Journey Up Coal River

Introduction to Coal River Wind

 “I would love to see the wind turbines go up on Coal River Mountain. That would be a ray of hope for me. It would be a ray of hope for a lot of young people in the area. That would mean jobs, that would mean that we could keep some of our clean water, that would mean that hopefully other people would come into the community because it’s not being destroyed. That would be hope…if there’s not a Coal River Mountain, how is there going to be a Coal River Valley??” – Debbie Jarrell, Rock Creek, WV
                                                                                                                           
Welcome to Coal River Mountain, Raleigh County,
“Almost Heaven” West Virginia
 

Photo Courtesy of Rory McIlmoil
 
Coal River Mountain sits nestled in the Coal River Valley between the Clear and Marsh Forks of the Little Coal River, and spans an area of approximately 62 square miles. The mountain is blanketed with what is known as a mixed mesophytic hardwood forest, and is home to a rich biodiversity of both flora and fauna, as well as to the residents living in the many valleys around the mountain. 
 
Barbara Anderson of Colcord, WV who lives at the base of Coal River Mountain talks about the connection local residents have to the mountain and the impact that losing access to the mountain would have on traditional uses of the mountain. Coal companies close off local access to the mountains before and during mining, and then they permanently destroy the places that locals have experienced and known for generations.There are thousands who live in the hollows of Coal River Mountain, and who depend on it for sustaining their livelihood, just as generations of their families before them. Their families have been able to survive in these valleys for hundreds of years both because of coal mining and because they always had the mountain to sustain them.   Now, the only reason many of them remain is because of their connection to the mountain. That connection, and the rich histories many of the residents carry with them, is now being threatened with permanent obliteration. 
 
Images from Coal River Mountain:
 

From Top Left:  Rock Structure, Blackberries, Spotted Newt, Apple Orchard. Center:  Morel Mushroom ("Molly Moocher"). Border photos Courtesy of Rory McIlmoil, center photo courtesy of Matt Noerpel, Coal River Mountain Watch
 
 
Because of Mountaintop Removal coal mining on nearby Kayford, Cherry Pond and Bolt Mountains, Coal River Mountain stands as the last major intact mountain in the Coal River Watershed. For only 17 years of coal production, however, Massey Energy coal company wants to change all of that. Their plan is to strip-mine, largely using mountaintop removal methods, over ten square miles of the mountain and dump the resulting mining waste into nine miles of headwater streams below. This mining, if it proceeds, will devastate the last intact mountain ecosystem in the area, and it will endanger the lives and negatively impact the livelihoods of the residents living below the mining – many of whom have already felt the impacts of the mountaintop removal operations on Kayford and Cherry Pond Mountains. 
 
Mountaintop Removal (MTR) exists as a cheap, profit-maximizing, last ditch effort by the coal industry to get what coal is left in these mountains after over 100 years of  mining has removed all of the thickest coal seams. Its expansion alone is a sign that coal is running out in southern West Virginia, because more strip-mining suggests that the remaining coal seams are getting thinner. MTR buries and contaminates mountain streams, destroys mile upon mile of Appalachian mountain ridges, causes more frequent and more powerful flooding, sinks and helps to contaminate groundwater wells that many residents rely upon for their drinking water, lowers property values, and damages the psychological well-being of those living near the blasting. As this destructive practice of coal-mining expands, more and more of the Appalachian culture and history will be destroyed. 
 
Residents of the Coal River Valley are showing, however, that MTR is not only destroying their health, their homes and their mountains, it is also destroying any hope of transitioning away from coal and diversifying the local economies. Despite the enormous devastation that has occurred due to MTR, there is a source of hope that blows across the very ridges of Coal River Mountain slated to be flattened by Massey – wind power. Since early in the Spring of 2008, local community members and activists have been pursuing the development of clean, sustainable wind power on Coal River Mountain, and have dubbed their efforts The Coal River Mountain Wind Project. 
 
This campaign offers an alternative model for energy production and economic development in southern West Virginia that could provide the “coalfields” with new, stable, safe jobs and a source of county tax revenues that would last long after the rest of the coal has been mined out. 
 
