Comments on: Valley Fill – A Closer Look

By: mountainsaver

mountainsaver — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:54:32 +0000

Ron, you said Denny had taken pictures of coal mines. I didn’t see a single coal mine in any of his pictures. All I saw, was construction workers, blowing up mountains. Coal mines are underground. And what about the coal industry trespassing onto our land, by contaminating our water, and flooding our land with valleyfills behind our homes, blowing houses off their foundations from the blasting. All this from mountaintop removal, regardless who’s doing it, so don’t even bring the trespassing shit up. Denny is just letting everyone know, to what he already knows about what is going on here, because if everyone else knowed what he knows, you or the coal industry, wouldn’t be doing what you all are doing

By: denny

denny — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:37:44 +0000

To no Ron in particular… Jupiter Coal is a subsidiary of Arch Coal. I’m grinding my ax against the coal industry.

I don’t give a rats ass who links to my site, I’m sending my message via Google.

I have never been employed with a coal company although I have worked extensively on coal company property. As far as I know, it has never been illegal to take pictures.

My biggest problem with mountaintop removal is exactly what you are accusing me of. Trespassing, I’ve always hiked these mountains and now I have to assume if I happen to hike upon a mountaintop removal site I have to run because all of the sudden in the middle of the mountains I’m trespassing. Bullshit. If I can go through the mountains without ever seeing an indication that I cannot then your mountaintop removal sites are fair game as far as I’m concerned. Because there is no doubt I will hike into one.

Ron, you are commenting here because until now I have allowed you to do so. If your sole intention is to bash me I have no problem deleting your comments and or banning you from commenting on this website. If you have a legitimate argument in favor of mountaintop removal I’m all for listening to it. Otherwise…

Believe me, the stench you smell right now, tulips in comparison to the stink I’m going to create.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:25:02 +0000

Ron. I moved to W.V. from Ohio 8 years ago. My husband and I live in Mingo County in a hollow surrounded by mountains. Our community has been 4-wheeling this area long before I came here. Massey has been mining the area long before I came here. The first year of adventures, I noticed that there were no birds in the mountains. At that time there were 2 mines being run that we knew of. The 4-wheeling trails were made by those living in our area. Just small paths used frequently. Over the years, our “paths” have been bulldozed, blown up, and/or purposely blocked and mines ( strip mining and mountain top removal) has increased so much that one needs only ride a short distance in any direction to find mining sites. Noone has ever restricted our adventures. The guards at site, on occasion, would advise us of blasting, or direct our path in another direction. Many times, they have moved their heavy equipment to allow us to continue our journey. Getting to the point, your low punches about Denny having worked the mines and about his “trespassing” on private property are out of line. One needs only to ride an unaltered ridge to see the devastation wrought by mountain top removal and strip mining.

By: Folk Face

Folk Face — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:36:55 +0000

Ron how can you be so sure? Hmmmmmmm? Is all you have to say devoid of content, or are you holding on to the good stuff after you get tired of throwing rocks like a four year old? Let’s hear just why you want to protect this industry?

Because strip mining is good for tick populations? Is that really your best point?

By: Ron

Ron — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:23:28 +0000

Denny, I would stay off private property if I were you. You are tresspassing on coal co. property and you know it. How did you get all the coal mine and prep plant photos? Probably while you were still employed by the coal industry. Now you come off like just another coal comp. case. You got an axe to grind with Massey Coal so you try to do as much damage to the industry as a whole as you can simply because a few enviros pumped up your ego and linked you pages to their sites. The stench is definatly coming from Bolt Mt.

By: denny

denny — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:25:41 +0000

Sorry Ron but you are so full of crap I can smell it from here. Granted you are right about the food source but wrong about everything else. A tick that has been on an animal recently is a little different from one that has not fed. But if you knew anything like you apparently think you do, you would know that. Better luck next time.
—-
Although this post wasn’t about ticks I decided to supply a couple of links concerning the feeding habits of ticks. I brought up ticks in this post because the coal industry could use ticks to make a propaganda video about bugs on valley fills and there would actually be a little truth to it as compared to their other videos.

The ticks in question are the hard tick variety.
http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/tickbio.html
http://www.pestproducts.com/ticks1.htm#Tick%20Life%20Cycle%20and%20Habits

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:17:35 +0000

Where do you think ticks get their food source…the blood of mammals…deer, racoon, squirrel. If you were covered with ticks that means mammals were recently present at the site.

By: Folk Face

Folk Face — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:21:29 +0000

you’d think such an environmentally conscious industry as surface coal mining would be aware of the 100+ years of research on forest succession. It seems that they are not, or they are indifferent to the success of their ‘reclamations’. I have my own suspicions.

By: Folk Face

Folk Face — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:50:30 +0000

it’s really sad and ironic to see those little shriveled apple trees in the middle of that wasteland. makes me wonder if it was some cynic company wonk who planted them or a hopeful resident Jonny Appleseed.

By: Denny

Denny — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:14:18 +0000

They were definitely planted by the company Folk. There were other trees planted on the fill as well from Maple to Oak – all in various stages of death. I have photos of those for a later post.

There is no doubt in my mind the apple trees were planted to try and attract wildlife back on the fill. They are too secluded to serve any other purpose.