Photo by Antrim Caskey
As expected, a Raleigh County judge has ordered a halt to further protests against several Massey Energy mountaintop removal operations. Circuit Judge Robert Burnside issued the preliminary injunction after two days of hearings in Beckley.
But activists said today their fight — and their peaceful civil disobedience actions — will continue.
Burnside ruled from the bench, and a written order has not yet been issued. But I talked with Roger Forman, attorney for the protesters, this morning and he filled me in on what Burnside has done.
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Photo by Antrim Caskey.
The preliminary injunction blocks further protests on mine sites of Alex Energy (dba as Edwight Mining Company), Independence Coal Co., and Marfork Coal Co. It does not — as the earlier temporary restraining order did — extend to all Massey Energy affiliate operations. And it does not — as the TRO also did –Â extend beyond Burnside’s jurisdiction in Raleigh County.
One important thing for readers to note: This is NOT a criminal case in which protesters have been charged with trespassing. Those are separate proceedings. Burnside is ruling in a civil lawsuit filed by Massey Energy subsidiaries to try to get a judge to block future protests, invoke more serious punishment (civil contempt, with fines or jail time) for future protesters, and require the State Police to handle future protests in specific ways.
Mountaintop removal protesters Charles Suggs, Matt Noerpel, Joseph Gorman, Cassandra Rice and Matthew Louis-Rosenberg wait in the courtroom for Judge Burnside to come back with his ruling. Photo by Antrim Caskey.
But, Burnside did say he would apply his injunction to future protesters who, while not named in any of the previous court papers, act in concert or in association with the protesters named in the injunction. It remains to be seen how broad that language will be once the judge enters a written order.
Also, Burnside refused to drop content of court citations for photojournalist Antrim Caskey and four protesters. Burnside had held them in contempt of his previous TRO for a mid-April protest action. Caskey had been enjoined in the TRO after she went onto mine property to photograph earlier civil disobedience actions. None of the four protesters were named in the TRO, but they and Caskey were held in contempt of the order because they alerted her to their planned protest and she went along to document it. Caskey and the protesters have been fined $500 each.
Burnside also indicated he would include both Caskey and another journalist, Chad Stevens, as named parties specifically enjoined by his preliminary injunction.
Massey lawyer Sam Brock. Photo by Antrim Caskey.
In a bit of a win for the activists, Burnside refused a request by lawyers for Massey that State Police be instructed to confiscate cameras, film and memory cards from cameras in the possession of any future protesters.
Still, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has expressed concern about applying these sorts of court injunctions to journalists, and it seems likely this will be one avenue of appeal.
This morning, Climate Ground Zero organizer Mike Roselle said he didn’t think Judge Burnside gave activists a chance to argue their case, by presenting evidence about the impacts of mountaintop removal and showing that other methods of trying to halt the practice hadn’t worked.
“It was a gag order,” Roselle said.
Roselle also predicted the peaceful civil disobedience campaign to shut down mining operations and call more attention to mountaintop removal would not end.
“This isn’t over,” Roselle said. “As far as deterring us, we were well aware of the risks we faced before we started.”
An appeal is also likely, so stay tuned …
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My relatives rest in a cemetery in Marfork–I visit that cemetery at least once a year. I drive to the guard shack -read and sign the Hazard Training card and then I drive right through the preparation plant, the synfuel plant and the loading facility to the cemetery without any other training–with out hard hats or safety glasses. So much for the pretense of the extensive safety training to get on mine property.
If not for the protests and civil disobedience of brave people like these in the past–we women would not have the right to vote. Thank you Susan B. Anthony.
Thank you Climate Ground Zero for your sacrifices.
Folks,
So everyone knows, I have removed a comment by reader JW because it contained name-calling, which as you know is not allowed on Coal Tattoo.
Because of that, I have also removed all comments that responded to JW — because without JW’s comment they don’t make much sense.
Please, I know that these are heated issues that everyone feels very strongly about — but try to refrain from name calling. Disagree without being disagreeable.
Ken.
Im sure this is a courtesy extended to folks so they may visit family cemeteries unfettered as Im confidant they dont exit their vehicle en route.