In the words of Gary Anderson of Colcord, WV: 
 
Gary Anderson of Colcord, W.Va., reflects on the potential for developing a wind farm as a viable alternative to a mountaintop removal coal mining site.“The wind farm, right now…right now would be the perfect time, as we’re starting to lay off miners and everything.  The biggest thing we have in West Virginia is coal mining, [but] the can still mine the coal underneath, the way my dad mined coal, and the beautiful green mountain would still be there.  Why wouldn’t we take that route?  Let’s stop it, let’s put up the wind farm, let’s stop mountaintop removal.  If you got the wind farm…the wind will blow forever.” 
 
 
How to Use This Site
 
You can use this website as a tool to familiarize yourself with the wind campaign, while learning more about the campaign’s importance to the residents of the Coal River Valley, to the state of West Virginia, to the United States, and to the Earth as a whole. The Coal River Mountain Wind Project embodies important themes that impact not only Appalachia, but the entire global community and environment. These themes include Power and Empowerment, Sustainable Development, Environmental Justice, Climate Change and Cultural Preservation. 
 
All of these themes are intertwined, they are all part of the story of justice and survival that the Coal River Mountain Wind Project symbolizes. The struggle to reconcile the issues related to Mountaintop Removal is reflective of similar struggles around the world, so by educating yourself about the wind campaign, you will be able to understand the need for transitioning the United Statesaway from coal and other fossil fuels and developing sustainable energy and economic alternatives elsewhere. 
 
As noted by Appalachian author Erik Reece in his book Lost Mountain:
 
“What a strip-job demonstrate(s)….is the absence of any ethic or aesthetic. It is a moral failure; it is a failure of the imagination – a failure to understand energy and employment alternatives that would preserve the integrity and beauty of the Appalachian Mountains.”[1]
 
 
Watch the videos below to hear the thoughts of Raleigh County residents regarding Mountaintop Removal and the Coal River Mountain Wind Project:

 

 

 

 



