On April 30, Manchin announced that funds had been secured to build a new school for the students of Marsh Fork Elementary. The announcement followed a $2.5 million donation from the Annenberg Foundation and a commitment from the Raleigh County school board and Massey Energy to raise the last $1.5 million needed for the school.
The fight to move Marsh Fork Elementary School, which sits under the Shumate slurry impoundment, next to a coal processing plant and nearby coal train tracks, has been a sustained one: In 2006, Ed Wiley, a former worker on the sludge dam, walked from the Coal River Valley to Washington, DC in support of moving the school. The Pennies of Promise campaign, run by Wiley and his wife, Debbie Jarrell, lobbied, fundraised and spread the word about Marsh Fork.
On June 23rd of last year, Coal River Mountain Watch, Climate Ground Zero and other environmental organizations held a rally in front of the school. Daryl Hanna and NASA scientist James Hansen spoke, and the rally was accompanied by traditional Appalachian music.
Community members gathered at Wiley’s house for a celebration this past Friday, after Manchin announced that the school would be moved.
“It was wonderful,” said Josh Graupera of the barbecue and campfire.
