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(bullfrog croaking)

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(soft poignant string music)

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My father gave me this, where I live at now.

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He asked me what piece of property I wanted

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when I was 11 years old, and I said, "The old home place."

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He said, "Son, that's yours."

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I raised four boys and two girls who hunted, fished.

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In fact, my grandchildrens picked it up now.

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They go with me.

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They get down and they find crawdads

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to fish with outta this creek,

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and this coal company is gonna destroy it.

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I don't want it, because this is my home.

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(children chattering)

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Every time they blast, pretty blue skies turn black,

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and you can put your hand up,

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'cause the rocks are coming at you.

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(explosion blasting)

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You can't say, "Don't burn it," in Washington,

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"Don't mine it in West Virginia,"

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and tell me you're not trying to take the jobs

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of every single coal miner in the United States of America.

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And we're here today to say, no, no, hell no.

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(crowd cheering)

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♪ I have dreamed on this mountain ♪

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♪ Since first I was my mother's daughter ♪

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♪ And you can't just take my dreams away ♪

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♪ Not with me watching ♪

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♪ You may drive that machine ♪

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♪ I was born a great big woman ♪

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♪ And you can't just take my dreams away ♪

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♪ This old mountain's raised by many daughters ♪

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♪ Some die young some of us are still living ♪

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♪ But if you come here to take my mountain ♪

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♪ Well we ain't gonna here to give it ♪

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♪ And I have dreamed on this mountain ♪

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♪ Since first I was my mother's daughter ♪

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♪ And you can't just take my dreams away ♪

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♪ Not with me watching ♪

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♪ Oh you can't just take my dreams away ♪

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♪ Without me fighting ♪

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♪ No you can't just take my dreams away ♪

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(crowd cheering)

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(train roaring)

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If the burning of coal is destroying the ozone layer,

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then the last ton of coal ever mined,

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I want it to be in Logan county, West Virginia.

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If mining coal is killing crawdads,

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then I want the last one to belly up

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at Blair, West Virginia.

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Look at how many violations they was getting at Blair.

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Yeah but see, that's what I'm saying.

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If I got that many speeding tickets,

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man, I wouldn't own a car.
Look at Blair.

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They can get that many violations and still produce coal,

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by the thousands of tons every day, how?

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I said, "You knew Blair's a problem.

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You said Blair's a problem.

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Why don't you shut 'em down til they fix the problem,

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or back off, make 'em back off."

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"Well, do you know what you're asking us to do?

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Do you know how much money, you know,

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is involved if we shut them down?"

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And I was like, "Do you know?"
You're taking sides.

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"You're picking them over me.

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I'm the taxpayer,

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you're Department of Environmental Protection.

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You're not protecting me.

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You see what's going on up there,

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and you're giving violations.

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That means they're violating the law and regulation."

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And see, that's what it's coming down to.

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The mines set us against the miners and against the people-

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They really do, and-
Knowing that we're gonna get

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mad enough to fight for our homes,

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the miners are gonna get mad enough

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to fight for their jobs, they're gonna walk off scot free,

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just like they've done for years.

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(women chattering)

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(machinery humming)

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(equipment beeping)

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In the spring of 1998, Blair, West Virginia

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was a town at war with itself over coal.

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At stake was the largest strip mining permit

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ever requested in West Virginia.

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The permit at Pigeonroost Hollow

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was a Hobet permit, Arch Coal.

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And it's the largest permit, I believe,

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that there has been an application for.

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And this is the Mountain State,

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and it's a shame to have all of our mountains leveled

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and all of our streams filled.

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And it's virtually impossible to live in the middle

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of these kinds of operations,

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and I think the good evidence of that

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is that in Pigeonroost Hollow, the coal company has bought

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every resident out, as far as I know,

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except for the weeklies.

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(birds twittering)

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I want my wife Sibby here, to tell you a story

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about where she was born and raised.

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In a hollow, it's called Connolly.

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My mother was born and raised there.

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There was a small cemetery there,

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and when they started to strip it,

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they had just took the bulldozer and went through graves,

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just bulldozed them up.

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Those were my ancestors, and now I don't a home place

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of my mother's, you know.

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I get homesick, I think about that, you know a lot,

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and it bothers me, it bothers me a lot.

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So I said if there was way possible that I can help

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James save his here, I will.

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(lively bluegrass music)

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Before Arch Coal can expand the Dal-Tex Mine,

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the permit must be approved by state and federal regulators.

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(lively bluegrass music continues)

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The permit that we've submitted is done in full compliance

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with the law and regulations.

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We feel confident that this permit will be issued

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because of the high standards that we operate under.

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We believe ourselves to be stewards of the land,

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to return the land to a productive post-mining land use.

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And so we have a confidence

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that this permit is going to be issued.

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If the permit is not issued, this operation,

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this large-scale operation will over time shut down,

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and the over 350 miners at that operation

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will be without jobs and be laid off.

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For those men and women who, and their families,

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who depend upon that mine, it will have tragic effects.

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(truck humming)

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The coal industry wants to make money,

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and they have pressed the state

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Division of Environmental Protection

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and its predecessors over the last 15 or 20 years

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about mountaintop removal mining.

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Incrementally, slowly but surely, the regulatory agencies

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have caved in to the coal industry,

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who just wants to make more money, that's understandable.

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And the regulatory agency's job is to say no.

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The brown spots are where mountaintop removal is.

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It doesn't even have Kawana County on it.

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It's just got Boone County and Logan County,

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and it's like looking at a coal miner's lungs.

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It's dust, it's silicosis to the land.

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♪ To those who know no better ♪

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♪ And the ones that do not care ♪

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♪ I'll take this means of telling you ♪

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♪ What a miner has to bear ♪

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♪ Your servant fires the furnace ♪

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♪ Smoke and blazes roar ♪

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♪ Stop and think who's suffered ♪

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♪ For that little lump of coal ♪

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♪ Oh he gets up in the morning ♪

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♪ He's in the Land of Nod ♪

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♪ And at the family altar ♪

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♪ He will kneel and ask his God ♪

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♪ For to care for and protect him from danger underground ♪

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♪ To come back in the evening to his family safe and sound ♪

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We hear so much about how great the mining

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is for West Virginia, but yet some of the counties

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in West Virginia that has the largest amount of mining

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is some of the poorest.

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And even though you may say they pay a lot of taxes,

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then I say to you, where's the tax money going?

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And why is it the, you know, county's not benefiting.

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EPA has warned that if this permit is granted

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without sufficient attention to the protection

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of the quality of water, that it would be in violation

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of the Federal Clean Water Act.

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If they do away with mountaintop mining,

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they don't know what poverty is until it's gone.

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And then they'll really see poverty then.

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(bicycle wheels clicking)
(spare string music)

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How about that?

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I told my wife the other day,

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I've been cheating on her for the last 14 years.

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I did, I told her, I said, "Yeah, I've been cheating on you

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with the prettiest woman I know."

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My wife asked me who it was, you know?

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I said, "Well, her name is Kayford Mountain."

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I said, "If the mountains was a woman,

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my wife was in trouble." (chuckling)

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This is where I was born.

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This is where I lived right here.

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Raised 18 kids in a two-room house, right here.

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Larry Gibson's family

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owns 50 acres on Kayford Mountain,

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including a 200-year-old family cemetery.

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Theirs is one of the few privately-owned properties

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in Southern West Virginia, where most of the land

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is owned by corporations and leased to coal companies.

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Three years ago, the coal company

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was intending to move the cemetery.

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So I had to get somebody to prove that we owned it.

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So they traced this land back to where we got it

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through the Civil War Act.

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When the soldiers served in the war,

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they got allotted land, okay?

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My grandparent, my great-grandfather married a Miss Stover,

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you know, from another ridge over here,

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and she got a dowry of 500 acres, and this was it.

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Millions of dollars of coal

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lie beneath and around the Gibson property,

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and the surrounding mountains have been mined

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for more than a decade.

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Every time I go up, I see something different.

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The surface has changed that much.

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Unless we try to organize and keep organizing,

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they'll have shoot me off of here.

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Glad you came, from New Orleans.

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Well, I just hope that it,

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the mist burns off so they can see.

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[Grassroots Member] Oh I'm sure it will.

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(group chattering)

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These citizens are part of a grassroots effort

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to slow down the rapid growth

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of mountaintop mining in Appalachia.

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We were there when the Office of Service Mining came,

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you know, to investigate the blasting, you know.