Where can I find more of Antrim Caskey’s interesting photographs?
Apologies for not commenting directly on this post.
Michael,
I’ve asked Antrim to comment, and provide whatever link she’d like for readers to see more of her photos.
I can tell you that more of her stuff is available at these two sites:
http://climategroundzero.org/
and
http://www.mountainjustice.org/
Ken.
I can personally attest that I have reported surface mining violations to every agency that has enforcement authority pertaining to surface mining. Enforcement of surface mining laws is basically non-existent. If a violation is issued, it is generally appealed, and whatever small penalty that may have been imposed is either greatly reduced or rescinded. There is even a case when a boundary map was extended to include a larger original surface mining boundary that would allow Massey to build a coal load-out silo behind Marsh Fork Elementary School. The state surface mine board and the court contended that an out of the blue mysteriously found boundary marker discovered by Massey verified the stretched map.
The coal industry controls our state, everyone knows that. If we are to bring about change that protects the people that live below these massive and dangerous mtr sites (and I am one of those) we must be willing to create a situation so great that Government must address the issue. Although mountaintop removal is an environmental issue, it is much much more than that. It is a human rights issue. It is a constitutional issue as well. Equal protection under the law, by the law is afforded to all Americans. Martin Luther King was forced to break the law also because government did not enforce that same equal protection under the constitution. “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal†and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.†~Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,†Why We Can’t Wait, 1963
Peaceful non violent civil disobedience is not only called for at this time, but it is absolutely necessary; our democracy is at issue.
“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.†Martin Luther King.
hi michael,
thank you for your comment.
you can see more of my work here:
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/6288
http://www.antrim-new.com
http://www.antrimcaskey.com
and look out for the next issue of Orion Magazine too, should be the July/August 2009 issue
thank you for your interest!
antrim caskey
Claiming that MTR is a human rights issue? Clearly you have never seen a real human rights issue. Your examples are insulting to those that opposed segrigation and the rise of Facisim. While you and the vocal minority, that has invaded West Virginia, may feel that MTR is a human rights issue, let me assure you that very, very few share this view.
I would like to hear what you all plan to do with the unemployed workers, when MTR mines are shut down, and the loss of tax base, when coal companies are forced to move out. Those tax dollars go to schools, roads, and other governmental functions and without that large tax bases, West Virginians are going to have to make very difficult budget cuts, that no one wants to make.
Jon, let me assure you, mountaintop removal mining is a human rights issue. The United Nations, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, declares “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being… including clear water and air.” The coal industry is polluting the water and air of West Virginia and Appalachia. You need water and air for survival, you do not need electricity. Of course, I am not saying we should not pursue electric energy… but we must find a better way to do. Risking our already scarce fresh water supply is no longer an option.
Also, I encourage you to research the West Virginia economy more carefully. Walmart employs more West Virginians than the coal industry and the state is one of the poorest. Coal is a multi-billion dollar industry and West Virginia is decaying for it. King Coal pays no taxes. West Virginia is third world America because the coal industry has been colonizing it for decades. Much like many third world countries, we are poor because we are rich (in minerals). This is a human rights issue, above all else.
Bo’s comments and the quotes from MLK Jr. are very interesting … I thought folks might like to review the entire text of the Letter from a Birmingham Jail — It’s available online here:
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
One thing I find interesting, and Bo didn’t quote this part, is that King also wrote:
“I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy.”
That came right before this part:
“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”
If you haven’t read it, you should take the time to do so.
Ken.
Not for the sake of argument, but to answer Jon’s comment that I have never seen a real human rights issue, the fact of the matter is that I have. I spent 13 plus months in the northern highlands of South Viet Nam. I witnessed many human rights abuses, and now I and others that live directly below these massive mtr sites are being forced to experience just what it means to be denied those rights. I don’t begrudge anyone to have a job, but absolutely nothing justifies anyone to benefit at the expense of jeopardizing another human beings safety and their right to clean air and clean water. I’m sorry, but that is the bottom line.