For more information on sources used in this theme, please see the Notes on Sources page.
Sylvia_Bradford1-max.mp3Sylvia Bradford clip 1hazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today
Sylvia_Bradford2-max.mp3Sylvia and Rick Bradford on how MTR has affected their liveshazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today
Sylvia_Bradford3-max.mp3The Bradfords and trainshazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today
debbie_jarrell-1-max.mp3Debbie Jarrell on disappearing housing stockhazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today
Charles-EdClip3.mp3Ed Wiley on the Appalachian Mtns. and waterhazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today
Sylvia_Bradford5-max.mp3The Bradfords on lack of accesshazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today
debbie_jarrell-1-max.mp3Debbie Jarrell on Marsh Fork Elementarycoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyle
debbie_jarrell-2-max.mp3Debbie Jarrell on lack of access to the mountainscoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyle
MTR2CharlieBEdit1.mp3Charles Ballard on changes since MTRcoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyle
BettyRoss.mp3Betty Ross on Floodingcoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyle
Meadows1.mp3Jimmy Meadows on outmigrationcoal_river_101-05-outmigration
judy_crm_clip1.mp3Judy Bonds on Coal River Mountaincrm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountain
Charles-EdClip2.mp3Ed Wiley on Health Effects at MFEhazy-02-marsh-fork-elementary
Thompsonclip1.mp3Ernie Thompson on Slurry Impoundmentsmtr-02-environmental-impacts
Thompsonclip2.mp3Ernie Thompson "Money got in the way"mtr-03-legislation-permits-regulations
Maria1.mp3Maria Lambert on Water Qualityprenter-04-health
Rory-GB4.mp3Gary Anderson on Coal River Windwind-01-introduction-to-coal-river-wind
Rory-GB3.mp3Barbara Anderson discusses Mountain Access and Traditional Usewind-01-introduction-to-coal-river-wind
Rory-Chuck1.mp3Chuch Nelson on Threat of Valley Fills on Coal River Mountainwind-02-the-threat-of-mtr-on-coal-river-mountain
Rory-GB2.mp3Gary Anderson describes 2001 Clear Fork Floodswind-02-the-threat-of-mtr-on-coal-river-mountain
Rory-Chuck4.mp3Chuch Nelson "We gotta shut 'em down"wind-02-the-threat-of-mtr-on-coal-river-mountain
Rory-Judy2.mp3Judy Bonds "The Last Vestige of Jobs and Sustainability"wind-03-the-coal-river-mountain-wind-campaign
Rory-GB5.mp3Gary Anderson Imagines a New Wind Industrywind-04-wind-vs-mtr-for-coal-river-mountain-the
Rory-Chuck3.mp3Chuck Nelson "This is Our Last Chance"wind-06-a-just-transition
MTR2VernonHEdit1B.mp3Vernon Haltom on Protecting Places and Resourcescrm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountain
EdWileyInEdit1.mp3Ed Wiley "A Magical Place"crm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley
Meadows1.mp3Jimmy Meadows on Loss of Underground Mining Jobscrm-03-undergound-mining
Charles-EdClip1.mp3Ed Wiley on Sludge Impoundmentshazy-02-marsh-fork-elementary
238002.mp3Laffon Pettry, "Molly mooching"crm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley
080009.mp3Donna Wills, "nothing I can't can"crm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley
074025.mp3Randy Halstead, Joys of ginsengincrm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley
077007.mp3Joe Aliff, harvest timecrm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley
088006.mp3John Bowman, keeping the mash warmcrm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley
050002.mp3Benny Turner, Native Americans on Bolt Mtn.coal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1
077010.mp3Joe Aliff and his Cherokee grandfathercoal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1
119011.mp3Howard Miller, corn-woodland-pastureland systemcoal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1
215001.mp3Howard Miller, people hiding on mtn. from marauding soldierscoal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1
Joe_Aliff_we_had_a_full_fledged_war_077022.mp3Joe Aliff, arming miners for Battle of Blair Mtn.coal_river_101-02-history-of-coal-river-part-2
046012.mp3Mae Bongalis, a visit with Mother Jonescoal_river_101-02-history-of-coal-river-part-2
141006.mp3Cody Dickens, a visit from the land companycoal_river_101-04-absentee-land-ownership
162008.mp3Dr. Jim Michael Wills of Rock Creek on absentee landownershipcoal_river_101-04-absentee-land-ownership
038002.mp3Shorty Bongalis on West Virginians migrating to Ohiocoal_river_101-05-outmigration
088003.mp3John Flynn about moonshinincoal_river_101-05-outmigration
088004.mp3John Bowman, staying in Coal River by moonshinincoal_river_101-05-outmigration
077024.mp3Joe Aliff, how Coal River Mtn. is a drug storecrm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountain
Thompsonclip1.mp3Ernie Thompson, former mine inspector on slurry impoundmentscrm-05-the-brushy-fork-slurry-impoundment
Jen-JackSpaderoClips.mp3Jack Spadero, engineer on impacts of MTR and slurrycrm-05-the-brushy-fork-slurry-impoundment
Rory-GB4.mp3Gary Anderson, Coal River Mountain Wind campaignwind-06-a-just-transition
Rory-Judy1.mp3Judy Bonds, coal is NOT West Virginiawind-06-a-just-transition
hazy-01-near-the-mouth-of-hazy1hazy3
coal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-11coal-river-1011