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Anyway, they were going to check the blasting records

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of the coal company, and that's how they were

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going to determine if there was excessive blasting.

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And I said, "That's like going out to your hen house,

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you know, and your hens are all dead.

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And the fox is there licking his lips,

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and you look at him and say, 'Did you eat my chickens?'

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And he says, 'No'."

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You know I mean, how're you gonna judge

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by looking at their records?

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You don't go to the people that are doing it

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and look at their records, and see if there's a problem.

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They're letting them get away with it.

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They're being supported in breaking the law.

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[Grassroots Member] And the other thing is,

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there is so much coal coming out here,

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people are becoming millionaire.

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In Alaska, ewen all the oil started coming out,

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they set up a fund.
That's right.

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And 32% of money from there went into that fund,

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and now if you are a citizen of Alaska, you get a check.

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Right.
We get nothing.

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The coal companies of the past, the majority were greedy.

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The coal companies today are not only greedy,

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they're ruthless in the way they treat the people.

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They're creating problems that the average person's

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just not gonna be able to deal with.

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My dad's little house right here,

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he put the foundation blocks under it,

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him and my brother did.

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And they blast 'em out, he's done set 'em back twice,

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and over here.

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From right there to there.

255
00:14:03.030 --> 00:14:05.080
And they've been, I mean, they've just been getting closer

256
00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:06.350
and now they're right back in,

257
00:14:06.350 --> 00:14:08.350
smack dab behind this house now.

258
00:14:08.350 --> 00:14:11.780
And it's, I'm telling you, it's getting worse all the time.

259
00:14:15.460 --> 00:14:17.640
I learned a good deal of the way I stand

260
00:14:17.640 --> 00:14:20.110
from President Harry Truman.

261
00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:23.347
The first week I went to work for him, why he said,

262
00:14:23.347 --> 00:14:25.660
"The rich and the powerful people in this country

263
00:14:25.660 --> 00:14:29.020
have their own lobbyists, their own pressure groups,

264
00:14:29.020 --> 00:14:31.160
their own lawyers and their own accountants

265
00:14:31.160 --> 00:14:34.040
working for them full time, and it's the job

266
00:14:34.040 --> 00:14:36.270
of the President of the United States

267
00:14:36.270 --> 00:14:39.540
and every public official to stand up and fight

268
00:14:39.540 --> 00:14:42.585
for those people that are otherwise unrepresented."

269
00:14:42.585 --> 00:14:45.020
Justice in the coalfields.
Justice in the coalfields.

270
00:14:45.020 --> 00:14:47.035
Justice in the coalfields.

271
00:14:47.035 --> 00:14:50.090
Justice in the coalfields, justice in the coalfields.

272
00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:52.540
There are people roaming around West Virginia,

273
00:14:52.540 --> 00:14:55.220
some of which are not West Virginians,

274
00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.560
who believe we should not burn coal.

275
00:14:57.560 --> 00:15:01.340
And I'm concerned that these people are now infiltrating

276
00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:04.270
a community like Blair, West Virginia,

277
00:15:04.270 --> 00:15:06.660
where the issue is blasting.

278
00:15:06.660 --> 00:15:09.810
I just don't believe anybody at Blair, West Virginia

279
00:15:09.810 --> 00:15:13.100
wants to shut down Dal-Tex because we're destroying

280
00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:16.250
the ozone layer, or we're killing crawdads.

281
00:15:16.250 --> 00:15:18.991
There is a problem, people don't take up

282
00:15:18.991 --> 00:15:22.520
and go out of their homes away from being a housewife

283
00:15:22.520 --> 00:15:24.960
or being whatever they happen to be in life

284
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.000
and spend this many hours trying to get

285
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.300
somebody to hear them, you just don't do that.

286
00:15:30.300 --> 00:15:31.500
If you don't have a problem,

287
00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:33.700
you go on with your life from day to day.

288
00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:35.270
But see, now this has become our life

289
00:15:35.270 --> 00:15:37.743
because we have to protect what we've got.

290
00:15:38.786 --> 00:15:42.783
♪ This land is your land ♪

291
00:15:42.783 --> 00:15:44.542
♪ This land is my land ♪

292
00:15:44.542 --> 00:15:48.960
♪ From West Virginia to the New York island ♪

293
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:53.740
♪ From the Redwood Forest to our rugged mountain ♪

294
00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:58.740
♪ This land was made for you and me ♪

295
00:15:58.858 --> 00:16:03.191
♪ This land was made for you and me ♪

296
00:16:06.020 --> 00:16:07.609
Hundreds have rallied against it,

297
00:16:07.609 --> 00:16:10.440
the most recent gathering this past Saturday

298
00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:11.750
at the state capital.

299
00:16:11.750 --> 00:16:13.710
But the industry is countering.

300
00:16:13.710 --> 00:16:15.380
Arch Coal is running ads to bring

301
00:16:15.380 --> 00:16:17.810
a different perspective to the issue.

302
00:16:17.810 --> 00:16:19.260
All I can really say

303
00:16:19.260 --> 00:16:22.153
to make you kinda understand this, come and take a look.

304
00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:25.813
Look at it before, and look at it after.

305
00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.232
We have found that once we get people

306
00:16:31.232 --> 00:16:36.232 line:15%
to understand what we do, why we do it, how we do it,

307
00:16:36.270 --> 00:16:38.621 line:15%
most folks feel a lot better about that.

308
00:16:38.621 --> 00:16:41.430
And it's just been kind of a practice

309
00:16:41.430 --> 00:16:44.483
to set up these public tours.

310
00:16:47.830 --> 00:16:49.840
My name is Larry Emerson.

311
00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:54.306
I am a Director of Environmental Performance for Arch Coal,

312
00:16:54.306 --> 00:16:55.183
the parent company of Hobet Mining.

313
00:16:56.228 --> 00:16:58.190
I've got a question about how many people

314
00:16:58.190 --> 00:17:00.680
operate the dragline at any moment.

315
00:17:00.680 --> 00:17:03.773
There is basically one operator that runs it.

316
00:17:07.340 --> 00:17:10.650
He can operate that machine to turn it, to raise a bucket,

317
00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:12.860
to lower the bucket, to swing it.

318
00:17:12.860 --> 00:17:14.903
All that is done by one man.

319
00:17:19.840 --> 00:17:22.240
What I have found in my experience is

320
00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:25.740
that the vast majority of folks who are,

321
00:17:25.740 --> 00:17:27.310
just don't know about coal mining

322
00:17:27.310 --> 00:17:30.203
and particularly the kind of mining we do now,

323
00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:33.500
all they know is what they read or what they see,

324
00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:35.350
or perceptions in a lot of cases

325
00:17:35.350 --> 00:17:37.730
from back in the '60s and '70s,

326
00:17:37.730 --> 00:17:40.922
when they knew coal mining back in those days.

327
00:17:40.922 --> 00:17:44.005
(machinery humming)

328
00:17:45.448 --> 00:17:47.600
In West Virginia now, almost all strip mining is,

329
00:17:47.600 --> 00:17:49.940
you know, multiple seam, large scale mining.

330
00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:51.950
I mean, what they're doing is they cut down, you know,

331
00:17:51.950 --> 00:17:56.950
a hardwood forest and scrape all the top soil off,

332
00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:03.750
bury the top soil in the valley fills,

333
00:18:03.750 --> 00:18:05.770
and then put some crushed shale on top

334
00:18:05.770 --> 00:18:07.237
and plant some grass on it.

335
00:18:07.237 --> 00:18:09.538
And that grows in very thick and heavy,

336
00:18:09.538 --> 00:18:12.524
but you know, trees don't grow there, they don't come back.

337
00:18:12.524 --> 00:18:13.530
You don't get the nice, you know,

338
00:18:13.530 --> 00:18:15.707
hardwood forest coming back.

339
00:18:15.707 --> 00:18:18.707
(insects chirping)

340
00:18:21.448 --> 00:18:22.568
Grapes grow real good on this land.

341
00:18:22.568 --> 00:18:25.170 line:15%
Pine trees will grow real good on this land,

342
00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:27.570 line:15%
and actually hardwood will grow good on it.

343
00:18:27.570 --> 00:18:28.750 line:15%
We walk the ground in,

344
00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:30.300 line:15%
I'll show you when we get over there,

345
00:18:30.300 --> 00:18:32.290 line:15%
We take a 'dozer and just walk it back and forth

346
00:18:32.290 --> 00:18:35.230
up and down the hill with its tracks, to walk the ground in,

347
00:18:35.230 --> 00:18:38.100
to sow the grass til we don't have loose dirt.

