FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrew Munn or Zoe Beavers, 304-513-4710
Note: Pictures and updates available at www.climategroundzero.org
Four people, ages 22 to 81, block driveway to Massey Energy Regional Headquarters
JULIAN, W.Va.—Four concerned citizens are locked arm-to-arm across the road to Massey Energy’s regional headquarters off of Corridor-G in Boone County, W.Va. The four men, ranging in age from 22 to 81 years, are halting all traffic coming into the corporate office in an act of protest against Massey Energy and their use of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.
The signs read “Stop MTR,” “Stop Blowing up America,” “Protect God’s Creation,” and “People Over Profit.” The protesters insist that Massey pay damages and health care costs to people who live within a one-mile radius of Massey MTR sites, that the federal government ban MTR immediately, and that a full investigation is conducted into Massey’s business, labor, and environmental practices.
“I am exercising a spiritual obligation as a steward of Creation. It was not God’s intent that these mountains be destroyed to enhance the wealth of a few individuals,” said Roland Micklem, 81. “This should not be solely a young person’s campaign. Now that they have provided the example and inspiration, we seniors need to make a statement with our own actions and share the risks that are part of this ongoing effort to stop the obliteration of West Virginia’s mountains.”
Alongside Micklem are James McGuinness, 53, Joseph Hamsher, 22, and Fred Williamson, 75.
This protest follows on the heels of the week-long tree occupation that stopped blasting above Pettry Bottom for a week and the Massey-sponsored Friends of America event, at which Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship, conservative celebrities Ted Nugent, Sean Hannity and others, painted climate change as conspiracy, pointed the finger at “environmental extremists,” and called for a new conservative extremist movement.
“There were many true ‘friends of America’ at their Labor Day rally, but not a single one could be found on stage,” said Andrew Munn of Climate Ground Zero. “’Friends of America’ are people who strive to make our land and lives better through their work, including those who commit acts of non-violent civil disobedience for the common good. Don Blankenship and men of his ilk are the fiends of America who profit from the violation of our rights of organized labor, clean air, clean water, health and the pursuit of happiness. Mountaintop removal and Massey Energy violate all of those rights, and we intend to take them back,” Munn said.
Massey Energy has paid the largest fines for environmental and worker safety violations of any coal company in the United States. In 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency fined Massey $20 million for 4,500 violations of the Clean Water Act. In the same year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration fined Massey $2.5 million for the death of two workers and 1,300 safety violations in two of their underground mines. In the first quarter of 2009, Massey revenue increased 25 percent. Yet, Blankenship announced an average six percent cut in worker’s wages and benefits to investors in the same quarter.
Micklem, a military veteran, is organizing a 25-mile senior citizen’s march against mountaintop removal for early October. For more information on the march call Climate Ground Zero at 304-854-7372.
Thank you to these four heroes. And perhaps we can have 25-mile marches all over the country in October to protest MTR? I’m in ….
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dana Kuhnline. Dana Kuhnline said: The real Friends of America are at it again! http://bit.ly/dLrGe [...]
Great action, all. Keep up the pressure and keep making us proud to be part of the same movement.
The violence of physical restraint should not be tolerated. It is one thing to protest and use non-violence to send a message. It is another thing to physically restrain people from entering a place of business. It is sad to see people like Micklem, McGuinness, Hamsher, and Williamson use measures of violence by restraining people from entering a business. It also says a lot about the character of these men and their supporters. What they are doing is no different then physically holding somebody back it is the same result. It is taking other persons freedoms.
Deep mining vs. surface mining: Let’s stop surface mining and start deep mining, right? This way we will put people’s lives at risk by having them underground with thousands of tons of rock above their head. There is a lot of talk about stopping surface mining but little talk about finding an alternative. Wouldn’t a loud strong voice be better used at promoting an alternative to coal than trying to push a boulder up a hill, which is exactly what is happening when people fight MTR. Promote an alternative and phase out coal. Don’t try to phase out coal and then have to come up with something new.
Jobs: Does anyone ever take into account that technology has gotten much better since the 50’s and 60’s? I see individuals post numbers all the time about how the number of jobs in the coal fields has decreased because surface mining employs less works. Isn’t that a stretch? How come people never mention that the advances in underground mining its self have lessened the need for more workers to do back breaking manual labor?
Pictures of active sites versus reclaimed sites: I love how images about MTR are always active sites. I see VERY few picture of reclaimed sites other than a shopping mall and a quote next to it say “we flattened our mountains for a grocery store”. Coal operators have really changed the way they do things since the late 70’s and early 80’s when SMCRA was new. Trees are being regrown on MTR sites and the forest is being restored. Some areas are being managed for pasture operations and an income if being provided to the owners of that land. I just think it’s a little dishonest to depict MTR during active stages. It’s such a negative spin on what is going on. What is going on??? ENERGY….. The Appalachian region is mining millions of tons of coal that is fueling America. I know I know, I sound like a Consol commercial, but it’s true that a majority of America’s electricity comes from coal. Not to mention the coal that is used in the steel industry. I have been hearing a lot about American pride together towards change instead of fighting to stop things.
