SECOND COAL SILO NOT FOR THE SAKE OF CHILDREN

Challenge WV Executive Director Thomas Ramey and Challenge Fellow Lorelei Scarbro ask "What about the children?"
“Surely this is not for the sake of the children?” asked Challenge WV Executive Director Thomas Ramey, referring to Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s political slogan.
A June 23rd rally was held on the Marsh Fork Elementary grounds where a second coal silo is to be built within feet of the community school.
The event has raised tensions in the southern WV coalfields.
Thirty individuals were arrested after the rally when they attempted to deliver a petition to Massey’s nearby mine.
Environmental group speakers, including NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen and movie actress Daryl Hannah, were drowned-out by Massey Coal workers and supporters who blew horns, played music, and chanted while a number of speakers took the stage.
Miners expressed fear they will lose their jobs if decisions are made to curtail Massey’s operation.
While the rally focused on the impact of mountaintop removal, Challenge’s Ramey asked “What about the children in this school that are living under the shadow of coal silos and a 2.8 billion gallon sludge impoundment?”
“Most people in West Virginia would consider this bad planning, let alone intolerable,” he said.
When Robert Kennedy, Jr. visited Marsh Fork Elementary School in 2007, he said it is an example of crimes against children.
Now, the WV Supreme Court has ruled that Massey can build a second silo next to the school.
It’s been a battle between the coal company and concerned citizens, with most of Marsh Fork school’s administration and parents adamantly claiming the coal operations have little or no affect on children, many of them have family members working for Massey.
Ramey said “There appears to be threads of corruption linked to this battle and school consolidations in West Virginia,” citing deals with coal corporations, including land acquisition and ignoring environmental considerations. Click to read more …