348
00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:40.850
If they tell me if we wouldn't walk the ground in,

349
00:18:40.850 --> 00:18:44.610
that the hardwood trees would grow faster and better here

350
00:18:44.610 --> 00:18:46.943
then in the natural habitat before we came in.

351
00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.000
But you have to put up with the erosion if you try that.

352
00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.800
So to do away with the erosion,

353
00:18:53.800 --> 00:18:55.280
they walk it in and get the grass,

354
00:18:55.280 --> 00:18:57.156
well right there, you see a pine tree right there.

355
00:18:57.156 --> 00:18:58.550
There's a pine tree growing,

356
00:18:58.550 --> 00:19:00.900
and I don't think we planted that thing either.

357
00:19:01.966 --> 00:19:04.966
(insects chirping)

358
00:19:15.850 --> 00:19:19.090 line:15%
I was born two miles down the road

359
00:19:20.430 --> 00:19:25.430 line:15%
in a coal company house, and I've seen a lot of changes,

360
00:19:27.330 --> 00:19:29.249
a lot of changes.

361
00:19:29.249 --> 00:19:34.147
But believe it or not, not that many changes in the people.

362
00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:38.803
The coal company still holds people hostage.

363
00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:42.280
You know, the coal company for years

364
00:19:42.280 --> 00:19:47.280
furnished their housing, and you had the coal company store.

365
00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:49.580
Men didn't even draw paydays

366
00:19:49.580 --> 00:19:52.070
because they owed the company rent.

367
00:19:52.070 --> 00:19:57.070
So they were held hostage then, but they still are,

368
00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:58.713
because they're so powerful.

369
00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.440
And they feel like that we're just

370
00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:04.290
a bunch of dumb hillbillies.

371
00:20:04.290 --> 00:20:07.843
They think that we're barefoot and pregnant, and we're not.

372
00:20:09.872 --> 00:20:12.455
We're not all dumb hillbillies,

373
00:20:13.990 --> 00:20:17.796
and even if you have a dumb hillbilly,

374
00:20:17.796 --> 00:20:19.960
they know what's right and what's wrong

375
00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:21.897
as far as their land is concerned.

376
00:20:22.934 --> 00:20:27.684
(gentle poignant acoustic string music)

377
00:20:42.110 --> 00:20:45.713
I started working over for a dollar and 15 cents a day.

378
00:20:47.810 --> 00:20:50.350
And I mean, that was from 6:00 in the morning

379
00:20:51.330 --> 00:20:56.330
until 7:00 at night, I worked seven days a week.

380
00:20:57.290 --> 00:21:01.473
Rock dust, just busted myself is what I done.

381
00:21:08.370 --> 00:21:10.167
I've lived a good life though.

382
00:21:11.267 --> 00:21:16.267
♪ I used to be a drill man down at old Farley ♪

383
00:21:18.945 --> 00:21:22.923
♪ Drilling through slate and sand rock ♪

384
00:21:22.923 --> 00:21:27.403
♪ Til it got the best of me ♪

385
00:21:27.403 --> 00:21:31.785
♪ The dust has almost killed me ♪

386
00:21:31.785 --> 00:21:35.663
♪ It's turned me out in the rain ♪

387
00:21:35.663 --> 00:21:40.307
♪ The dust has settled on my lungs ♪

388
00:21:40.307 --> 00:21:45.027
♪ And causes me constant pain ♪

389
00:21:45.027 --> 00:21:46.667
♪ I can hear my hammer ♪

390
00:21:46.667 --> 00:21:50.403
Back then the men loaded coal with a pick and shovel.

391
00:21:51.447 --> 00:21:54.587
And my dad would usually leave the house

392
00:21:54.587 --> 00:21:58.450
about 4:30 in the morning, and he would come to the bed

393
00:21:58.450 --> 00:22:00.747
and kiss each child before he went to work

394
00:22:00.747 --> 00:22:03.470
because mining was so dangerous

395
00:22:03.470 --> 00:22:06.122
that this was just a common practice in families.

396
00:22:06.122 --> 00:22:09.730
The man of the family didn't know if he was gonna make it

397
00:22:09.730 --> 00:22:11.490
out of the mind that day or not.

398
00:22:11.490 --> 00:22:14.143
So that was his way of saying goodbye to his family.

399
00:22:15.380 --> 00:22:20.380
And the other memory is walking to meet my dad

400
00:22:20.410 --> 00:22:22.363
when he would be coming home from work.

401
00:22:23.630 --> 00:22:26.140
If my mom woulda happened to have put

402
00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:29.420
what they called nickel cakes back then in his lunch,

403
00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:32.120
was anything special, he wouldn't eat it.

404
00:22:32.120 --> 00:22:33.870
He'd bring it home to the children.

405
00:22:40.508 --> 00:22:44.341
(soft gentle poignant music)

406
00:22:59.981 --> 00:23:02.314
History, Blair is history,

407
00:23:04.065 --> 00:23:06.040
but Blair is just about no more.

408
00:23:06.040 --> 00:23:09.817
Where there was once 400 homes, it's down to 70 now.

409
00:23:13.053 --> 00:23:13.886
[Interviewer[ So the union was born

410
00:23:13.886 --> 00:23:14.930
right over there on Blair Mountain?

411
00:23:14.930 --> 00:23:16.747
Right there, where you're looking at,

412
00:23:16.747 --> 00:23:19.272
that's where the union was borned in 19,

413
00:23:19.272 --> 00:23:22.935
They had, the Battle of Blair Mountain was 1921,

414
00:23:22.935 --> 00:23:26.102
1931, '32, the union was born from it.

415
00:23:29.360 --> 00:23:31.850
Blair, West Virginia's brush with history

416
00:23:31.850 --> 00:23:34.453
is all but forgotten outside of Appalachia.

417
00:23:36.350 --> 00:23:38.880
But back in August, 1921,

418
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.673
the Battle of Blair Mountain was national news.

419
00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:46.500
One of the last holdouts for organizing UMWA

420
00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:51.500
was in Logan County. and this was part of the reason

421
00:23:51.580 --> 00:23:53.250
that the men were marching.

422
00:23:53.250 --> 00:23:56.113
They were trying to organize Logan County.

423
00:23:57.560 --> 00:24:00.643
The men gathered, began together at Marmet,

424
00:24:02.010 --> 00:24:05.860
and to identify the union members,

425
00:24:05.860 --> 00:24:09.093
they wore red bandana handkerchiefs around their necks.

426
00:24:10.090 --> 00:24:14.440
And then they picked up more union men

427
00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:18.513
as they marched and went along to Blair Mountain.

428
00:24:20.183 --> 00:24:23.382
(shoes clicking)

429
00:24:23.382 --> 00:24:25.430
Ready troops, let's go.

430
00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:28.170
President Warren Harding sent federal troops

431
00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:32.308
to stop the insurrection of 6,000 armed miners.

432
00:24:32.308 --> 00:24:37.308
Eyes front, left.
(shoes clicking)

433
00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:39.593
I was about 10, I guess.

434
00:24:40.683 --> 00:24:45.510
I remember hearing the guns and getting word

435
00:24:46.780 --> 00:24:51.570 line:15%
that they were coming down in Blair to fight,

436
00:24:51.570 --> 00:24:54.863 line:15%
and all Blair came up the holler here, just right up here.

437
00:24:54.863 --> 00:24:56.780
And I know how scared I was of them.

438
00:24:56.780 --> 00:24:59.763
I was small. (laughing)

439
00:25:00.630 --> 00:25:03.743
I remember my mother cooking for the miners,

440
00:25:04.760 --> 00:25:07.629
my dad taking it out in the mountains to them.

441
00:25:07.629 --> 00:25:10.629
(gunfire blasting)

442
00:25:25.261 --> 00:25:29.490
This picture was taken after the trial of the war,

443
00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:31.590
mine war on Blair Mountain.

444
00:25:31.590 --> 00:25:36.590
And this is John L. Lewis, their leader,

445
00:25:37.030 --> 00:25:41.400
and this right back here in the back is my dad,

446
00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:46.400
and they they fought in the war on Blair Mountain.

