Rebuilding a sustainable economy in West Virginia

Latest

Maria Gunnoe, award-winning environmentalist, is a founder of Mother Jones Community Foundation (MJCF). MJCF is working with others to insure there is not another coal sludge disaster in West Virginia.
PHOTO/SCOTT DAVID

 
WEST VIRGINIA — On February 26, 1972, the coal slurry impoundments at Buffalo Creek failed, releasing 132 million gallons of black-waste water and coal sludge. Seventeen towns were swept away in the flood. One hundred and twenty five were killed, 1,100 injured, and over 4,000 left homeless. The remains of six babies and a 74-year-old were never found. Although after 47 years the survivors remain haunted by the event, many West Virginians are unaware that it was not a natural flood.
One hundred and fourteen coal slurry impoundments still dot the West Virginia landscape, restraining tens of billions of gallons of toxic mine waste. With maintenance of these dams in incremental decline, and without intervention, further disasters similar to Buffalo Creek appear inevitable.
With the increase in violent storms due to climate change, there are sure to be more disasters like Buffalo Creek. In January of this year in Brazil, a tailing dam owned by Vale SA, a Brazilian mining company, collapsed, flooding millions of tons of toxic mud into the town of Brumadinho; 206 people died and 102 are missing. Scrolled on the town’s walls are these words, “Vale is a recidivist murderer . . .profit is what Vale is all about.”
In Boone County, WV, Mother Jones Community Foundation (MJCF) is demanding investment in our communities. Coal has left the communities devastated and in dire poverty in the midst of massive un-reclaimed mountaintop removal, water pollution, drug addiction, abandoned mines, coal waste dams, and crumbling coal preparation plants.
 

Car dragged by toxic mud into a river after tailing dam collapses in recent Brazilian mine disaster that flooded mud into a city.
PHOTO/FERNANDA LIGABUE, GREENPEACE

 
MJCF is working with a large group of unlikely allies in the hopes of rebuilding a sustainable economy. The people once employed by the coal industry will soon find gainful employment in reclaiming abandoned mining operations.
Appalachian women have brought all sides of the coal issue to the table to discuss the future of our area and to meet the massive challenges at hand. West Virginia’s Republicans, Democrats, independents, scholars, coal miners, coal operators, and award-winning environmentalists have a plan to sustain our people well into the future and clean up after an industry that has no active plan to clean up after itself.
 

“Blood on the Mountain” is a stunning documentary directed by Mari- Lynn Evans and Jordan Freeman about the bitter, ongoing struggle for economic and environmental justice in West Virginia. Go to bloodonthemountain.com.

 
After 150 years of coal extraction, we should have something to show for our sacrifice. MJCF is appealing to ALL entities that have profited from the demise of our communities to invest and help us build a sustainable economy that supports our future generations of Appalachians.
We will no longer tell our young people to “get your education and get out.” We want to rebuild a place that people want to come home to.
MJCF is meeting this challenge and we invite all sides to join us and invest in the future of Appalachia.

Contact MJCF Executive Board for more information: Mari-Lynn Evans mlevansESP@gmail.com, 330-289-4514 or Maria Gunnoe wvhollowgirl@gmail.com, 304-989-9581.

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Pregnant Teen Died: Seeks Care in Three Texas Emergency Rooms

Nevaeh Crain cried in pain, too weak to walk, blood staining her thighs. Vomiting and feverish at her baby shower, the teen went to two different emergency rooms, returning home, worse than before. Pregnant women have become untouchables.

No, Immigration Is Not Making Housing Less Affordable

Despite politicians' claims to the contrary, immigration is not making housing unaffordable. In fact, immigration can be part of the solution.

Make Your Vote Count 

This 2024 election is gaining on us and the pressure to get to the ballot box is intense and...

Michigan’s Prescient Lesson: Vote While You Still Can!!! 

Michigan's non-elected Emergency Manager dictatorship made Flint's water crisis possible. Pay attention to the danger of losing our Democratic rights as we’ve known them in this election. Vote while you still can!

US Doctors Tell Biden, Harris They ‘Witnessed Crimes Beyond Comprehension’ in Gaza

US doctors who visited Gaza tell Biden, Harris they've never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources, that our bombs are cutting down women and children, and that a ceasefire must be imposed.

More from the People's Tribune