Group Says 14 Activists Arrested At W.Va. Mine
The Associated Press
06/18/09 - 05:36 PM EDT
TIM HUBER
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) Authorities arrested 14 people Thursday after anti-mining activists staged a protest that briefly halted production at one of southern West Virginia's largest coal mines.
All were involved in a protest at Massey Energy Co.'s Twilight surface mine. Four of the activists scaled the 300-foot boom of a piece of earthmoving equipment at the Boone County mine and unfurled a sign protesting mountaintop removal mining, a practice that involves blasting away ridgetops to expose coal seams.
Protester Charles Suggs IV said he and three other climbers spent at least 4 hours about 200 feet in the air before climbing down to be arrested with a 10-member ground team.
"It's pretty crazy up there. It's worth it and it's worth the risk," said Suggs, calling on his cell phone. He said he was in a holding cell at the Boone County courthouse.
Boone County Deputy Sheriff Justin Dalton said all 14 face felony conspiracy charges and a mix of misdemeanors. Suggs and the three other climbers also are charged with trespassing, fleeing on foot, littering and battery, Dalton said. Ten others are charged with trespassing. The group were expected to make their initial court appearance Thursday afternoon.
The protest was the latest in a series aimed primarily at stopping mountaintop removal mining. The coal industry says mountaintop mines in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee employ about 14,000 people and produce nearly 130 million tons of coal each year, or about 14 percent of the coal that produces electricity nationwide.
But opponents argue the practice should be banned because it destroys ancient mountains, taints drinking water and damages communities. The Sierra Club and other groups have been pushing the Obama administration to outlaw mountaintop mines, but federal regulators have taken a middle-of-the-road approach. They're seeking to eliminate expedited reviews that have made it easier for mining companies to obtain mountaintop removal permits, but also declined to block more than 40 permits last month.
Suggs said the protesters decided conventional methods weren't working.
"We have been writing letters. We have been going to the courts," he said. "We brought more attention to it. We stopped the dragline's moving. That's one of the most destructive forces out there."
Massey Chief Executive Don Blankenship chided the protesters, most of whom are not West Virginians, for endangering miners and police officers and wasting tax dollars.
"It is clear that these folks are not concerned with the people, the environment or the economy of West Virginia. Their efforts are purely about gaining hype and media attention for their out-of-state funders and patrons," Blankenship said.
The piece of equipment Suggs and three others climbed is called a dragline. Weighing approximately 8 million pounds, it can pick up 60 cubic yards of material in a single scoop. The boom stretches 300 feet from the dragline's center.
The protest forced a brief halt in production at Twilight, which produces approximately 5 million tons of coal annually. Massey is among the nation's largest coal producers and has operations in Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia.
While Suggs said none of the climbers or their 10-member ground support team was hurt, Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said one Massey employee, or member, was injured.
"I don't know to what extent the altercation was between the protesters and the member, but the member was taken to the hospital," Gillenwater said.
West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training spokeswoman Jama Jarrett said one of the agency's inspectors saw a protester pull the employee off the dragline.
Jarrett described the injured miner as coherent and said he was taken to the hospital as a precaution. Agency director Ron Wooten has not decided whether the incident will be investigated as a mining accident.
A spokeswoman for Rainforest Action Network, which helped orchestrate the protest, said it is unclear what happened.
"These are trained, nonviolent activists and this is not about a conflict with the workers," Nell Greenberg said. "None of them would ever intentionally assault anyone."