447
00:25:49.990 --> 00:25:53.080
To me, it's the most historic site we have in the state

448
00:25:54.170 --> 00:25:56.780
because that's the only time

449
00:25:57.650 --> 00:25:59.810
within the boundaries of the United States,

450
00:25:59.810 --> 00:26:01.600
that bombs were dropped in this country.

451
00:26:01.600 --> 00:26:04.973
It was on Blair Mountain by our government.

452
00:26:05.932 --> 00:26:10.932
(airplane buzzing)
(bombs bursting)

453
00:26:17.620 --> 00:26:19.670
Overpowered by federal troops,

454
00:26:19.670 --> 00:26:23.233
the warring miners surrendered on Labor Day, 1921.

455
00:26:24.150 --> 00:26:26.350
And although the Battle of Blair Mountain

456
00:26:26.350 --> 00:26:28.870
is often referred to as the birth of the union

457
00:26:28.870 --> 00:26:32.970
in southern West Virginia, it would in fact be 12 long years

458
00:26:32.970 --> 00:26:35.833
before the Logan County coalfields were organized.

459
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.427
I would think that if Blair was destroyed,

460
00:26:39.427 --> 00:26:42.670
that that memory of them walking up the mountain

461
00:26:42.670 --> 00:26:44.500
would never be destroyed, it would always be

462
00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:46.480
in the hearts of the union workers.

463
00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:51.480
Because I really do believe that without the union workers,

464
00:26:52.080 --> 00:26:55.470
union and non-union workers would have a lot harder

465
00:26:55.470 --> 00:26:58.073
conditions to live in and to work in.

466
00:26:59.693 --> 00:27:03.424
♪ Don't forget me little darling ♪

467
00:27:03.424 --> 00:27:07.085
♪ When they lay me down to rest ♪

468
00:27:07.085 --> 00:27:12.085
♪ Tell my brothers all these loving words I say ♪

469
00:27:13.896 --> 00:27:16.445
♪ Let the flowers be forgotten ♪

470
00:27:16.445 --> 00:27:19.579
♪ Sprinkle coal dust on my grave ♪

471
00:27:19.579 --> 00:27:23.662
♪ And remember it's all the UMWA ♪

472
00:27:27.050 --> 00:27:28.120
The sons and daughters

473
00:27:28.120 --> 00:27:31.020
of those early union soldiers are fighting a new battle

474
00:27:31.020 --> 00:27:32.620
in the shadow of Blair Mountain.

475
00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:35.760
The boundaries are harder to define,

476
00:27:35.760 --> 00:27:37.750
but in many ways it is a contest

477
00:27:37.750 --> 00:27:39.713
between tradition and change.

478
00:27:42.890 --> 00:27:44.730 line:15%
There are a bunch of extremists that won't settle for

479
00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:47.947 line:15%
nothing less than the abolition of coal mining,

480
00:27:47.947 --> 00:27:50.870 line:15%
and they don't care who they hurt to get there.

481
00:27:50.870 --> 00:27:52.370
And who they're hurting here really

482
00:27:52.370 --> 00:27:54.263
is coal miners and their families.

483
00:27:54.263 --> 00:27:55.413
These people are hard-working people.

484
00:27:55.413 --> 00:27:58.030
All they wanna do is make a living,

485
00:27:58.030 --> 00:28:00.210
have some health coverage and raise their families up

486
00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:02.260
in their native land,

487
00:28:02.260 --> 00:28:04.720
and they're being prevented from doing that.

488
00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:07.773
Look, there's more people benefiting from coal mines

489
00:28:07.773 --> 00:28:09.710
than just us I mean, there's a parking lot full

490
00:28:09.710 --> 00:28:13.680
of new cars here, and you've got all your shopping centers.

491
00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:16.730
You know we spend, most of our money is spent

492
00:28:16.730 --> 00:28:18.284
right here in this state,

493
00:28:18.284 --> 00:28:19.700
and a lot of it right here in this county.

494
00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:23.220
And when you take that out, there's nothing left here.

495
00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:25.380
Yeah, you mentioned earlier something about

496
00:28:26.260 --> 00:28:28.281
the coal eventually would run out

497
00:28:28.281 --> 00:28:30.592
and we'd all have to go somewhere else anyway.

498
00:28:30.592 --> 00:28:33.430
But just to the natural progression of life

499
00:28:33.430 --> 00:28:36.770
and with generations, it's just like most anybody

500
00:28:36.770 --> 00:28:39.230
that's got children that are wanting to go to college,

501
00:28:39.230 --> 00:28:40.200
they're not going to college

502
00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:43.277
to learn how to be a strip miner or a deep miner.

503
00:28:46.050 --> 00:28:48.310
Kinda hard to save for a college education

504
00:28:48.310 --> 00:28:51.203
for two kids making minimum wage, it's tough.

505
00:28:56.020 --> 00:28:58.570
What other kind of jobs are available?

506
00:28:58.570 --> 00:29:00.280
What, in West Virginia?
In West Virginia.

507
00:29:00.280 --> 00:29:01.887
Minimum wage.
A new Burger King.

508
00:29:01.887 --> 00:29:04.300
Telemarketing, telemarketing.

509
00:29:04.300 --> 00:29:06.548
Walmart.
Like he said, EMT.

510
00:29:06.548 --> 00:29:07.800
McDonald's.
And that won't be too long,

511
00:29:07.800 --> 00:29:11.366
that they shut down your grocery stores

512
00:29:11.366 --> 00:29:13.090
and your restaurants.

513
00:29:13.090 --> 00:29:16.765
Well, when you take people and put them in a position

514
00:29:16.765 --> 00:29:20.360
of no choice, and force them to work on something

515
00:29:20.360 --> 00:29:21.840
that they know is gonna be cutting their throat

516
00:29:21.840 --> 00:29:23.103
eventually down the line,

517
00:29:25.360 --> 00:29:26.870
what do you think these people are gonna do?

518
00:29:26.870 --> 00:29:28.290
They ain't got no choice here.

519
00:29:28.290 --> 00:29:30.550
They have to do this type of work.

520
00:29:30.550 --> 00:29:32.760
But if we try to get the conventional mining back

521
00:29:32.760 --> 00:29:35.410
where it would employ more people,

522
00:29:35.410 --> 00:29:37.998
the state would get more of a tax trickle down effect.

523
00:29:37.998 --> 00:29:41.890
There'd be more products bought, more cars, more food,

524
00:29:41.890 --> 00:29:44.330
more houses, more groceries.

525
00:29:44.330 --> 00:29:45.520
Right now, the state is not

526
00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:47.170
getting that trickle down effect.

527
00:29:48.130 --> 00:29:50.730
Right now only a select fewer people

528
00:29:50.730 --> 00:29:54.317
is getting the kinda benefits from this type of mining.

529
00:29:55.170 --> 00:29:57.160
The people per se that's doing this mining

530
00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:01.040
are not even getting that benefit because every day

531
00:30:01.040 --> 00:30:03.020
they're taking a slice of their future away.

532
00:30:03.020 --> 00:30:05.770
Every day, they're taking a slice of their future away.

533
00:30:06.620 --> 00:30:07.453
Every day.

534
00:30:08.841 --> 00:30:11.790
And when they get to that very end,

535
00:30:11.790 --> 00:30:14.187
when they get to that very end and they come over here,

536
00:30:14.187 --> 00:30:15.726
and this is the last day,

537
00:30:15.726 --> 00:30:17.566
and this is the last paycheck in their hand,

538
00:30:17.566 --> 00:30:20.113
and then they look behind them.

539
00:30:22.010 --> 00:30:24.593
They ain't got no past because they destroyed it,

540
00:30:26.041 --> 00:30:28.841
and they ain't got no future because the mine left them.

541
00:30:30.600 --> 00:30:31.903
What do they do now?

542
00:30:36.790 --> 00:30:39.350
They've destroyed I, they have destroyed this community,

543
00:30:39.350 --> 00:30:40.880
this strip mining right here.

544
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:44.099
And simply because they come in here.

545
00:30:44.099 --> 00:30:46.710
They haven't really forced you out, you know,

546
00:30:46.710 --> 00:30:49.343
but if you wanna put up with the noise and the vibrations

547
00:30:49.343 --> 00:30:54.343
and the dust and you know, all this other stuff,

548
00:30:55.866 --> 00:30:58.283
then, you know, live with it.

549
00:31:00.007 --> 00:31:03.452
But they just laid rocks and dirt,

550
00:31:03.452 --> 00:31:05.589
and that's what that thing there does.

