Kayford Mountain, W. Va.—Citizens are outraged that a coal company may have bulldozed graves in a family cemetery dating from the 1700s. Catenary Coal, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Arch Coal, bulldozed a road at the Stover Cemetery, and has a blasting drill set up next to it. Stover Cemetery, located approximately 30 miles Southeast of Charleston, is surrounded by Catenary's mountaintop removal site on Kayford Mountain.
"From what we can see, in photos from the air and adjacent locations, it appears the road is well within the 100-foot buffer required by law," said Bo Webb, who has relatives buried in the cemetery. "We want to get into the cemetery to check, but the company is giving us the runaround. What are they trying to hide?"
"It looks like they've bulldozed part of the cemetery," said Larry Gibson, whose grandparents are buried in the cemetery. "They've sunk to a new low. This is just their retribution for all the recent news about mountaintop removal."
Since discovering the road through the cemetery last Friday, Gibson and Webb have been trying to gain access but have been turned away by Catenary Coal, the WV Department of Environmental Protection, and the State Police. With the help of the attorneys from the Appalachian Center for the Economy and Environment, Webb and Gibson, along with other family members and a photographer will be granted access today.
In the mountaintop removal process, coal companies clear-cut the forests and then blast the mountain. The remaining rubble is dumped into adjacent valleys and streams to form "valley fills." Recent federal court decisions have held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has improperly granted permits for valley fills.
"This is about the rights of a people to hold on to our heritage and our culture." Gibson said, "Is this country so desperate for electricity that a coal company can bulldoze our ancestors' graves? It's time we all stood against this industry's abuses."
Contacts: Larry Gibson (304) 542-1134; Coal River Mountain Watch (304) 854-2182
"From what we can see, in photos from the air and adjacent locations, it appears the road is well within the 100-foot buffer required by law," said Bo Webb, who has relatives buried in the cemetery. "We want to get into the cemetery to check, but the company is giving us the runaround. What are they trying to hide?"
"It looks like they've bulldozed part of the cemetery," said Larry Gibson, whose grandparents are buried in the cemetery. "They've sunk to a new low. This is just their retribution for all the recent news about mountaintop removal."
Since discovering the road through the cemetery last Friday, Gibson and Webb have been trying to gain access but have been turned away by Catenary Coal, the WV Department of Environmental Protection, and the State Police. With the help of the attorneys from the Appalachian Center for the Economy and Environment, Webb and Gibson, along with other family members and a photographer will be granted access today.
In the mountaintop removal process, coal companies clear-cut the forests and then blast the mountain. The remaining rubble is dumped into adjacent valleys and streams to form "valley fills." Recent federal court decisions have held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has improperly granted permits for valley fills.
"This is about the rights of a people to hold on to our heritage and our culture." Gibson said, "Is this country so desperate for electricity that a coal company can bulldoze our ancestors' graves? It's time we all stood against this industry's abuses."
Contacts: Larry Gibson (304) 542-1134; Coal River Mountain Watch (304) 854-2182
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