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Ed Wiley of Coal River sits on the steps of the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston. Photo by Jesse Mwaura. After the grandfather of a Marsh Fork Elementary School student sat down on the West Virginia State Capitol steps today and refused to leave until Governor Joe Manchin came out to speak to him, he was invited into the governor’s office for a private meeting. The governor said he would extend the same courtesy and walk outside with Ed after their meeting, hopefully to make a public statement. Ed Wiley of Coal River Valley is demanding an explanation for the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) approval of additional coal operation permits adjacent to the school. The DEP granted the controversial permits to Massey Energy’s Goals Coal Company in spite of overwhelming community resistance and protests that had so far resulted in 20 arrests. “I want the governor to explain to me why Massey Energy’s profits are more important than these kids’ health and safety,” said Wiley, who displayed an aerial photograph of the school sitting 400 yards below a 2.8 billion-gallon coal waste dam. “On June 22, one of the people who built that dam explained to the governor how it is improperly constructed. We told him our concerns about the kids breathing coal dust and chemicals from the coal silo 150 feet from school grounds. Then on June 30 the DEP renewed the permit for the dam and approved a second coal silo next to the first. Where is the governor’s heart? Where is his loyalty?” Massey Energy recently released statements that the company is a good steward of the environment and uses only EPA-approved chemicals common in the industry. “That doesn’t make anyone sleep easier,” said Wiley. “This is the same company responsible for the 300 million-gallon sludge spill in 2000 in Martin County, Kentucky, as well as a long list of other spills and violations. Do the governor and DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer really expect Massey to operate differently just because the preparation plant is next to a school?”
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©2005 Coal River Mountain Watch
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