551
00:31:05.589 --> 00:31:07.390
It just picks it up and shifts it

552
00:31:07.390 --> 00:31:09.790
from one hollow to the next, that's all it does.

553
00:31:11.956 --> 00:31:14.789
(truck rumbling)

554
00:31:21.310 --> 00:31:23.260
See how they fill that hollow in?

555
00:31:23.260 --> 00:31:26.033
That used to run wall all back through there,

556
00:31:26.033 --> 00:31:28.647
but they filled it in, and that's what you got now.

557
00:31:35.791 --> 00:31:38.032
And what kind of development are you gonna do here?

558
00:31:38.032 --> 00:31:40.128
You read in the papers, over 26 papers-

559
00:31:40.128 --> 00:31:42.546
You build a house on that corner, the one there.

560
00:31:42.546 --> 00:31:44.330
Have printed a story about it.

561
00:31:44.330 --> 00:31:45.890
Then you're undermined. (laughing)

562
00:31:45.890 --> 00:31:47.203
I'm an underground miner.

563
00:31:49.161 --> 00:31:51.130
You know, if they can get everyone out of this area,

564
00:31:51.130 --> 00:31:54.536
Sharples, Blair, Kelley, you know, all through here.

565
00:31:54.536 --> 00:31:56.840
They can come under here, you know.

566
00:31:56.840 --> 00:31:59.737
Lotsa coal underneath here,

567
00:31:59.737 --> 00:32:02.727
lower than what this mountaintop of removal is, you know?

568
00:32:02.727 --> 00:32:05.200
But they can't do it long as people live in this area,

569
00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:08.530
they gotta bypass them, and there's millions of dollars

570
00:32:08.530 --> 00:32:10.180
to be made down there, but still.

571
00:32:15.840 --> 00:32:17.518
I agree that though,

572
00:32:17.518 --> 00:32:18.870
the communities would be shrinking at any rate

573
00:32:18.870 --> 00:32:21.640
because economic opportunities there

574
00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:23.570
are difficult to come by.

575
00:32:23.570 --> 00:32:25.490
But I think that's partly because of the kinds

576
00:32:25.490 --> 00:32:27.460
of economic development that's occurred down there,

577
00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:29.393
or lack of economic development.

578
00:32:29.393 --> 00:32:31.890
The only thing that, that supports those regions now

579
00:32:31.890 --> 00:32:33.770
are these very large strip mines,

580
00:32:33.770 --> 00:32:35.590
and they don't employ the number of people

581
00:32:35.590 --> 00:32:38.636
that the mining industry traditionally employed.

582
00:32:38.636 --> 00:32:43.553
♪ I feel like traveling on ♪

583
00:32:43.553 --> 00:32:48.412
♪ Nor pain nor death can enter there ♪

584
00:32:48.412 --> 00:32:53.050
♪ I feel like traveling on ♪

585
00:32:53.050 --> 00:32:57.531
♪ Yes I feel like traveling on ♪

586
00:32:57.531 --> 00:33:01.364
♪ I feel like traveling on my ♪

587
00:33:02.593 --> 00:33:06.093
(crowd members cheering)

588
00:33:07.278 --> 00:33:08.111
I'd like to welcome you

589
00:33:08.111 --> 00:33:11.293
to our sixth annual Coal Festival.

590
00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:17.923
As we kick off our sixth annual

591
00:33:17.923 --> 00:33:20.810
Coal Miners Festival, we welcome you to this,

592
00:33:20.810 --> 00:33:23.793
our second annual Coal Miners Memorial Tribute.

593
00:33:28.310 --> 00:33:31.653
First let's have word of prayer.

594
00:33:33.630 --> 00:33:35.430
Let us bow our heads.

595
00:33:35.430 --> 00:33:37.770
Dear gracious, heavenly father,

596
00:33:37.770 --> 00:33:40.330
we ask you to look over our industry, the coal industry,

597
00:33:40.330 --> 00:33:43.530
Lord, that it's been good to us and our families.

598
00:33:43.530 --> 00:33:46.570
Father, we ask you to protect us and our industry,

599
00:33:46.570 --> 00:33:50.950
that we might continue to prosper and raise our family

600
00:33:50.950 --> 00:33:53.810
and pass it on to the next generation.

601
00:33:53.810 --> 00:33:55.863
Thank you Lord, Amen.
Amen.

602
00:33:58.850 --> 00:34:00.360
What I would like to do tonight

603
00:34:00.360 --> 00:34:05.360
is take you back a few years, as our coal museum

604
00:34:06.420 --> 00:34:11.420
will take you back into the early yesteryears of mining.

605
00:34:15.070 --> 00:34:17.110
As you travel through our coal museum,

606
00:34:17.110 --> 00:34:19.420
you'll see equipment that was used

607
00:34:20.630 --> 00:34:22.230
that was a master of hard labor.

608
00:34:23.130 --> 00:34:27.303
But with new technologies, new training,

609
00:34:28.160 --> 00:34:29.160
things have changed.

610
00:34:30.090 --> 00:34:33.423
(spectators chattering)

611
00:34:37.908 --> 00:34:40.490
There were a group of people who got together

612
00:34:40.490 --> 00:34:43.300
and decided that we needed a museum

613
00:34:43.300 --> 00:34:45.740
here in Madison, West Virginia,

614
00:34:45.740 --> 00:34:48.720
the county seat of Boone County,

615
00:34:48.720 --> 00:34:52.673
where coal was discovered in 1742.

616
00:34:53.855 --> 00:34:58.855
Unless we now preserve some of the history

617
00:35:00.530 --> 00:35:04.130
of our coal mining industry,

618
00:35:04.130 --> 00:35:06.870
then the future generation will not understand.

619
00:35:06.870 --> 00:35:07.730
And can you tell me what,

620
00:35:07.730 --> 00:35:08.900
the name of the museum?

621
00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:12.670
Right here, the bituminous is a kind of coal

622
00:35:12.670 --> 00:35:15.675
that is the best in the world, right Mr. Wiseman?

623
00:35:15.675 --> 00:35:17.597
Which we're happy to use.

624
00:35:17.597 --> 00:35:21.350
And so our, the name of our museum is

625
00:35:21.350 --> 00:35:25.123
the Bituminous Heritage-
Coal Heritage.

626
00:35:26.220 --> 00:35:28.950
Coal Heritage Foundation Museum,

627
00:35:28.950 --> 00:35:32.236
a lot of words in there, but very important.

628
00:35:32.236 --> 00:35:34.500
And the ribbon cutting ceremony,

629
00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:36.750
that we now have a permanent museum.

630
00:35:36.750 --> 00:35:38.800
I think this is only the beginning.

631
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:43.080
I think we will have a lot of people coming to our area.

632
00:35:43.080 --> 00:35:46.714
Good things to happen here in Boone county, I'm hoping for.

633
00:35:46.714 --> 00:35:50.131
(spectators chattering)

634
00:35:51.720 --> 00:35:52.940
While the coal industry worked

635
00:35:52.940 --> 00:35:55.600
to improve its image, opponents of the mine

636
00:35:55.600 --> 00:35:58.583
persuaded federal regulators to hold a public hearing.

637
00:36:00.060 --> 00:36:03.967
I am aware of the EPA saying to West Virginia,

638
00:36:03.967 --> 00:36:07.510
"We're not sure that you're complying with our standards."

639
00:36:07.510 --> 00:36:09.908
However, I consider that political.

640
00:36:09.908 --> 00:36:11.614
In what way?

641
00:36:11.614 --> 00:36:14.650
Struggle between federal government and state.

642
00:36:14.650 --> 00:36:16.800
I don't recall the state of West Virginia

643
00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:19.070
trading cocaine for arms,

644
00:36:19.070 --> 00:36:21.907
injecting its citizens with syphilis,

645
00:36:21.907 --> 00:36:24.810
or assassinating its leaders.

646
00:36:24.810 --> 00:36:27.810
So I more trust my state government,

647
00:36:27.810 --> 00:36:30.010
and I do not look to the federal government

648
00:36:30.010 --> 00:36:31.800
to tell me what I need.

649
00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:33.250
Union miners, their families,

650
00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:35.320
and vendors who sell to the mines and miners

651
00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:37.232
were out in force today,

652
00:36:37.232 --> 00:36:39.100
supporting the mountaintop removal method.

