Mountaintop Removal Activists Converge in East Tennessee

national | environment | feature

Wednesday May 30, 2007 20:45

by paco - Mountain Justice Summer

Friday evening presentation on the connections between
mountaintop removal, the coal rush, and climate change

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Third annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp held May 20-28 amidst the rolling hills, large meadows, and expansive forests of northeast Tennessee.

Mountaintop Removal Activists Converge in East Tennessee

The third annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp was held May 20-28 at Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center amidst the rolling hills, large meadows, and expansive forests of northeast Tennessee. The camp brought together more than 120 people to kick off the third Mountain Justice Summer (MJS). MJS is a broad campaign to stop mountaintop removal and all forms of destructive surface coal mining in Central Appalachia.

Mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining is a destructive method used widely in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and southwestern Virginia. It is also referred to as strip mining, contour mining, steep slope strip mining, and even strip mining on steroids. MTR begins with clear cutting of some of the most diverse forest ecosystems in the United States and is followed by massive explosions. The crumbled mountain layers ("overburden") are shoved into valleys ("valley fills"), and the coal, which lies deep in horizontal seams through the mountains, is scooped up. This process often takes place just uphill from communities, where slopes keep mining hidden from public view.

Attendees at the camp included coalfield residents, students, activists, youth, and organizers from throughout Appalachia and as far away as San Francisco, Vancouver, Montreal, Boston, and Florida. Participating organizations in the camp included: Appalachian Women Rising, Asheville Rising Tide, Coal River Mountain Watch, the Highlander Research and Education Center, Katuah Earth First!, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Lexington Environmental Action Project, Mountain Justice, Mountaintop Removal Roadshow, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Rainforest Action Network, the Sierra Club, Student Environmental Action Coalition, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Three Rivers Earth First!, and United Mountain Defense.

The camp schedule was full of workshops, skillshares, trainings, field work, great food, and live music. Workshops oriented attendees to Appalachia culture and history, mountaintop removal, community organizing, and non-violent direct action. Skillshares focused on permaculture, bicycling, plant identification, and yoga. Trainings were held on cultural sensitivity, media work, legal rights, first aid, de-escalation, security culture, and web design.

The facilities at Narrow Ridge also served as an example of off-the-grid and sustainable possibilities. Straw bale construction, south-facing buildings, composting toilets and active and passive solar buildings were both educational and inspiring. Photovoltaic solar panels collected the small amount of electricity used during the camp. Almost everyone camped in their own tent, used solar showers, drank water from a local spring, ate local food, composted food scraps, and spent long periods of time in the fields and forests.

Attendees at camp also took part in three different aspects of fieldwork during the camp. On Thursday May 24, eighteen people went up in small planes to view the devastation from mountaintop removal, clearcuts, and massive developments with volunteer pilots from Southwings. On Saturday May 26, about a dozen people in teams of two carried out an extensive listening project to hear from coalfield residents about their lives and the effects of mining and clear cuts on their land, homes, and communities. On Sunday May 27, about a dozen people went out to collect water samples and do stream monitoring as part of an on-going water testing project.

A significant number of people from camp also left on Saturday May 26 to counter-protest a rally in nearby Knoxville, called by white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and other hate groups. Many MJS activists debuted as the "Coup Clutz Clowns" and made a general mockery of the whole spectacle (see related article on the Asheville IMC).

Throughout the week, volunteer chefs and cooks prepared excellent meals for all attendees. Each evening and many afternoons brought great live music from Mountain Women Rising and bands Here's to the Long Haul and The Jake Leg Stompers around campfires and on the temporary stage erected specifically for the camp.

At the end of the week, most people gave strong endorsements of the people, content, food, activities, and facilities of the camp. An inspiring sense of motivation, joy, hope and determination radiated throughout the end of camp. Now, students, activists, and organizers continue the long, hard work of stopping mountaintop removal, changing national energy policy, creating change in our communities, and spreading the word of resistance from Appalachia.

For more information, visit: http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org

Volunteers, activists, scholars, videographers, musicians, journalists, people of faith, ecologists, nature-lovers, farmers, photographers, hikers, fishermen, hunters, poets, artists, adventurers, climbers, and dreamers are still needed to work for the mountains this summer in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia with many of the organizations listed above. On-going projects include: listening projects, water monitoring, mine permit review, community organizing, media, event planning, outreach, and more. Contact us through the web site.