Communities, Welcome to the Community of Sylvester, West Virginia
“For the past 8 years, life has been a living Hell.” – Pauline Canterberry, resident of Sylvester, WV
Friday, October 19th, 2007
Sylvester is a small, friendly community tucked away in West Virginia’s Coal River Valley. Until recently, it was a place where area residents hoped to retire and spend their golden years relaxing, chatting with neighbors on the front porch, and enjoying the pleasures of a peaceful life in the mountains.
In 1998, a coal processing plant was built in the community, despite the fact that 75% of residents signed a petition opposing the permit for the facility. A mountaintop removal operation that removed a nearby ridge then allowed the coal dust from the plant to blow directly into the community. Now homes are frequently covered inside and out with coal dust, the same coal dust that causes the infamous black lung disease suffered by coal miners.
Two elderly women known as the Dustbusters are leading local efforts to protect Sylvester, working with Coal River Mountain Watch, a community organization. In a 2005 letter to the state, Dustbuster Pauline Canterberry, who lost both her father and husband to lung diseases caused by coal and rock dust in the mines, described daily life this way:
“For the past 8 years, life in the community of Sylvester, West Virginia, has been a living Hell of black coal dust, nerve shattering noises and broken promises, while we have watched our homes be destroyed, and respiratory illness invade our bodies. Many of those problems still remain unsolved. We do not oppose coal mining, but we do demand that it be done responsibly so as to protect our Town and its Citizens.”
Summary contributed by Mary Anne Hitt of Appalachian Voices. Photo by Builder Levy.