653
00:36:39.100 --> 00:36:41.630
The company and the miners say if the EPA

654
00:36:41.630 --> 00:36:43.460
does not lift its objections soon,

655
00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:46.207
the Dal-Tex operation will have to close.

656
00:36:46.207 --> 00:36:49.540
(attendees chattering)

657
00:36:57.030 --> 00:37:00.313
Good afternoon, I am Mike McCabe.

658
00:37:00.313 --> 00:37:03.408
I'm the regional administrator for the states

659
00:37:03.408 --> 00:37:04.580
that include West Virginia.

660
00:37:04.580 --> 00:37:08.960
We're here today because West Virginia citizens

661
00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:10.363
asked us for this hearing.

662
00:37:12.520 --> 00:37:14.990
It is estimated that more than 900 miles

663
00:37:14.990 --> 00:37:16.910
of intermittent and perennial streams

664
00:37:16.910 --> 00:37:19.410
have been destroyed by valley fills in Appalachia.

665
00:37:20.790 --> 00:37:23.520
While we conduct greater permit scrutiny,

666
00:37:23.520 --> 00:37:26.260
the coal seams aren't going anywhere,

667
00:37:26.260 --> 00:37:28.620
but once the valleys are filled,

668
00:37:28.620 --> 00:37:30.600
and the streams are destroyed,

669
00:37:30.600 --> 00:37:34.123
and the mountaintops are removed, they will be gone forever.

670
00:37:35.323 --> 00:37:38.573
(audience applauding)

671
00:37:42.486 --> 00:37:43.360
Thank you, Mr. McCabe.

672
00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:45.880
Now we're ready to hear from our first speaker.

673
00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:49.440
In 1998, Dal-Tex will pay more than $7 million

674
00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:51.940
in state and county taxes.

675
00:37:51.940 --> 00:37:54.330
Is it fair for Logan County to close a school

676
00:37:54.330 --> 00:37:58.150
or stop running school buses while we study this question?

677
00:37:58.150 --> 00:38:02.540
There's a certain callousness displayed by your agency,

678
00:38:02.540 --> 00:38:05.370
when thousands upon thousands of jobs

679
00:38:05.370 --> 00:38:07.620
are held in abeyance or in jeopardy

680
00:38:07.620 --> 00:38:11.470
because of alleged environmental concerns.

681
00:38:11.470 --> 00:38:15.010
This is one game and the ball is cold,

682
00:38:15.010 --> 00:38:17.073
and if there's no ball, there's no game.

683
00:38:18.006 --> 00:38:19.400
And we hope that when you go back to your homes,

684
00:38:19.400 --> 00:38:21.820
wherever they are, Philadelphia, Washington,

685
00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:25.003
that you realize what an impact you will have our community.

686
00:38:25.860 --> 00:38:27.045
Thank you, Ms. Spurlock.

687
00:38:27.045 --> 00:38:30.128
(audience cheering)

688
00:38:33.128 --> 00:38:35.402
16, 17 years ago, the federal government

689
00:38:35.402 --> 00:38:38.103
came into West Virginia and enforced some pretty tough laws,

690
00:38:38.103 --> 00:38:40.605
and I lost my coal mining job.

691
00:38:40.605 --> 00:38:43.340
My family, my three children felt that pain.

692
00:38:43.340 --> 00:38:46.763
There were no public hearings for it.

693
00:38:46.763 --> 00:38:49.504
Those folks outside that can hear this, and folks in here,

694
00:38:49.504 --> 00:38:51.640
how many of you are here today,

695
00:38:51.640 --> 00:38:53.319
because you're protecting your jobs?

696
00:38:53.319 --> 00:38:55.565
(audience applauding)

697
00:38:55.565 --> 00:38:58.680
Outside, see if they can hear it.

698
00:38:58.680 --> 00:39:00.270
Well, it's not about jobs.

699
00:39:00.270 --> 00:39:02.650
This hearing's about the enforcement

700
00:39:02.650 --> 00:39:05.300
of the Clean Water Act of the United States of America.

701
00:39:05.300 --> 00:39:08.050
If one industry or group of industries

702
00:39:08.050 --> 00:39:11.080
can control the governor,

703
00:39:11.080 --> 00:39:12.823
can control the Senate President,

704
00:39:13.844 --> 00:39:15.000
can control the legislature,

705
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:17.353
they can control the House Speaker,

706
00:39:17.353 --> 00:39:20.833
then the federal government is our only salvation.

707
00:39:23.250 --> 00:39:27.313
It's their responsibility to protect us from this.

708
00:39:29.310 --> 00:39:32.870
This is not about whether the miners are right

709
00:39:32.870 --> 00:39:35.085
or the private citizens are right.

710
00:39:35.085 --> 00:39:37.830
It's the fact that there is no regulatory agency

711
00:39:37.830 --> 00:39:39.964
doing their job in West Virginia

712
00:39:39.964 --> 00:39:41.553
to address the people's needs.

713
00:39:41.553 --> 00:39:43.292
Yes, we need clean water.

714
00:39:43.292 --> 00:39:47.030
Yes, we need jobs, but these people have to survive.

715
00:39:47.030 --> 00:39:50.769
This is something we live with 24 hours a day,

716
00:39:50.769 --> 00:39:53.329
and no amount of money is gonna solve that problem.

717
00:39:53.329 --> 00:39:56.173
You can't move a community and say

718
00:39:56.173 --> 00:39:58.844
it has been temporarily disturbed.

719
00:39:58.844 --> 00:40:02.011
It's not temporary nothing, it's gone.

720
00:40:03.970 --> 00:40:07.040 line:15%
The Logan hearing I thought was really

721
00:40:07.040 --> 00:40:10.803 line:15%
one of the most interesting experiences I've had in this job

722
00:40:10.803 --> 00:40:15.150
because there were 1200 people there.

723
00:40:15.150 --> 00:40:19.380
I'd say 200 of them were anti permit,

724
00:40:19.380 --> 00:40:22.380
and about a thousand people were pro permit.

725
00:40:22.380 --> 00:40:25.906
Next I'd like to call on Mr. Mike Miano.

726
00:40:25.906 --> 00:40:28.084
(audience applauding)

727
00:40:28.084 --> 00:40:29.857
Mike Miano, formerly a coal executive

728
00:40:29.857 --> 00:40:32.930
for 17 years, was the head of the state

729
00:40:32.930 --> 00:40:35.110
Department of Environmental Protection

730
00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:36.840
at the time of this hearing.

731
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:39.023
Good afternoon, and thank you.

732
00:40:40.290 --> 00:40:42.005
At the state level,

733
00:40:42.005 --> 00:40:45.633
we have exhaustively examined these permits.

734
00:40:47.067 --> 00:40:49.180
Now it appears that the process

735
00:40:49.180 --> 00:40:52.210
has been reopened and begun again,

736
00:40:52.210 --> 00:40:54.873
a sort of modern-day reinventing of the wheel.

737
00:40:56.330 --> 00:40:59.470
West Virginia has thoroughly studied these issues,

738
00:40:59.470 --> 00:41:00.940
and we believe these permits

739
00:41:00.940 --> 00:41:03.704
meet our standards and specifications.

740
00:41:03.704 --> 00:41:06.787
(audience cheering)

741
00:41:24.200 --> 00:41:25.775
Why do you think

742
00:41:25.775 --> 00:41:26.608
that the coal company people

743
00:41:27.510 --> 00:41:29.490
outnumber the citizens here today?

744
00:41:29.490 --> 00:41:31.440
It's not the coal company people

745
00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:36.440
so much as actual workers, 'cause anytime you spread a rumor

746
00:41:36.500 --> 00:41:38.350
that a person's gonna be outta work,

747
00:41:38.350 --> 00:41:40.320
we have very few jobs in West Virginia.

748
00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:41.820
So it's natural that when you say

749
00:41:41.820 --> 00:41:43.370
that these people are gonna come out,

750
00:41:43.370 --> 00:41:45.537
their jobs, they feel are at stake.

751
00:41:45.537 --> 00:41:47.776
But once you get here and you start talking to the workers

752
00:41:47.776 --> 00:41:49.920
and you realize they don't wanna destroy your home,

753
00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:52.820
and they also realize you're not trying to take their job.

754
00:41:53.942 --> 00:41:57.192
(attendees chattering)

755
00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:01.570
The EPA says it could take as long

756
00:42:01.570 --> 00:42:05.711
as six months to decide the fate of the Dal-Tex mine.

