Appalachian residents joined activists and community members from across the US and Canada for the Third Extreme Energy Summit in May 2014. Learn more about some of the voices of this summit here.
As part of the trip, Appalachian residents facing the impacts of mountaintop removal toured sites impacted by uranium mining near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The tour was hosted by the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE). MASE is a coalition of groups rooted in uranium-impacted communities across the southwest working to remediate environmental devastation and stop future harm. MASE arranged community tours of uranium impacted areas so that summit attendees from across North America could learn more about the disastrous impacts of uranium mining on the local community.
“It’s very important to continue to bring public awareness to the the local impacts from previous uranium mining. We need to educate the next generation and bring solutions to clean up these areas that will otherwise be ignored,” said Jonathan Perry with the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining a core group of MASE. “We want to connect with other people from across the country to address uranium mining issues as well as national issues to move forward as one people bringing solutions back to our communities.”
The sites toured included areas where faulty, irresponsible reclamation was exposing communities, livestock, farms and water to the toxic effects of uranium and radon gas emitted by the mining process. Residents shared powerful stories of the severe impacts they have faced, as well as the powerful community organizing that has enabled them to fight to protect their land and health. Faulty and dangerous reclamation sites included the site below, adjacent to a Diné (Navajo) Community where residents shared stories of dangerously high radiation levels at the bus stop where their kids wait to go to school.
The group also visited the former Jackpile Mine where Laguna Pueblo tribal leaders shared stories of the impacts they faced from the mines, as well as the struggle to reclaim the land and begin building back their community after the mine closed down, leaving high unemployment, destroyed homes and severe health issues. The struggles of these communities have many parallels to the issues faced by Appalachian communities in the wake of the destruction of mountaintop removal coal mining, and hearing the inspiring organizing and community wisdom that achieved real progress and some powerful healing for these communities – as well as some frustrating setbacks and many ongoing struggles – offered a powerful opportunity to learn from these strategic movements for environmental justice.
In addition to dealing with the ongoing effects of former uranium mining, tribes are working together to fight proposed uranium mines on their land, like the beautiful area below, which members of the tour visited, as well as a proposed mine on Mount Taylor, an area sacred to the Pueblo and Navajo peoples.
Appalachian members of the tour are grateful to our hosts for sharing their wisdom and were eager to share an invitation to everyone to tour Appalachia to continue to allow grassroots leaders in environmental justice to learn from the wisdom of other movements.
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In May, Appalachian residents fighting mountaintop removal coal mining joined more than 80 leaders from 26 states and Canada to converge in Albuquerque in May 2014 for the third Extreme Energy Extraction Summit.
Attendees represented groups that are fighting against the toxic impacts of energy extraction happening in their home communities – including the mining of coal in Appalachia to Alaska, fracking for natural gas from New York to Texas, destructive Tar Sands mining, including pipelines, in Canada, mining for uranium in the Southwest and many other issues. The groups shared strategies for stopping the destruction as well as visions and plans for a more just energy future.
Residents toured a series of uranium mine sites and processing areas where residents have faced severe impacts from decades of uranium mining and faulty reclamation plans – seeing a lot of parallels to the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on the land and people of Appalachia.
This post shares some of the voices and faces of people who were there. Learn more about this work and share these powerful photos and messages at the Extreme Energy Collaborative Page.
Thanks to photographer David Braun.
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From the Friends of Blair Mountain (Website | Facebook ):
WVDEP has issued an order to Aracoma Coal that will prohibit any surface mining within 1,000 ft. of the Blair Battlefield until 2018 when the permit comes up for renewal.
More importantly, OSMRE, a federal agency, has confirmed and established the legal steps to take so that Governor Tomblin can issue an executive order giving WVDEP the power to enforce section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act on a 1,000 ft. boundary around the entire Blair Battlefield.
The 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain was fought along a number of fronts, the Battle for Blair Mountain has been no different. A pivotal front in the ongoing Battle for Blair Mountain is the Camp Branch Permit. Encompassing part of the southern area of the battlefield, the land on Camp Branch was where Sheriff Don Chafin kept his supply lines running and where defensive positions were stationed on the ridgeline at Blair. In the Battle for Blair Mountain, the Camp Branch Permit has been the most heated front. Just a few months after the 2011 protest march to save Blair Mountain there were rumors of activity around Camp Branch. A few months later, our board members withstood violent threats at the Camp Branch Permit hearing from hundreds of miners who had been told the approval of the permit would create coal jobs. On September 10, 2013, FOBM board members were physically threatened and intimidated with armed force when our organization attempted to conduct a citizen’s site inspection accompanied by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
Friends of Blair Mountain requested a site inspection because our organization found evidence that portions of the Blair Battlefield were being illegally destroyed on the Camp Branch Permit. Our first site inspection was forced to an early close and we were unable to document our findings. We appealed to the West Virginia Surface Mine Board and, on December 9, 2013 won a hearing which granted us the right to conduct a second site visit and film it. On March 11, 2014 we conducted this site visit and filmed areas where significant areas of the battlefield on the Camp Branch Permit were destroyed through logging and construction methods.
The late Larry Gibson (right) and others during the 2011 March on Blair Mountain
Upon taking our evidence to the appropriate regulatory agencies and conducting a number of meetings, FOBM finally gathered all the relevant regulatory agencies, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the Army Corps of Engineers, and WVDEP together to discuss protecting the Camp Branch Permit and the Blair Battlefield on May 2, 2014.
We have stopped them at Camp Branch. Now Governor Tomblin must be convinced to issue an executive order to save the Blair Battlefield from all corporations. The legal apparatus is in place, all it takes is his action.
Furthermore, all of the regulatory agencies confirmed in our May 2, 2014 meeting that the destruction we have found and documented on the battlefield is not mining related nor can it be classified as pre-mining activity. In other words, parts of the battlefield have been destroyed and yet not one lump of coal has been extracted, not one coal mining job was created, and no mining is planned where the disturbances took place. This is all verified by inspections conducted by WVDEP and ACOE on April 16 and 29, 2014.
If Governor Tomblin will act, then what remains of the Blair Battlefield can be preserved. We can still preserve this ground, build a place where the public can celebrate and learn from this great history, and help diversify the local economy.
The Battle for Blair Mountain has many fronts. We have beat them back at Camp Branch. Now it is time to win the rest before they can launch another assault on our history.
Friends of Blair Mountain will be working for an URGENT CALL to ACTION to GOVERNOR TOMBLIN.
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