Topic: Coal River Mountain

Coal river mountain has been the current mountaintop removal news story for the past few weeks due to the initiation of a mining site by Massey Energy. The reason it's so notable is because of the proposals to create a wind farm along the ridges instead of blasting it to pieces for coal. Studies have shown that the area has high wind potential, creating energy, jobs, and revenue in the same way that a strip mine would but without all the environmental damage and community health effects. Because of this potential for a much greener energy usage it had become somewhat of an icon in the movement against coal, and the initiation of the strip mine there just goes to show how much an influence the coal industry has on the American energy market, holding it back even where a path has been cleared to move forward. As of very recently the blasting has been halted, at least temporarily, so there may still be hope.

This mountain lies just south of Kayford where I visited, and the operation can be seen off in the distance from Larry Gibson's mountaintop. The Coal River itself, which runs through the valley, was named so because John Peter Salley discovered coal nearby and on its banks in 1749. To quote Judy Bonds who was interviewed in the film Coal Country, "If he had known what agony it would have caused, he’d have covered it up and kept his mouth shut."

Coal River mountain is the distant mountain, beyond the Kayford Mtn site in the foreground of the picture above.