757
00:42:05.711 --> 00:42:08.211
(dog barking)

758
00:42:16.270 --> 00:42:19.860 line:15%
This community here was a community

759
00:42:19.860 --> 00:42:24.860 line:15%
of two or three families, and we're all kin.

760
00:42:26.563 --> 00:42:28.403
What's left here right now,

761
00:42:31.320 --> 00:42:33.800
it's people that's been here all their life.

762
00:42:33.800 --> 00:42:36.750
And if they've been here all their life, they're kin to me.

763
00:42:42.463 --> 00:42:45.370
Now Daddy, is this your great-grandfather,

764
00:42:45.370 --> 00:42:47.780
or your great-great grandfather?

765
00:42:47.780 --> 00:42:50.420
Great-great-grandfather.
John Wilson Burgess.

766
00:42:50.420 --> 00:42:52.110
John Wilson Burgess.
Uh-huh.

767
00:42:56.440 --> 00:42:57.440
What are you hunting for?

768
00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:01.483
The one with the, oh here it is.

769
00:43:02.650 --> 00:43:03.900
Is this your mom's house?

770
00:43:05.670 --> 00:43:07.980
Shelby Burgess', Pigeonroost.

771
00:43:08.874 --> 00:43:10.573
Pigeonroost, West Virginia.
Uh-huh.

772
00:43:10.573 --> 00:43:12.113
I would say that the house

773
00:43:12.113 --> 00:43:14.052
that was here, wouldn't you?

774
00:43:14.052 --> 00:43:19.052
(bird twittering)
(insects buzzing)

775
00:43:28.346 --> 00:43:29.450
Right here, this is where

776
00:43:29.450 --> 00:43:31.313
me and my wife done our courting.

777
00:43:33.999 --> 00:43:37.499
What's courting mean?
It means dating.

778
00:43:38.723 --> 00:43:40.343
We would stop right here when she'd come in from school,

779
00:43:40.343 --> 00:43:43.093
because her mommy and daddy wouldn't allow her to date.

780
00:43:44.243 --> 00:43:48.748
Oh.
(Jim laughing)

781
00:43:48.748 --> 00:43:49.581
Will you tell us

782
00:43:49.581 --> 00:43:50.913
what you remember about the tree?

783
00:43:54.796 --> 00:43:59.437
What I remember about the tree, just like he said.

784
00:43:59.437 --> 00:44:02.207
He would walk me home from school,

785
00:44:02.207 --> 00:44:06.960
and we would sit on that rock, and we would talk.

786
00:44:07.821 --> 00:44:11.071
(soft poignant music)

787
00:44:22.720 --> 00:44:27.720
In other words, this is where James and Sibby Weekley's

788
00:44:31.670 --> 00:44:36.670
family started, was here at this tree, back 39 years ago.

789
00:44:43.139 --> 00:44:46.222
It's hard to talk about, it's lovely,

790
00:44:48.568 --> 00:44:53.381
and think what's gonna happen here at our love tree.

791
00:44:53.381 --> 00:44:56.214
(train rattling)

792
00:45:03.023 --> 00:45:04.510
Last Monday we went to a public meeting,

793
00:45:04.510 --> 00:45:06.210
and I guess it was very emotional.

794
00:45:07.130 --> 00:45:11.090
'Cause I heard people talking about losing their homes.

795
00:45:11.090 --> 00:45:12.800
Well these people need to understand

796
00:45:12.800 --> 00:45:14.400
that everyone mining coal

797
00:45:14.400 --> 00:45:16.510
is not a large outta state corporation.

798
00:45:16.510 --> 00:45:19.346
There are many Rick Abrahams in West Virginia mining coal,

799
00:45:19.346 --> 00:45:24.010
and just how their perception is that their home is at risk,

800
00:45:24.010 --> 00:45:28.040
mine's at risk, in fact, I've lost two homes to coal mining.

801
00:45:28.040 --> 00:45:30.387
But not because of fly rock,

802
00:45:30.387 --> 00:45:33.505
because I personally signed for money at the bank.

803
00:45:33.505 --> 00:45:36.020
And there'd been times when we just didn't have the money

804
00:45:36.020 --> 00:45:39.170
for vacation pay, and I had equity in my home

805
00:45:39.170 --> 00:45:42.380
and I sold it and I used the money to keep my company going.

806
00:45:42.380 --> 00:45:44.610
For 13 coal preparation plant workers

807
00:45:44.610 --> 00:45:47.980
at the Dal-Tex mine, it won't be a happy new year.

808
00:45:47.980 --> 00:45:50.230
They've been laid off by Arch Coal.

809
00:45:50.230 --> 00:45:52.800
We've had to lay off 13 men

810
00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:55.070
at our preparation plant at Dal-Tex.

811
00:45:55.070 --> 00:45:56.620
That is most unfortunate.

812
00:45:56.620 --> 00:45:59.110
It's a result of permit delays.

813
00:45:59.110 --> 00:46:01.700
Todd says if permits aren't processed quickly,

814
00:46:01.700 --> 00:46:04.283
more layoffs are coming for the 350 workers

815
00:46:04.283 --> 00:46:06.320
at the Dal-Tex mine.

816
00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:08.130
Jobs depend upon that.

817
00:46:08.130 --> 00:46:10.380
We believe we're protecting the environment,

818
00:46:10.380 --> 00:46:12.160
and that we can have both jobs

819
00:46:12.160 --> 00:46:14.600
and protection of the environment.

820
00:46:14.600 --> 00:46:18.240
If we don't get those permits quickly,

821
00:46:18.240 --> 00:46:22.363
then we will simply have to lay off more individuals.

822
00:46:24.050 --> 00:46:26.280
We think that we have achieved

823
00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:28.660
significant concessions from Arch Coal,

824
00:46:28.660 --> 00:46:31.470
and we are at the point now

825
00:46:31.470 --> 00:46:34.593
where we are going to lift our objections to the permit.

826
00:46:35.430 --> 00:46:36.630
Two months to the day

827
00:46:36.630 --> 00:46:38.810
after the public hearing in Logan,

828
00:46:38.810 --> 00:46:40.960
the Environmental Protection Agency

829
00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:44.470
said that Dal-Tex mine expansion could go forward.

830
00:46:44.470 --> 00:46:46.060
Of all the permits, this one should be

831
00:46:46.060 --> 00:46:48.340
going through a most thorough review,

832
00:46:48.340 --> 00:46:51.510
and the federal agencies decided that they would not.

833
00:46:51.510 --> 00:46:54.130
Our only assumption can be because of political,

834
00:46:54.130 --> 00:46:56.903
economic pressures, threats of job layoffs.

835
00:46:57.800 --> 00:47:01.093
Incredibly Arch Coal's victory was short lived.

836
00:47:01.960 --> 00:47:04.020
Where the EPA backed down,

837
00:47:04.020 --> 00:47:06.450
a conservative Republican-appointed,

838
00:47:06.450 --> 00:47:09.033
bird-watching federal judge stepped in.

839
00:47:10.040 --> 00:47:11.720
Judge Charles Haden has agreed to tour

840
00:47:11.720 --> 00:47:13.570
the proposed Blair strip mine site

841
00:47:13.570 --> 00:47:14.740
and other mountaintop mines

842
00:47:14.740 --> 00:47:16.910
before deciding if the project should be halted.

843
00:47:16.910 --> 00:47:18.700
Judge Charles Haden took a first-hand look

844
00:47:18.700 --> 00:47:21.090
at some of Arch Coal's mountaintop mining reclamation

845
00:47:21.090 --> 00:47:23.200
before ruling on the company's plans

846
00:47:23.200 --> 00:47:25.927
to strip a record 3100 acres near Blair.

847
00:47:25.927 --> 00:47:28.040
A federal judge's decision

848
00:47:28.040 --> 00:47:29.880
to stop the opening of the state's largest

849
00:47:29.880 --> 00:47:31.410
mountaintop removal strip mine

850
00:47:31.410 --> 00:47:33.630
brought about 200 Arch Coal miners

851
00:47:33.630 --> 00:47:36.090
to the federal courthouse to protest.

852
00:47:36.090 --> 00:47:39.320
This is our jobs here, what are we supposed to do?

853
00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:42.220
Stand on a welfare line or soup line, I guess.

854
00:47:42.220 --> 00:47:45.340
It's not just us men that's getting hurt here.

