Day Ten of Coal River Mountain Tree Sit
As of today, the tree-sit on Coal River Mountain has become the longest tree-sit in West Virginia history. Becks Kolins and Catherine Ann MacDougal have been in their trees for ten days and are determined to remain, despite the extreme heat and bugs.
Although the tree-sit itself has fortunately remained safe and relatively un-eventful, much has happened in the past 10 days: the EPA released its guidance on valley fills (which will not stop strip mining), a new health study was published strengthening the link between mountaintop removal mining and cancer in nearby communities, native West Virginian Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to two years in jail for saving tens of thousands of acres of public land from oil and gas exploitation, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced the date of the public hearing on the Bee Tree permit where the tree-sit is occurring. These events all underscore the urgency of the tree-sitters message to stop strip mining Coal River Mountain and end strip mining in the Coal River watershed.
The sit has successfully halted blasting on the site, aside from a small blast last Friday afternoon. Until this past Wednesday, trucks were still hauling coal that had previously been extracted and stockpiled; now, even this work has ceased.
Support the tree sit! Submit a comment to the Department of Environmental Protection opposing the Bee Tree Permit Renewal and/or to the RAMPS Campaign!