crm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountain1crm2
prenter-01-prenter-and-surrounding-communities1prenter4
mtr-01-introduction1mtr6
wind-01-introduction-to-coal-river-wind1wind7
cresources-01-community-resource-mapping1cresources5
hazy-02-marsh-fork-elementary2hazy3
coal_river_101-02-history-of-coal-river-part-22coal-river-1011
crm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valley2crm2
prenter-02-water-quality2prenter4
mtr-02-environmental-impacts2mtr6
wind-02-the-threat-of-mtr-on-coal-river-mountain2wind7
cresources-02-children-are-the-future-of-the-coal-rive2cresources5
hazy-03-absentee-land-ownership3hazy3
coal_river_101-03-glimpse-into-a-coal-river-family-mid-20t3coal-river-1011
crm-03-undergound-mining3crm2
prenter-03-coal-slurry3prenter4
mtr-03-legislation-permits-regulations3mtr6
wind-03-the-coal-river-mountain-wind-campaign3wind7
cresources-03-bill-lucas3cresources5
hazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-today4hazy3
coal_river_101-04-absentee-land-ownership4coal-river-1011
crm-04-forest-resources-and-timbering4crm2
prenter-04-health4prenter4
wind-04-wind-vs-mtr-for-coal-river-mountain-the4wind7
cresources-04-chronicling-the-coal-river-valley-s-coal4cresources5
hazy-05-update-lawsuits-possible-new-location-fo5hazy3
coal_river_101-05-outmigration5coal-river-1011
crm-05-the-brushy-fork-slurry-impoundment5crm2
prenter-05-community-responses5prenter4
wind-05-wind-vs-mtr-for-coal-river-mountain-ener5wind7
cresources-05-clear-fork-couple5cresources5
coal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyle6coal-river-1011
crm-06-community-letter-to-w-va-gov-joe-manchin6crm2
prenter-06-stories-from-prenter6prenter4
wind-06-a-just-transition6wind7
cresources-06-connie-and-terry-dillon6cresources5
prenter-07-news7prenter4
wind-07-update-blasting-has-begun-on-coal-river7wind7
cresources-07-danny-cook-and-mack-james-creek7cresources5
wind-08-organizing-for-wind-power8wind7
cresources-08-debbie-jarrell8cresources5
cresources-09-delbert-and-judy-gunnoe9cresources5
cresources-10-elmer-mays-horse-creek10cresources5
cresources-11-frankie-mooney11cresources5
cresources-12-gary-and-barb-anderson12cresources5
cresources-13-jimmy-platt13cresources5
cresources-14-junior-walk14cresources5
cresources-15-justin-wills15cresources5
cresources-16-kathleen-dickens16cresources5
cresources-17-kay-and-danny-howell17cresources5
cresources-18-kendra-dickens18cresources5
cresources-19-lonnie-burnside19cresources5
cresources-20-project-build-it-up-wv-summer-youth-prog20cresources5
cresources-21-project-community-greenhouse21cresources5
cresources-22-project-first-solar-thermal-installation22cresources5
cresources-23-project-greenhouse-gardens23cresources5
cresources-24-project-mural-project-in-whitesville24cresources5
cresources-25-project-the-tadpole-project25cresources5
cresources-26-rachel-bey26cresources5
cresources-27-ray-and-lottie-cottrell27cresources5
cresources-28-sandy-simmons28cresources5
cresources-29-shannon-dickens29cresources5
cresources-30-sharon-thompson30cresources5
cresources-31-sheila-and-natasha-walk31cresources5
cresources-32-sherry-geisler32cresources5
cresources-33-wilma-cook33cresources5
Charles Ballardcoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyleCharles BallardCharles Ballard
Judy Bondscrm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountainJudy BondsJudy Bonds
Judy Bonds, 1 of 3coal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1Judy Bonds, 1 of 3Judy Bonds, 1 of 3
Judy Bonds, 2 of 3coal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1Judy Bonds, 2 of 3Judy Bonds, 2 of 3
Judy Bonds, 3 of 3coal_river_101-01-history-of-coal-river-part-1Judy Bonds, 3 of 3Judy Bonds, 3 of 3
Sarah Haltomcrm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountainSarah HaltomSarah Haltom
Vernon Haltomcrm-01-current-land-use-on-coal-river-mountainVernon HaltomVernon Haltom
Vernon Haltomhazy-02-marsh-fork-elementaryVernon HaltomVernon Haltom
Debbie Jarrellcoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyleDebbie JarrellDebbie Jarrell
Debbie Jarrellhazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-todayDebbie JarrellDebbie Jarrell
Debbie Jarrellwind-01-introduction-to-coal-river-windDebbie JarrellDebbie Jarrell
Debbie Jarrellhazy-02-marsh-fork-elementaryDebbie JarrellDebbie Jarrell
Debbie Jarrellcoal_river_101-05-outmigrationDebbie JarrellDebbie Jarrell
Jen Oshacrm-03-undergound-miningJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshacoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyleJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshahazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-todayJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshacrm-05-the-brushy-fork-slurry-impoundmentJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshaprenter-07-newsJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshacrm-04-forest-resources-and-timberingJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshahazy-01-near-the-mouth-of-hazyJen OshaJen Osha
Jen Oshahazy-02-marsh-fork-elementaryJen OshaJen Osha
Ed Wileyhazy-02-marsh-fork-elementaryEd WileyEd Wiley
Ed Wileyhazy-04-hazy-and-shumates-todayEd WileyEd Wiley
Ed Wileycrm-02-community-land-use-in-coal-river-valleyEd WileyEd Wiley
Ed Wileycoal_river_101-06-changes-in-lifestyleEd WileyEd Wiley