PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Update-- 16 Arrested in WVA Protesting Massey Energy
by Jessica Tuesday, May. 31, 2005 at 1:54 PM

16 People were arrested and are in custody right now for their participation in a peaceful protest in Sundial, West Virginia today.

16 People were arrested and are in custody right now for their participation in a peaceful protest in Sundial, West Virginia today. Residents of the Coal River Valley are fighting for the very lives of their children, whose Elementary School is threatened by unsafe and polluting Mountaintop Removal mining operations conducted by Massey Energy. Coal dust from a coal prep plant only 150 feet from the school enters through air intake vents, causing asthma and other respiratory problems, and coating everything with a toxic black powder.

A leaking coal sludge dam containing 2.9 billion gallons of toxic waste-- laden with mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and other toxins and heavy metals-- is only 400 feet from the elementary school and could burst at any minute. If the dam were to break it would not be possible to evacuate the school in time, and many fatalities would likely result, as well as environmental devastation downstream.

5 local residents, including parents and grandparents of children attending the Elementary School solemnly crossed a bridge onto Massey property, attempting to deliver a list of demands to officials, and were arreseted. Then, waves of supporters, in a beautiful act of solidarity, followed across the bridge with the same list of demands.

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