The WV mining industry makes up but 9 percent of our states economy. We need to move out of the dark ages and into the clean energy market. That will create new good paying jobs for not only people like Jon, but their children as well. Other states are moving in that direction. The coal industry is a declining market and it is a huge mistake for any of us to think the current downturn is a temporary trend. It is being phased out and replaced by wind and solar and other forms of energy. Some people are afraid to let go, but we must let go in order to survive.
I exit my car at the cemetery “pathway” (a foot path on the side of a hill) which is located at the crossroads/Y of 2 haul roads with coal trucks flying up and down the path on both sides-and with a conveyer belt located close as well. I could exit mycar at any time on my way to the cemetery–but I don’t. My point is that the strict safety requirements that was proclaimed in Judge Burnside’s court room is not uniform and not always true.
[...] the contempt charges and the fines are reinstated, The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. reported on the paper’s “Coal Tattoo” [...]
Bernice, King Coal does pay taxes. The employees of coal companies pay taxes. While I would be interested in seeing your statistics, 9% of anything is a large portion.
Secondly, employees of coal companies get better benefits (including insurance) and much higher pay than empolyees of Wal Mart. This isn’t to take away from the employees of Wal Mart, it is just stating the facts.
Bo, while I certainly appreciate your service and your experiences in Vietnam. Again to compares the horrors of Vietnam and Southern West Virginia is laughable.
And again I raise the point of what West Virginia is going to do to replace a large portion of their workforce, that either directly or indirectly works in the coal industry. No one is in favor of polluting the air and water, but some pollution is a collateral consequence of mechanization. Everyone loves using their computers, riding in cars, and other modern day innovations, but all these things require significant amounts of power. And until all power can be produced from clean sources, coal is necessary.
Coal is necessary, perhaps, in the short term. MTR coal is NOT.
I don’t see much point in a back and forth with Jon. I’ll just say this and be finished with it. Until you live beneath an mtr site and are exposed to silica dust from blasting, boulders rolling down the mountain towards your house, hearing the fly-rock hitting the trees above, watching the middle of the hollow slide in and down towards you, staying awake at night on alert when it rains for fear of the rock and mud rubble washing down to cover your home and family as they sleep, then you won’t understand what I mean about human rights issues. Article 3 of the United Nations Universal Declaration on human rights clearly reads, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” This right has been denied to those of us that live this nightmare. Only after other people repeatedly trespassed and I personally visited the Fed. Office of Surface Mining in DC did I get any response from any agency to protect my family from these abuses. The fed’s came here two months ago and when they saw what was happening above me they shut that portion of the site down. And now, as I write, the WV DEP is trying to figure a way to get that same portion of the mine site back to the same activities that placed our lives in danger. So, it is obvious to me that although the WV DEP is paid by our tax dollars, they really work in the interest of the coal industry, even at the cost of our lives. That is not laughable.
“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.”
With some slight paraphrasing of King’s words, we can see that what blacks faced in Alabama in the 1960s compares quite similarly with what mountaineers are facing in southern West Virginia.
What this country, especially West Virginia, needs is another Mother Jones. It’ s again time for what this most outrageous, courageous woman accomplished during the past century to be repeated. Every Ameican, especially Appalachians, should be well versed in the history of Mother Jone’s life. Two books I would recommend as required reading are “Mother Jones, the Coal Miner’s Angel” and “Mother Jones, the Most Dangerous Woman in America.” Dangerous, yes. Dangerous to all the coal companies who are destroying the enviroment. Another book well worth reading if one can bear the depression its reading evokes is the novel. “Strange as this Weather has Been.” This book ranks right up there with Denise Giardina’s “Storming Heaven” and “The Unquiet Earth. Folks, do some reading, studying and give serious consideration to what is happening today in the southern Appalachian mountains.
[...] Never Again? Judge Blocks Further Mine Protests (Coal Tattoo) [...]
Mary Lee, I don’t think Mother Jones would be standing by idlely while people tried to harm her boys, coal miners. Mother Jones defended coal miners. You people are are against coal companies and the people who will be harmed the most will be the poor old coal miner. Now we will mine the coal, so we can raise and educate our children, the way the regulators require us to surface or underground. Now one quote of old Mother Jones was ” When I get to heaven I’m going to tell God about West Virginia.” Wouldn’t she have alot tell him today.