Group Says 14 Activists Arrested At W.Va. Mine

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.