussion with the filmmakers and people in the film. You don't want to miss this important film set largely in the Coal River Valley with major roles by CRMW staff and volunteers!

Save Power, Save the Mountains fundraiser update.

Thanks for helping us raise $1,132 of our $3,000 goal so far. We've installed four of the energy-efficient LED lighting fixtures so far to upgrade the Judy Bonds Center. Please share and give here to help save electricity, save mountains, and shine a brighter light on our work. Thank you!

Follow and share our latest updates.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and share with your friends.

Please consider sponsoring our ongoing work with a recurring monthly or one-time gift here.

With mountaintop removal spreading and government agencies even friendlier to the coal companies causing the destruction, we need your help now more than ever. From $5 for a book of postage stamps to $50,000 to sponsor our entire operation for months, it's very much appreciated and needed. If you prefer, you can donate directly on our Facebook page here, or you can mail it to CRMW, P.O. Box 303, Naoma, WV 25140.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Vernon Haltom

Executive director

Coal River Mountain Watch 

Coal River Mountain Watch: Stand against violence to mountain defenders

Dear Friends,

Stand against violence to mountain defenders.

Paramilitary security personnel employed by Denver-based Newmont Mining's subsidiary Minera Yanacocha have allegedly beaten Maxima Acuna, 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner from Peru, and her husband on their own property. Approximately 80 personnel, with shields and helmets, entered the property to destroy the family's potato and yucca patch and assaulted them severely enough to require a trip to the hospital, according to the article here. Please sign the petition here to demand that Newmont respect Maxima's property, ensure her safety and drop their harassing lawsuit against her.

Maria Gunnoe, the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for North America and volunteer for Coal River Mountain Watch, sent a letter to Newmont, which you can readhere.

Come out to see the Moving Mountains movie Oct. 1 in Oak Hill, WV, for free.

The free screening is Oct. 1 at the beautiful outdoor Lively Family Amphitheater in Oak Hill. The movie begins at 7 PM. T. Paige Dalporto will play music beginning about 6 PM. You're in for a treat!

"'Moving Mountains,' based on Penny Loeb's 2007 award-winning book by the same name, is a masterpiece of contemporary activist cinema." - Steve Fesenmaier, Charleston Gazette film reviewer.

Watch our latest drone video.

Junior Walk made this video today to get a look at the "reclamation" on Alpha Natural Resources' 2,000-acre Edwight mountaintop removal site on Cherry Pond Mountain above our community. The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection issued a citation to Alpha on Dec. 15 for falling behind on their reclamation schedule, but then gave them an extension until today. From the video, it looks like they still have a long way to go. All that bare rubble puts deadly silica dust into the community's lungs when there's a dry day and a little breeze. It seems like more of that bankruptcy money needs to go toward hiring workers to do something about this mess instead of bonuses for executives.

Speaking of paying workers, can you pitch in $25 here to support Junior's work? Or you can sign up for a small automatic monthly donation to be a partner in keeping Junior's boots on the ground and eyes in the sky. Thanks!

Join us October 17 to save Coal River Mountain!

Stand with Coal River Mountain Watch and friends to tell the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection to end mountaintop removal coal mining on Coal River Mountain and everywhere. This ongoing process endangers public health with airborne blasting dust, pollutes streams, increases flooding, and deprives communities of traditional use of the mountains and forests.

Join us Monday, Oct. 17, at noon at the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection headquarters at 601 57th St. SE, Charleston, WV 25304.

Coal River Mountain has over 5,000 acres of active, approved, or pending mountaintop removal permits. Here's some drone footage taken Aug. 30, 2016, of the ongoing destruction. Over two dozen scientific health studies point to mountaintop removal as the culprit in elevated rates of cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and other causes of early death. WVDEP has passed the buck to the federal government to understand the science in a two-year review of existing studies. In the meantime, coal companies continue to subject residents to the fine and ultrafine silica dust emitted by blasting. WVDEP has said it intends to continue granting permits regardless of the health impacts and the companies' track record of permit condition violations. We call on the WVDEP to withhold new permits unless and until mountaintop removal is proven safe for neighboring communities, and to crack down on operating sites.

Share the invitation and bring a friend! More details will follow, but mark your calendar now!

Please consider funding a carload to the event with a $25 donation here.

Thanks for helping, and we hope to see you there.

Follow us on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

You can stay up to date, take action, and share our posts with your friends.

Have a great weekend!

Vernon Haltom, Executive Director, Coal River Mountain Watch