It doesn’t take blasting to destroy a mountain.
Posted on June 24, 2009 | By Denny Tyler | No Comments
As protestors were getting arrested yesterday at Sundial, WV – I was on the backside of the mountaintop removal site at the mine they were protesting.
Since it seems that every blogger in the state of West Virginia blogged about the civil disobedience action yesterday, I’m not going there… yet. What I am going to do is show you some photos of yet another destroyed mountain. I actually came upon this site by accident and while I was there, I wasn’t entirely sure which MTR site the clear-cut mountain was connected to. I guess you could say I had a failed attempt at avoiding mountaintop removal even for one day.
It doesn’t take blasting to destroy a mountain. The mountain is rendered useless for years to come just from cutting down the trees and leaving them where the fall like so many discarded toothpicks. Don’t even try to tell me about the perceived good things the coal industry does for West Virginia. I can see what they do for this state… why can’t you?
It took me close to two hours to try and move about 200 yards up this back-road. You can’t see it but under some of these trees there used to be a road. That’s how I accidentally found this clear-cut mountain, just by following a mountain road. Nothing bigger than a ground squirrel can use this mountain. Although I am a highly motivated individual I gave up trying to reach the top for safety reasons alone. Broken bones was something I did not need and for anything bigger than a ground squirrel trying to get through this devastated area the broken bones are a very real possibility.
Because of the condition of this mountain and although it still remains in one piece, it can no longer be counted on to support the many different types of wildlife that used to occupy this mountain. It has been removed from the eco-equation. Traversing this mountain is now all but impossible for all but the smallest of creatures. What a waste. Way to go Massey Energy. Good job in keeping with your pattern of destruction. Just a complete and total disregard for anything living.
There will be a party at my place like no other when Massey Energy either goes bankrupt or is finally made to pay for their crimes against humanity and the world. They are a criminal organization and them and all who support them are nothing better than the common thief.
——
For those that would like to accuse me of trespassing, I’ve got news for you… I was trespassing my ass off and will continue to do so if that is what it takes to show people the truth. What I would say to you further, catch me if you can. One thing I can guarantee, you will know without a doubt what the phrase to catch a tiger by the tail means. I look forward to it.
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I have another post coming Thursday with the rest of the pictures from yesterdays adventure. Since I had already crossed an implied boundary, I continued to do so for the rest of the day, just in a different area. I stand firm in my belief that if I can get to a mountaintop removal site without ever seeing a no trespassing sign, then implied boundaries can go to hell. Since the laws in this state favor the coal industry, without no trespassing signs and although I crossed the implied boundary by sheer accident, I could have been arrested and charged with trespassing. If that happens this summer, and there is a good possibility it will, there wil be no guilty plea from me and it will be a misdemeanor charge heard by a jury of my peers. Again – I look forward to it.
Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation’s character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us. – Aldo Leopold
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