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14 Arrested in Latest Massey Protest
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Fourteen people were arrested Thursday after an anti-mountaintop removal protest that shut down the dragline shovel at a Massey Energy operation in Boone County for several hours, police said.
Four activists scaled the boom of the huge, crane-like mining machine to unfurl a large banner that said, "Stop Mountaintop Removal." Other protesters spread a similar banner out on the ground.
Most of the activists were cited for trespassing and conspiracy, but four of them were also charged with fleeing police, littering, and battery after they allegedly shoved Massey workers to gain access to the dragline.
"They roughed up some employees of Massey," said Boone County Sheriff Rodney Miller. "They pushed them out of the way. They shoved them to get where they wanted to go."
One miner involved in the shoving incident was taken to the hospital as a precaution. But Miller said the worker was concerned the stress of the incident had aggravated his blood pressure or a heart condition, and that the hospital visit was "not altercation related."
Thursday's incident is the latest in a series of what had been billed as peaceful civil disobedience protests aimed at shutting down mountaintop removal mines and, in the process, generating more publicity about the damage caused by the practice.
The protest comes just days after the Obama administration announced a plan to try to more strictly regulate mountaintop removal to reduce the damage to forests and streams. Environmental groups had hoped Obama would ban the practice altogether.
"It's way past time for civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal and move quickly toward clean, renewable energy sources," said Coal River Mountain Watch co-director Judy Bonds, who was not directly involved in Thursday's action.
"For over a century, Appalachian communities have been crushed, flooded and poisoned as a result of the country's dangerous and outdated reliance on coal. How could the country care so little about our American mountains, our cultures and our lives?"
Massey President Don Blankenship issued a statement that blasted the protesters.
"When protesters perform dangerous acts such as scaling the boom of a piece of equipment to gain media attention, they not only put themselves at risk, but also put our miners and state troopers in danger," Blankenship said. "Every West Virginian should be outraged that these people come from outside our state to shut down mines that are legally permitted to operate."
In neighboring Raleigh County, Massey has obtained a court order blocking more protests after filing a civil lawsuit against activists who took part in earlier actions against the company's mines there.
In Boone County, the protesters were being arraigned late Thursday afternoon. The protesters ranged in age from 21 to 47, and were from North Carolina, Washington, D.C., Tennessee, Washington state, Ohio, Maine and Oklahoma. Two listed addresses in West Virginia, and one of those was a temporary address, police said.
A state mine safety inspector witnessed the protest, and reported that the protesters shoved at least one Massey miner in order to gain entry to the dragline, said Jama Jarrett, spokeswoman for the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.
The inspector had originally reported that a group of protesters "rushed" the miner who was injured, but later said that wasn't what happened, Jarrett said. Jarrett refused to identify the inspector.
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12 Comments so far
Show AllYou think we'll see this in the national corporate media?
No, I don't think the corporate media is going to talk about what Mountaintop Removal Mining is and why the American people are protesting to stop this evil practice. They would rather entertain us with the latest Hollywood gossip. You know the gossip like are Brad and Angelina getting a divorce, or did Brad and Jen meet in a hotel room as they are secretly back together.
True.
MTR cannot be depicted in a good light, anyone who sees it is instinctually against it. So any attention would would be bad attention from the point of view of the media - which exists to defend the interests of corporations like Massey. Their treatment of single-payer healthcare is the same. The corporate media follows Orwell's rule that the most effective form of popular thought control is to supress all mention of the unflattering topic. Memory-holing.
They learned their lesson back in the 1970's. I recall a lot of media attention to Appalacian strip mining back then. This led the Surface Mine Reclaimation Act of 1977. This required mining area to be restored to "approximate original contours". Unfortunately, waivers are allowed (probably originally intended for flat-land strip mining) which the mine operators take advantage of.
"When protesters perform dangerous acts such as scaling the boom of a piece of equipment to gain media attention, they not only put themselves at risk, but also put our miners and state troopers in danger," "Every West Virginian should be outraged that these people come from outside our state to shut down mines that are legally permitted to operate."
My version:
When corporations perform dangerous acts such as mountaintop removal which poisons the land the air and the water - y'know the basic necessities required for life - to gain monetary profits, they not only put their, " miners and state troopers in danger," but also the bio region and ultimately the planet at risk. Every earthling should be outraged that these corporations come from the philosophy of capitalism above life thus creating peril wherever they tread, and have dedicated a majority of their lives creating so-called laws that make their deadly game legal.
Gee, what's more dangerous? A handful of people climbing too high without helmets? Or destroying entire mountain ranges?
Yes, Blankenship is a the victim here. He's such a nice guy too. It's great to see how concerned he is for the safety of West Virginia citizens.
We have made our choice. enjoy every minute.
Well, here's some scary news that will redefine the word Protest in amerika: According to the US Department of Defense, domestic protest is now defined as "low-level terrorism activity." That's right. Anyone who protest in this the land of the fearful, is now a terrorist. So I guess I'm, and a lot of others, are low level terrorist now.
Nice to think the environmental movement has made progress in stopping MTR.
I do think raising awareness needs to be the first objective. The ilovemountains.org people have made huge progress in alerting people to the danger, and tying it to political actions on the Hill.
Demonstrations occurring on private land might backfire. I think the anti-MTR movement needs to be cautious right now, as momentum is in our favor. Yes, a strong commitment to get the word out needs to persist. Still, if the anti-MTR movement resorts to crude tactics, it risks imperiling the fundamental purpose to make Americans aware.
Even if the Massey employees weren't roughed up, all it takes is the premise of physical confrontation to color the anti-MTR cause. During the 9/07 March it was actually the right wing counter-protestors who were physically aggressive, and it made them look desperate, not successful. I've got some dated material on MTR on my enviroblog, www.jbpeebles.wordpress.com
I was one of the 14. See climategroundzero.org for video shot by a journalist accompanying the activists. See also mountainaction.org, but know that it may not be fully functional. Unexpected trouble with this site and the general difficulty in getting camera files out from the action is what led to the very unfortunate delay in getting this video up.
The report that activists shoved a worker are completely untrue and some local television coverage reports are setting the record straight on that now. Rumors to the contrary are just Massey being Massey. It is true that one worker was seated and then lying on the ground during the latter part of the action after the ground team had been arrested but before the climb team had come down. Other miners told the activists that this man had suffered a mild stroke back in February. He was eventually removed by ambulance and his condition is unknown. However, judging by the nonchalance of the other miners and lack of care he received during the hour he was seated on the ground, I would judge it unlikely that he is in serious danger. Hopefully, he has recovered and is feeling better.
The real story of this action: a crime was being committed against the land and people of America. Citizens took it upon themselves to go straight to the heart of MTR and shut down a 200 ft. high, 100 yd. long earth-murdering monster. See http://mountainjustice.org/events.php?id=155 for details about the next action as climate scientist James Hansen, actor Darryl Hannah, Robert Kennedy, Jr., writer Wendell Berry, and dozens of others risk arrest in an act of civil disobedience to continue and build the fight. Won't you join us there June 23rd? The fight against MTR is now quickly going somewhere new. The residents of the Coal River Valley and the citizens of West Virginia want and need your help to make it happen.