855
00:47:45.340 --> 00:47:47.160
Right here sits my family,

856
00:47:47.160 --> 00:47:50.020
and when you hurt my baby girl and my baby boy,

857
00:47:50.020 --> 00:47:51.600
then you made me madder than hell,

858
00:47:51.600 --> 00:47:53.804
and I'm gonna fight and do anything I can do

859
00:47:53.804 --> 00:47:57.255
to stand up for them.
(crowd cheering)

860
00:47:57.255 --> 00:47:58.250
The story's momentum grew,

861
00:47:58.250 --> 00:48:00.030
and it took on national attention.

862
00:48:00.030 --> 00:48:02.140
Judge Charles Haden, a Republican,

863
00:48:02.140 --> 00:48:03.460
a long time conservative.

864
00:48:03.460 --> 00:48:06.470
He ruled that west Virginia's mountaintop mines

865
00:48:06.470 --> 00:48:08.940
had indeed been violating the nation's mining

866
00:48:08.940 --> 00:48:11.103
and clean water laws for years.

867
00:48:12.258 --> 00:48:15.360
And that decision sent shock waves across the state.

868
00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:16.690
Heavy equipment is already

869
00:48:16.690 --> 00:48:18.830
being shipped out of state from an Arch coal mine

870
00:48:18.830 --> 00:48:21.630
that would've been the state's largest mountaintop mine.

871
00:48:23.010 --> 00:48:24.720
Many in Logan fear efforts to block

872
00:48:24.720 --> 00:48:26.860
mountaintop strip mining could wipe them out,

873
00:48:26.860 --> 00:48:28.610
and devastate the region's economy.

874
00:48:30.300 --> 00:48:32.313
You know, I think the coal industry is,

875
00:48:33.410 --> 00:48:35.560
probably finds themselves in a, they don't know what to do.

876
00:48:35.560 --> 00:48:36.610
I don't know, I'm just speculating.

877
00:48:36.610 --> 00:48:38.491
I don't know, but they've invested

878
00:48:38.491 --> 00:48:42.110
a lot of money in machines, and the the agencies

879
00:48:42.110 --> 00:48:44.710
have allowed this to continue and to build and grow.

880
00:48:45.560 --> 00:48:48.937
And in a way, you know, we're coming along and saying,

881
00:48:48.937 --> 00:48:50.600
"Hey you know, this has gotten out of control."

882
00:48:50.600 --> 00:48:52.380
And they say, "It's taken a long time,

883
00:48:52.380 --> 00:48:53.980
and we've got investments here."

884
00:48:56.060 --> 00:48:57.750
I understand that argument.

885
00:49:03.259 --> 00:49:05.740
So you guys don't look very scared.

886
00:49:05.740 --> 00:49:07.268
Hell honey, we're 23 years-

887
00:49:07.268 --> 00:49:11.330
No use in being scared.
I'd be scared.

888
00:49:11.330 --> 00:49:13.221
Life will come and go.

889
00:49:13.221 --> 00:49:15.769
You know, it's not a matter of been scared.

890
00:49:15.769 --> 00:49:17.123
Like I said before, you know,

891
00:49:17.123 --> 00:49:19.830
I've got a 10-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son.

892
00:49:19.830 --> 00:49:22.630
My wife's a nurse, we both work.

893
00:49:22.630 --> 00:49:24.647
They listen to us talking to home.

894
00:49:24.647 --> 00:49:25.480
They know what's coming down here.

895
00:49:25.480 --> 00:49:28.520
We needed to have that permit late last year.

896
00:49:28.520 --> 00:49:32.610
And because we don't have it in an expeditious fashion,

897
00:49:32.610 --> 00:49:34.520
and we don't know when we're gonna have it,

898
00:49:34.520 --> 00:49:38.963
they have indicated, the upper management has indicated,

899
00:49:38.963 --> 00:49:40.680
that the mine will have to shut down.

900
00:49:40.680 --> 00:49:44.580
Logan County is dead anyway.

901
00:49:44.580 --> 00:49:49.150
And 400 miners isn't going to kill Logan County.

902
00:49:49.150 --> 00:49:50.420
But there is a great problem,

903
00:49:50.420 --> 00:49:52.930
and I don't think anyone would say otherwise.

904
00:49:52.930 --> 00:49:55.870
There is a great problem about how to develop

905
00:49:55.870 --> 00:49:57.730
those coalfield communities in the future,

906
00:49:57.730 --> 00:49:59.600
and how to allow people to stay there.

907
00:49:59.600 --> 00:50:01.480
All we're saying is this is not the way,

908
00:50:01.480 --> 00:50:03.410
because this is clearly running them out.

909
00:50:03.410 --> 00:50:06.050
That people want to stay, I have no doubt about that.

910
00:50:06.050 --> 00:50:07.700
Every time I talk to any West Virginian,

911
00:50:07.700 --> 00:50:09.138
they wanna stay where they are.

912
00:50:09.138 --> 00:50:11.207
I mean, it's a crazy thing, and people might say,

913
00:50:11.207 --> 00:50:12.190
"Why in the world do those people

914
00:50:12.190 --> 00:50:14.443
wanna stay up in those hollows," but they do.

915
00:50:16.910 --> 00:50:19.170
In July of 1999,

916
00:50:19.170 --> 00:50:21.960
Arch Coal shut down the Dal-Tex mine,

917
00:50:21.960 --> 00:50:25.173
laying off nearly 400 United Mine workers.

918
00:50:26.157 --> 00:50:29.324
(soft poignant music)

919
00:50:42.131 --> 00:50:43.381
Hey, come on.

920
00:50:44.284 --> 00:50:47.320
Listen, you ready to go to work?

921
00:50:47.320 --> 00:50:51.540
It's not just a mountain, it's like breath to them,

922
00:50:51.540 --> 00:50:53.510
because it's who they are.

923
00:50:53.510 --> 00:50:56.100
And to a lot of people that may be,

924
00:50:56.100 --> 00:50:58.136
backwoods type thing, but I'd like to think

925
00:50:58.136 --> 00:51:01.823
it's a strength of West Virginia, that our life is simple.

926
00:51:05.388 --> 00:51:09.330
I get real emotional because I don't think

927
00:51:09.330 --> 00:51:13.520
the cost of a person's house or the clothes that they wear

928
00:51:13.520 --> 00:51:15.830
is what makes that person.

929
00:51:15.830 --> 00:51:17.710
I think that people should look past

930
00:51:17.710 --> 00:51:20.820
whether we live in a $10,000 camper,

931
00:51:20.820 --> 00:51:23.450
or whether we live in a $200,000 home,

932
00:51:23.450 --> 00:51:25.740
if that home and that community has been destroyed,

933
00:51:25.740 --> 00:51:26.940
then it should be protected.

934
00:51:26.940 --> 00:51:30.020
It should be protected by those people in that community.

935
00:51:30.020 --> 00:51:31.770
It should be protected by the other workers

936
00:51:31.770 --> 00:51:33.670
from West Virginia, and by all means

937
00:51:33.670 --> 00:51:36.543
it should be protected by our government.

938
00:51:36.543 --> 00:51:39.710
(soft poignant music)

939
00:51:50.185 --> 00:51:53.435
(children chattering)

940
00:51:59.781 --> 00:52:01.662
God created these.

941
00:52:01.662 --> 00:52:06.662
And he said, "What I create, man will not destruct."

942
00:52:11.610 --> 00:52:14.026
So you just let him go, huh?

943
00:52:14.026 --> 00:52:14.859
Yeah.

944
00:52:16.144 --> 00:52:19.061
Yes, but I'm not fishing.

945
00:52:23.134 --> 00:52:28.134
♪ Lord I gotta go see what I can do ♪

946
00:52:32.764 --> 00:52:37.764
♪ Lord I gotta go see what I can do ♪

947
00:52:42.736 --> 00:52:47.736
♪ Lord I gotta go see what I can do ♪

948
00:52:50.438 --> 00:52:55.355
♪ Can't give up til I go see what I can do ♪

949
00:53:01.757 --> 00:53:06.757
♪ Now brother go see what you can do ♪

950
00:53:11.217 --> 00:53:16.217
♪ Father go see what you can do ♪

951
00:53:20.403 --> 00:53:25.403
♪ Yes mother go see what you can do ♪

952
00:53:28.575 --> 00:53:33.575
♪ Lord you can't give up til you go see what you can do ♪