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Two Decades of Resistance: Coal River Mountain Watch Takes Stock at 20
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Coal River Mountain Watch’s history of resistance to mountaintop coal mining is plastered across the wood-paneled walls of the group’s modest office in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
“Look for somebody with a bullhorn,” said Vernon Haltom. The current co-executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch is animated as he searches the tableau, his salt-and-pepper beard bobbing up and down. Near the bottom right-hand corner he spots an ant wearing a hard hat and carrying a bullhorn.
“I think of that one as Judy Bonds,” Haltom said. “She was a person with a bullhorn.”
The “insect Bonds” is surrounded by other activist creatures; a salamander holds a miniature wind turbine and bees flit around. This hive of activity is a tribute to the grassroots network of activists that formed in Appalachia in the 1990s and 2000s, largely to raise awareness of the health and environmental impacts of mountaintop removal. The practice, which requires blowing the tops off mountains to reach the coal below, has disturbed an estimated 1.5 million acres, an area roughly the size of Delaware, and buried thousands of miles of streams.
Coal River Mountain Watch and Bonds were central figures in the movement.
“We had a lot of cross pollination of ideas and various tactics and things that we’ve tried and done in varying levels of success or frustration over the years,” Haltom said. “So many of these things are things that Judy Bonds had to say.”
A coal miner’s daughter and waitress at a local Pizza Hut, Bonds and her family were the last to evacuate from her own hometown of Marfork Hollow, which was surrounded by mountaintop removal. In 2003, she was awarded the Goldman Prize, often referred to as the green Nobel.
In her acceptance speech, Bonds spoke of using activism to break coal’s deep ties in Appalachia and to seek a better way of life for those living in the communities neighboring mining.
“Organize, educate, motivate, mentor young children,” she said. “Children take back your earth.”
“It takes a lot of courage to stand up when you’re right in the middle of it and that’s what Coal River Mountain Watch has been doing for its two decades of existence,” she said.
A simple wooden sign hangs above the office entrance with the group’s logo and a motto: “Remembering the past, working for the future.” As the group hits the 20-year mark its leaders are taking stock of accomplishments, some painful losses, and the work ahead.
‘True Activist’
The group counts some hard-fought victories in its 20 years of existence, including securing a new campus for Marsh Fork Elementary School, which was previously located in the shadow of an active mining operation owned by Massey Energy.
An earthen dam and impoundment sitting above the school was permitted to hold 2.8 billion gallons of liquid coal waste. The waste pond and dam were constructed by the same mining company that was responsible for a similar impoundment in Martin County, Kentucky, that failed in 2000, sending millions of gallons of slurry into two tributaries of the Tug Fork River.
While some children reported illness, others in the community were concerned the school could close and students would be sent elsewhere.
Coal River Mountain Watch’s playbook included protest, letter-writing campaigns and the use of the legal system. To raise awareness around Marsh Fork, In 2006, one of the group’s members, Ed Wiley, walked from Charleston to Washington, D.C., to raise the issue to West Virginia’s Congressional leadership. Ultimately, a new campus was approved in 2010.
“Even when we disagreed, I miss her dearly,” he said. “You look up the word activist and you’ll see Judy Bonds’ picture beside it, because she was a true activist.”
“It’s been tough lately because a lot of people think mountaintop removal is over and they don’t really grasp why we still do this,” Haltom said.
He said donors have shifted their priorities to other causes, which has resulted in fewer resources. Coal River Mountain Watch’s staff has scaled back. And while it’s an asset to be on the ground, the nonprofit also faces fundraising challenges due to its isolated location.
The group was central in securing a National Academy of Sciences study into the health impacts of mountaintop removal mining. In 2017, it was abruptly canceled by the Trump administration. The organization has also lobbied repeatedly for the passage of the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act, which would bar mining until a health study is done. The bill received a hearing in the House in 2019, but otherwise has had little traction in Congress.
Still, in recent years, research has validated many of fears about the health impacts of mountaintop removal. Studies show a correlation between mountaintop removal and high rates of cancer, lung disease, and birth defects in neighboring communities.
“The blasting dust is deadly. I mean it’s silica,” Haltom said. “We’ve known silica is a killer, but for some reason people think that Appalachians are immune to it.”
New research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released this month shows surface mine dust contains more silica than does dust in underground coal mines. The findings come at a time when the most severe form of black lung disease, once thought to be nearly eradicated, is surging in Central Appalachia.
Next Generation
While the work may be harder, Coal River Mountain Watch is still doing it.
At their solar-powered headquarters, the group models possible alternatives to coal mining, such as hemp farming and beekeeping. And they’re instilling in a younger generation a passion for the mountains around them.
To mark its 20 years, Coal River Mountain Watch hosted a creek cleanup. Dozens of kids and adults crashed through Peachtree Creek gathering bottles, plastic bags and even a kid-sized swimming pool. After more than an hour of tough work, volunteers took a dip in Peachtree Falls.
“I think we’ve come a long way in helping people understand there’s a better way of living, you know,” he said. “Don’t treat your community like it’s a disposable item.”