Valley fills: When overburden material (the rock) is blasted to get to the coal it swells 20-30-40% (depending on the rocks in question). This material can’t be replaced on the mountain because that would violate SMCRA and AOC. Instead this material is placed in the “valley”. These valleys are often times intermittent streams that only flow during high rain fall events. This isn’t great for the stream but there are a lot of things that aren’t good for streams. Let’s look at straight pipe sewer systems that pollute the water ways in the Appalachian region. Where are the people fighting to have septic tanks and to stop discharging human waste into streams? We give the coal industry a hard time about pollution but we pollute our earth just as much. The electricity that was used to write this was from coal. The electricity to write this blog probably comes from coal. (You may have solar power, I don’t know) There are thousands of gallons of human waste being discharged, right now, into streams all across the east. Maybe we should think about cleaning up our own act before trying to kill an industry that is keeping America afloat.
what a bunch of idiots all these people all, stuff like this is why no one takes these types of groups serious.
[...] rally that attacked environmentalists as extremists and called climate change “a conspiracy, Climate Ground Zero successfully blockaded Massey’s regional headquarters in Boone County, WV. The age of the [...]
Look, I was at the Friends of America rally. I didn’t see one protestor. All I saw was about 100,000 people enjoying the day on a former mountaintop mine that is now an industrial park that employs hundreds of people.
I am also FROM WEST VIRGINIA. I grew up within a stone’s throw of the Holden 22 site. My father worked there and, yes, I make my living from coal.
Give me some answers please? What jobs would you suggest for the thousands of mining families if you get your wish and end coal mining? Spare me the ephemeral panacea of wind power please. And spare me the equally ephemeral vision of all these other “green jobs.” Where are they? I will tell you, they exist only in the twisted little minds of people like you, the “Wicked Witch of the West” Nancy Pelosi, the “Cowardly Lion” Sen. Harry Reid and the “Tin Man” (otherwise known as the “empty suit”) Barrack Hussein Obama.
Spare me please … yes, America’s “chickens have come home to roost.” They are sitting in the White House, the Capitol and unfortunately for all of us, the little commune on Rock Creek (home to your motley crew of misfits and malcontents).
How’s this for an idea? Let’s capture all your hot air. That should curb global warming all by itself.
For all of you that protest MTR you have way too much time on your hands with obviously nothing to do. I think you all really do not even realize how stupid you are. People like Sean Hannity, Ted Nugent, and Don Blankenship are the real heros that know how to stand up for America. I could not be more proud that me and my family work and support MTR in every way. There is no greater peace than resting my head at night as a conservative that stands along side of intelligent people like Hannity, Nugent, and Blankenship..Thank you to all the conservatives that fight so hard to keep America running…..
[...] are already stirred up around mountaintop removal in the grassroots. In West Virginia today, an octogenerian paratrooper named Roland Micklem joined a septugarian named Fred Williamson and two others from Climate Ground Zero in a multi-generation blockade at Massey’s West [...]
I just watched the YouTube video. Thanks, all of you, and thanks for the good and strong words, Roland.
I can not change any minds with reasoning, I know that. There has to be reasoning here. This is dangerous. The middle of the road early in the morning? For all you bystanders and such, I have to ask this question, were any of you up or down from these brave people slowing down traffic or making it known somehow that there were people in the road? This is how peaceful protests are going to turn bad. When someone is hurt or even killed due to this action I pray you bystanders can look upon these brave few that do this and say it was a noble reason they did it. When someone and something goes wrong then what happens? You cry that we miners are violent, but when you put yourselves in predictaments like this you are testing the odds. You say that you know what you are doing with these actions, yeah The Crocodile Hunter was very skilled also.
[...] Hamsher, 22, was sentenced to twenty days in South West Regional Jail for his participation in a Sept. 9 road blockade at Boone County’s Massey Energy Regional Headquarters. He went before Magistrate Charles M. Byrneside at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 27 for a pre-trial hearing [...]
[...] Hamsher, 22, was sentenced to twenty days in South West Regional Jail for his participation in a Sept. 9 road blockade at Boone County’s Massey Energy Regional Headquarters. He went before Magistrate Charles M. Byrneside at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 27 for a pre-trial hearing [...]
[...] was sentenced to twenty days in South West Regional Jail for his participation in a Sept. 9 road blockade at Boone County’s Massey Energy Regional Headquarters. He went before Magistrate Charles M. Byrneside at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 27 for a pre-trial hearing [...]
[...] was sentenced to twenty days in South West Regional Jail for his participation in a Sept. 9 road blockade at Boone County’s Massey Energy Regional Headquarters. He went before Magistrate Charles M. Byrneside at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 27 for a pre-trial hearing [...]