Word this morning is that one of the two anti-mountaintop removal tree-sitters is coming down from his perch high above a Massey Energy operation in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Climate Ground Zero announced that Nick Stocks (at left in above photo, looking down) planned to voluntarily end his protest and turn himself into the State Police. Fellow tree-sitter Laura Steepleton “remains in a neighboring tree with no immediate plans to come down,” the group said.
The protest at Massey’s Edwight Surface Mine is now a week old, and blasting at the operation appears to still be halted.
The announcement about Stocks did not explain the reasons for his move. I’m told he has a court date in Montana, but do not have any details of that situation. Stocks is expected to discuss his reasons himself once he descends from the tree.
But the move also comes as Massey and State Police are hoping to cut off supply lines to the protesters, as troopers arrest other environmental activists who trespass on company property to supply the tree-sitters. With only one tree-sitter, presumably it would be easier for ground support activists to keep her supplied.
Stocks issued a statement this morning that said:
To this day the DEP has acted as a thin, weak delegate for big coal in West Virginia. They have circumvented, sidestepped, dismissed and lied to communities and individuals who look to them for protections that ought to assure healthy children, safe drinking water and a continued existence in the valley. To this day they have not done their job to even the slightest degree. When the government fails in its obligation to protect its people and communities are made unsafe and unlivable, it is the responsibility of all concerned people to turn attention to that failure and do all in their capacity to ensure the safety of the community. If the DEP doesn’t do it, we must do it ourselves, and we will go beyond. We will stop the devastation of this mountain and protect the communities below. We will end mountaintop removal.
Climate Ground Zero’s announcement also said:
Stocks and Steepleton have endured 24-hour sleep deprivation tactics and the brandishing of a chainsaw. All day and all night Massey security personnel have flashed bright lights, sounded air horns, and banged loudly on metal buckets in an effort to prevent the tree sitters from getting any sleep. “The security guards’ actions with the lights and air horns are making the situation less safe,” Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice volunteer Charles Suggs said. “Depriving sleep from people who have to maintain safety systems to prevent a fatal fall endangers their lives.”
Climate Ground Zero also pointed out this story from over the weekend, describing a near-miss in which flyrock from a Floyd County strip mine damaged at least one home. We’ve talked before on Coal Tattoo about the dangers of large-scale blasting, and the importance of strict regulation of the practice.
The group also posted this YouTube video, which includes aerial footage of the protest site and some comments from Massey President Don Blankenship on MetroNews Talking radio show:
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