Coal industry-supporters, many wearing miners’ stripes, were gathered on the side of Coal River Road encouraging passing cars to honk in support of coal.
On the football field, mountaintop removal protesters played music.
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By Rachel Lucas
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As protesters, including Daryl Hannah, Dr. James Hansen and Congressman Ken Hechler got up on a small stage, mining supporters drowned them out with motorcycles and an air horn.
John Will is a coal miner in Boone County.
“The coal mining, coal industry provides jobs and if mountaintop mining is done right, which it is…we do a good job on the reclaim, replant trees, the streams are taken care of,” he said. “We’re not about raping the mountains, we’re just up here trying to make a living for our families. And we do a good job on restoring it and our side doesn’t get told often enough.”
Many of the mining-supporters held signs telling outsiders and treehuggers to go home.
Fred Griggs is a surface miner at a nearby mine.
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By Rachel Lucas
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“We’re just here to show them that they can’t come in and just run us off of our jobs,” he said. “They have no idea what we’re doing here. Most of them’s out of state. I mean, all West Virginia needs to stand together on this.”
There were a number of out-of-state license plates spotted in the area, but many of the protesters were West Virginians who resented being called ‘outsiders.’
Robin Welch is thirteen-years-old and lives in Ansted. He was at the protest with his mother.
“This is my future and I don’t want to have my home ruined,” he said. “I’m here and I’ve got to stay here, and every time I see these people around here call me a ‘treehugger’ and say I ‘just need to get out of the state,’ it hurts my feelings because I hear them and I can’t believe what they’re saying to me. I know I’m not a treehugger, but mountains are what I live in.”
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By Erica Peterson
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Even those who came from out of state say the mountains belong to everyone, not just West Virginians.
Sandra Diaz lives in Boone, North Carolina and works for Appalachian Voices.
“Well, I live in the region so I don’t really consider myself an outsider,” she said. “And I kind of look at it as the Appalachian Mountains belong to all Americans and so everyone has a say in this matter and it’s an issue that affects everybody. I know there are arguments that people are outsiders, but really, we’re all one people. And there’s lots of people in the community that are working on this as well and we’re supporting those folks.
On the Marsh Fork football field, protesters and mining supporters mixed to a degree. There was no clear line of demarcation, and small conversations between individuals sprouted.
But once the protesters made their way down the road to Massey property, there was a clear line and all hell broke loose. Mining supporters lined the road, and state troopers maintained a buffer zone. The protesters were quiet as many were arrested, but the men and women in mining stripes had a lot to say.
Unfortunately with all the shouting, neither side got a chance to hear what the others had to say.