KAYFORD, West Virginia (AFP) — The traditional lifestyle of the Appalachian peaks of West Virginia is under threat from mining companies who blow the summits off mountains to reach the coal deposits that lie beneath the surface.
"They are killing off the culture of the mountain people," said Maria Gunnoe, who lives on a hillside which has had its insides dug out to expose a huge mine called Jupiter.
"We are fighting not only for right now but also for yesterday and tomorrow," she said.
Mountaintop removal mining, or MTR, is not only affecting traditions, but also polluting drinking water and air in the region.
In 2003, Gunnoe's home was smothered by a muddy landslide caused by Jupiter.
The well water she drinks has been rendered unpotable after being polluted by the mineral selenium, she says.
"They put profit above all -- above jobs and above people's health," said Larry Gibson, 62, an activist against MTR who lives in Kayford.
"Sometimes they blast 10 times a day and bury the waste and chemical products," said Gibson, who has been waging war against MTR for more than 20 years.
"Twenty years ago, I couldn't get two people to listen. Now people are listening," Gibson said.
He has transformed the 50 acres of land that belong to his family into a park, which is surrounded by 13 mountaintop mines.
"They told me once: you are an island; we will be the ocean," he said.
In the tiny town of Sylvester, 78-year-old Pauline Canterberry has opened another battlefront against the mining companies.
She and her neighbor fought long and hard in the courts to get the biggest regional mining company, the Massey Energy Corporation, to control the emission of coal dust from Elk Run, a nearby mine.
The US Environmental Protection Agency defines mountaintop removal as "a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal.
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