The "West Virginia Mountain Defender," an alternative media publication, will soon publish its second newspaper edition that will encourage dialogues throughout the area about mountaintop removal.
An excerpt from the first issue of the newspaper explains the purpose of the publication reading it "wants the people of this state to have the chance to participate openly in the debate about mountaintop removal... We believe the issues of mountaintop removal are not being openly discussed. This newspaper is an attempt to provide West Virginians with the basic rights of our constitution on this important issue."
The first issue of "Mountain Defender" was published in September 2005. About 13,000 copies of the issue were distributed in seven West Virginia counties. It contained basic information about mountaintop removal and sludge impoundments, as well as other controversial issues involving coal mining occuring in the state.
Abraham Mwaura, organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, said the first issue of "Mountain Defender" received a fairly equal response from those who liked or disliked the publication. He said there is no one specific reason he can give to sum up the negative of mountaintop removal in the state.
Mwaura said there are many reasons such as the flooding, which causes millions of dollars of damage, and poor water quality in the state.
"It's destroying people's cultural heritage," Mwaura said. "West Virginia is the mountain state and we're destroying the mountains. There's a multitude of problems."
Mwaura said the paper wants to let the public know what's really happening in the coalfields. He said the paper gives the hard facts and number of deaths the mainstream media does not publish.
Vivian Stockman, project coordinator for OHVEC, said citizens of Mingo, Logan, Raleigh and Boone counties have expressed their frustration with local newspapers, saying their point of view is not covered when it comes to coal mining issues.
"One aim of the project is to let people know that their friends and neighbors are experiencing the same problems they are when it comes to mountaintop removal," Stockman said. "Another aim is to let people know that others are speaking out and it's time for them to do the same."
The upcoming issue of "Mountain Defender" will focus on sludge impoundments, underground injection of sludge and a sludge safety bill the legislature may consider. It will be published and distributed in about two weeks in the same seven W.Va. counties as the previous issue.
E-mail Whitney Parsley at parsley19@marshall.edu.
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