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Communities, Welcome to Kayford Mountain

“Mountaintop mining is practically raising the dead, while burying the living.” – Larry Gibson, resident of Kayford mountain

Friday, October 19th, 2007


Kayford Mountain has been the home of Larry Gibson’s family since the 1700’s. More than three hundred of his relatives are buried in the family cemetery. Growing up on Kayford’s beautiful slopes, Larry treasures the best memories of his life from his early days on Kayford. He recalls “it wasn’t the fast life then, it was the good life.” When he was growing up on Kayford’s beautiful slopes, the mountains rose in every direction from his house.

In 1986, mountaintop removal operations began near his home. Over the next 20 years, according to Larry, “the slow motion destruction of Kayford Mountain has been continuous – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Coal companies have flattened more than 12,000 acres of mountain landscape around Larry’s home. Where he once looked up at the peaks of Kayford from his family graveyard, he now looks 300 feet straight down at a blasted and devastated landscape.

Currently, the mine comes within 200 feet of his family cemetery, and the blasts continually shake the ground. Flying rocks from the explosions land near the gravestones and scar the ground. As one visitor noted, “gone is the peace and stillness that the old cemetery once harbored. For Gibson and other family members, mountaintop mining is practically raising the dead, while burying the living.”

Larry Gibson has been one of the most powerful voices opposing mountaintop removal for the last two decades and has been featured in dozens of documentaries, news stories and articles on mountaintop removal, including National Geographic and a 2006 story by Vanity Fair that called mountaintop removal, “the greatest act of physical destruction this country has ever wreaked upon itself.” He has formed a foundation called the Keepers of the Mountains Foundation to support his family’s ongoing fight to protect their homes, community and mountains.

Click here to see video footage of Kayford Mountain, WV and Larry Gibson’s ongoing fight to stop its destruction.

Photo and text contributed by Lucas Brown and provided courtesy of Appalachian Voices.

2 Responses to ““Mountaintop mining is practically raising the dead, while burying the living.” – Larry Gibson, resident of Kayford mountain”

  1. Bill Wells Says:

    I lived in williamson WVa for several years in the 1960’s. I thought strip mining was bad then. I’m sorry to say the situation has worsened considerably. My best wishes to you all. I’ll spread the word. But of course the same miners or their business associates are doing some of the same sort of things in BC’s Rockies.

  2. Joan Franco Says:

    This makes me sick at heart. It seems that greed trumps everything else in our society and the only protections available are for the rich and powerful. Those of us that are neither are helpless. This world, which was truly a heaven on earth is being systematically turned into a living hell. Where do these people live that they think they will never have to pay a price. Nature cannot be raped and pillaged forever with impunity.

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