A Rare Thumbs Up & the Usual Thumbs Down
Posted on October 11, 2009 | By Denny Tyler | 2 Comments
Let it never be said that I’m am not one to give credit where credit is due. As much as I have ranted about WV political leaders I have to give some of them credit for finally doing the right thing contrary to what the coal industry, or Massey Energy in this case, would have them do.
To get you up to speed and to see why it is I think Sen. Byrd, Sen. Rockefeller, and Congressman Rahall are finally stepping up to the plate and doing a good thing, you can read about it here, here, here, and here. This link is Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s response to Senator Byrd’s statement. The interview with Blankenship left me wondering who was being interviewed between the two friends of coal. There was nothing at all biased about that piece of reporting. I could just see that reporters nose getting browner by the second, he has ass kissing down to a science. I don’t know why in the hell somebody would want to impress a piece of work like Don Blankenship. That just blows my mind, born followers is what they are and West Virginians is what they are not.
I have written numerous posts about the Marsh Fork Elementary school. As some of you know the school sits about 300 feet from a large coal silo and just a few hundred yards downstream of a 2.x billion gallon coal slurry impoundment.
Basically what is going on is the battle for the school has finally made it into the political arena. Senator Byrd and others believe that since Massey owns the offending property which is the reason the school needs to be moved then they should help fund a new school. They are not being asked to pay for the whole thing just for help with the funding. Massey said no (the first link above) and from what I gather it was because they feel it is not their responsibility. They said since the school and the plant had coexisted for 50 years or more helping to fund moving it out of harms way was not something they felt obligated to do. (My quotes as to what Massey said is a summary and not intended to be exact. They are simply how I interpreted multiple lines of bs.)
The following is a quote from Blankenship out of a previous post to this blog and some photos from a post on the BackWoods blog.
“We’ve been trying to help schools and young people in West Virginia for a long time and its one of several ways we try to do that by improving the facilities or the educational opportunities or materials they have available,” said Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Students Visit Boone County Mine to Celebrate Arbor Day
First of all I think Massey assumed responsibility when they bought the operation in question. Regardless of who decided to put the two that close together… uh… 50 years ago, when cigarettes were healthy, it is now that we know the dangers present such as particulates in the air as evidenced in the window sill photos from the school. I would like to think we have gotten somewhat smarter and are more aware of our surroundings and I know we have become more health conscientious. With that alone you can’t look at those photos and say Marsh Fork Elementary is anywhere near a healthy learning environment.
That’s only half the issue or more a quarter of it to me. Another part of the issue is the nearly 3 billion gallon coal slurry impoundment located in the head of a hollow above the school. God forbid it would ever happen but if that dam were to ever break the school would be the second thing to go. Goal’s Coal processing plant would be the first and it would get washed over the school. If the dam were to break those two things are guaranteed to happen.
In my way of thinking if there is even the remotest possibility the dam could let go then that is too big of a chance for a school to be located at its base. It is an earthen/coal waste dam holding back a couple billion gallons of coal slurry like this one at Brushy Fork.
The difference is the one behind the school has a mountaintop removal site sitting right behind the pond. What you have all lined in a row is the Edwight MTR site, the Goal’s Coal slurry impoundment, the processing plant w/ coal silo, and the school. What I think is particularly scary about this setup is that, especially if you live near an MTR site, you know a lot of water can come off of these sites in a short period of time. One entire side of the MTR site drains into the pond.
All it would take is for Mother Nature to get pissed and there would be no stopping it. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen tomorrow. If you don’t believe me just ask the Weather Channel.
Massey Energy claims to be good environmental stewards and they had a $20 million fine from the EPA not too long ago to prove it. They claim to be good neighbors in the communities in which they operate and we have places like Marsh Fork Elementary along with Whitesville, Twilight, and Prenter to prove it. Massey doesn’t care about anything in the communities, they are here to get the coal by the cheapest means available. Massey is a corporation and like any corporation they have to keep their shareholders happy first and foremost. Shareholders want to see only one thing… profit. On that front, I’m sure Blankenship delivers.
I’m happy some of our political leaders have come out on the side of the school. I hate to say it but it’s about time. I would expect Massey to respond exactly as they have. I would think they would view it as some sort of an admission of guilt. That would be like saying… okay we admit, maybe there is a remote chance our coal is not quite as clean as we would rather you believe. At any rate, it sounds like the kids finally have a chance for a new school and regardless of whether or not Massey helps out, I hope they get it. If there were ever a school that needed to be moved Marsh Fork Elementary is the one.
One other thing… why so quiet at Governor Manchin’s office? Or did I miss his statement? Oh hell, what am I thinking… he fell off that boat of opportunity when he had all those folks arrested protesting for the school. He couldn’t really come out in favor of it now… could he?? Oh what tangled webs we weave. I’m very anxious to see how this story plays out.
——
If I’m not badly mistaken there is a hearing this week concerning the school. I’m not sure where it is or anything but I will get that info and update this post. Marsh Fork has gotten support from many groups through Ed Wiley’s Pennies of Promise campaign. They need that support now more than at any time in the past.
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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October 11th, 2009 @ 10:14 pm
You nailed it Denny!! Ditto. I too am anxious to hear Manchin’s response. Right now he’s in hiding. There are a few people I heard say, that they have already stopped by the capitol, and ask to see Joe, but he has suddenly vanished. I would have liked to hear the conversation between Baloney Joe, and R.C. Byrd. When ole R.C. talks, people listen. Rahall, and Rocky, were very quick, to jump on board. And I bet Big Daddy Donny B, don’t consider his self so big now. He pissed off the wrong man this time, with his Anti-American, anti-Environmental, Friends of Donnie’s America rally on labor day. I bet he wishes he had that million back. I liked this post. Please keep us updated.
October 12th, 2009 @ 11:36 pm
dung blankenship could have spent that million bucks on a new school instead of hiring some hasbeens and a never was to spout a bunch of canned crap at folks who are too scared to hear it.