Photo by Phoebe Neel

After speaking with my lawyer today, it seems that I am free, for up to 30 days, pending an appeal for a retrial. So I do not have to turn myself in to the Southwestern Regional Jail tomorrow. We will see what happens in the next 30 days, whenever my attorney is able to file the motion. As far as we are concerned, I am innocent, and we are resolved to prove that. Massey is the criminal here, destroying the oldest mountain range in the world, violating the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, polluting head water streams, clear cutting an incredible amount of old forests, destroying habitat for animals, and terrorizing many of the citizens of Appalachia who live below the mountains Massey is exploding.

Our resolve is strong. We are not going to stop our work to save the wonderful mountains of Appalachia. We are more determined than ever to expose this incredibly destructive practice for what it is, a crime. It is a crime against nature, and Massey and all companies that participate in this crime, including the banks that fund it, are held accountable. It is long past the time to end mountaintop removal forever.

-James “Guin” McGuinness

Nick Martin enjoying fresh hot coffee on his ride home from jail

Nick Martin was released this morning after serving five days of a seven-day sentence issued last Tuesday.

Martin participated in a drill rig lock-down on Coal River Mountain last November and went to court on four charges: trespassing, conspiracy, littering and obstruction. Aside from the status hearing, he attended a bail violation hearing for failure to appear to an earlier court date of which he did not receive notice. Magistrate Massie was reluctant to return the $2000 bail unless Martin would plead guilty to trespassing and obstruction and served his sentence immediately.

Martin took the plea and was sentenced to seven days in jail and $55 in fines for the 2 charges. The littering and conspiracy charges were dropped.

Martin had faced up to two and a half years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.

This just in from our friends at Coal River Mountain Watch:

DEP Denies Public Hearing For Edwight Show Cause

Contact: Judy Bonds 304-854-2182, Vernon Halton 304-913-4113

WHITESVILLE, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has denied local citizens a public hearing regarding a show cause order on the Edwight Surface Mine.  According to state law, show cause orders, intended to be the last step before the DEP shuts down a mine site, are supposed to be settled in public hearings.  Despite the law, the DEP has decided not to hold a public hearing, and is instead privately negotiating a consent order with the mine operator, Alex Energy, a subsidiary company of Massey Energy.

After repeated requests, the DEP has granted CRMW the right to submit comments on the drafted consent order but is still refusing to hold a public hearing.  CRMW is asking community members to submit comments to them, as well as suggesting they file for their own right to comment.

Due to the DEP’s continual failure to follow the law, CRMW is now looking to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). 

“Massey Energy’s Edwight permit is one of the most flagrant examples of the DEP failing to regulate this outlaw company. The OSMRE needs to act now to takeover the duties that this failed agency refuses to perform,” said Vernon Haltom, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch.

Other community members are also expressing frustration with the violations on Edwight. Last April, local citizen Bo Webb took his case all the way to Washington, D.C. after he observed violations going unnoticed by the West Virginia DEP. As a result, OSMRE shut down that area of Edwight until the violations were issued. 

Currently, there have been 33 cited violations on the Edwight Surface Mine.  Besides the violations mentioned in the show cause, there are nine others that exhibit a negative pattern, a label given by the DEP when at least three violations of the same type occur within 12 months of each other.  The current show cause order was issued in November for six repeated violations.  

As these violations continue and the DEP refuses to enforce the law, community members are left to deal with the consequences.  As local resident Tom Beckner said in reference to Edwight, “We used to have some of the best drinking water. Now it’s nothing but a slush pond.”

This morning Nick Martin and Josh Graupera appeared before Magistrate Massie in Raleigh County Court on charges stemming from the November 21st drill rig lockdown and the January treesit on Coal River Mountain respectively.

Nick Martin locked himself to the actual drill itself, refusing to unlock, and was charged with trespassing , conspiracy, obstruction and littering.  He was also accused of violating his bail agreement by failing to appear for an earlier court date; however, he never received notice of his court date due to postal service mistakes.  Magistrate Massie refused to return the $2000 bail unless Martin plead guilty to trespassing and obstruction, which he did.  Martin was sentenced to seven days in jail and $55 in fines for the two charges, while the conspiracy and littering charges were dropped.  He began serving his sentence immediately.  Martin had faced up to two and a half years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.

Josh Graupera provided initial direct support to the treesitters on Coal River Mountain and was charged with trespassing and conspiracy.  He plead guilty to both charges today and received a sentence of $100 in fines and no jail time.