World Watch, Jan/Feb 2001

Fossil fuels employment in steep decline. In the US coal production increased 32 % between 1980 and 1999, but coal mining employment declined 66 %. One reason is that is it cheaper to strip mine with big machines with less workers.

In the US more than half of all oil and gas production jobs were lost between 1980 and 1999.

Wind power is more labor intensive than fossil fuel or nuclear source of energy. In Germany, the world’s leader in wind power, wind supports about 35,000 jobs even while producing only 2 to 3 % of the nation’s total. Wind power can be competitive with the usual sources of energy by requiring less capital investment and by being much more efficient as a producer of power.

Dams are shaping up to be environmental and human disasters. China’s Three Gorges Dam will require the forcible relocation of nearly 2 million people.

It is becoming the way to go to consider tearing down dams these days. Some dams produce more global warming gases than a coal-fired power plant with an equivalent energy production. In 1994 Daniel Beard, head of the US Bureau of Reclamation proclaimed "the dam-building era in the US is now over."

[So then why is there a dam being built in WV at this time? Ed.]

Jim Hightower’s "Lowdown" Dec 2000

A high school student from Wheeling, Ashley Mulroy, has documented that America’s water supply has become contaminated with antibiotics. Starting at age 15, she took water samples from the Ohio River and found antibiotics in the water. These antibiotics were most concentrated near dairy and livestock farms – these farm animals are fed large amounts of antibiotic to ward off disease which with modern ways of raising them would otherwise be rampant. The antibiotic makes it then "feasible" to house animals together in cramped quarters rather than pasturing them as has taken place for thousands of years of human history.

Taking things a step further, Ashley found tap water from the public water supply in Wheeling to also be contaminated. Ashley’s discoveries are a wake up call for the rest of us – if antibiotics are used to such an extent that we are consuming them in our drinking water, then the target bacteria will soon evolve to becoming resistant to these drugs.

[Trust a smart and conscientious high school student to lead the way – when the WVDEP drops the ball! Ed.]

PEER Fall 2000

In 1978 PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were banned in manufacturing in the US because of hazards to human health. These plastics have been documented to an increasing risk of breast, prostate, and testicular cancers, and also pinpointed as able to cause liver disorders, reproductive problems and birth defects.

In spite of this ban, PDBs are commonly used in electrical equipment in mining. In the past 20 years PCB transformers and capacitors have been improperly abandoned in coal and hard rock mines, and eventual can get into groundwater. As a result, improper underground disposal of PCBs threatens regions with groundwater irreversibly contaminated wherever mining has taken place. [Has the WVDEP taken steps to insure that PCBs are not abandoned in mines, or that groundwater supplies have not become contaminated? Ed.]

When faced with factual evidence of falsifying documents and studies, the Army Corps of Engineers has its own senatorial cheering section for its defense. The latest from Sens.Warner, Smith and Domenici – the Corps has been infiltrated by environmentalists!

[It is no wonder that I feel uneasy about anything the Corps promotes or permits. Ed.]

PEER reports sadly of the passing of West Virginia PEER Assistant Director, Lad Lyter, who has died, losing his battle with cancer.

New River Free Press, January 20, 2001, Beth Wellington reporting

So what is the latest on the AT Massey-induced catastrophic sludge spill in KY and WV?

In spite of 75 miles of river being fouled, all fish and wildlife in Wolf Creek and along a stretch of the Tug Fork River wiped out, frogs, salamanders, snakes and turtle smothered by sludge, roads being blocked, and bridges destroyed and sludge in yards destroying lawns and gardens -- in spite of all this, the company, Martin coal company, a subsidiary of Massey, claims that the spill was "an act of God" and refuses to accept any further responsibility than an attempt to provide "mitigation" effects for the sixteen plaintiffs who have brought suit and to render an apology. In this so-called "mitigation" some sludge was removed, repair and maintenance was done to their properties, and water and temporary housing was supplied. The company asked a Martin County Circuit Judge to dismiss the suit and to award costs and attorneys’ fees.

State inspectors had warned Martin ie. Massey of the risks in putting further sludge into the impoundment that eventually broke way. It has been estimated that it will cost $16,500,000 to remove the sludge alone, let alone the cost of damages.

Said one attorney filing lawsuits – "It’s disingenuous. On one hand they’re making public apologies and accepting the blame. On the other hand they’re filing legal responses with this absurd and frivolous defense – I know of no earthquake or lightning or tornado that’s connected with this."

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth members Teri Blanton and David Rouse have posted a position paper, an eloquent read, at the group’s website which says in part:

"....though it will undoubtedly be years – probably decades – before Coldwater Creek, Wolf Creek and other affected streams recover, there are hundreds of miles of other Appalachian streams that will never recover. They no longer exist. They’ve been buried by the coal industry under tons and tons of mining wastes while elected officials and regulators looked the other way....

"The stories that have resurfaced about the past coal waste impoundment disasters – remind us that the flurry of ‘official’ activity after such an event is generally short-lived, and the political will to take corrective action is even shorter than the public memory of these events....The truth is [our senators and congressman] have spent much of their elected careers working to weaken the enforcement efforts (which never were that strong) of the US Office of Surface Mining, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to create a more regulatory "friendly" environment of coal. Martin County Coal’s sludge reminds us of what happens in a ‘friendly" regulatory environment. Corporations are protected. People and the land are not."

[Now AT Massey wants to get a chance to ruin the Twentymile Creek in Nicholas County with another of their obscene MTR operations -- all in the name of greed. They won’t get any argument from their stooges – the Corps and the DEP. But this project must be stopped! Ed.]