Massey Energy just issued a statement that blasted “domestic terrorists” the company said “invaded” its Marfork Coal Co. offices. Here’s how the company described today’s protest of conditions at the company’s Brushy Fork impoundment:
Massey Energy Company reported that three criminals clad in fatigues and carrying chains invaded a company office and chained themselves to chairs in the lobby. A terrified receptionist went into shock and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.
Massey provided reporters with photos of the protesters (see one example above) and company CEO Don Blankenship was quoted as saying:
They are now trying to provoke Massey members into a confrontation. The Raleigh County Prosecutor needs to enforce the law and protect our hard working members. These criminals have been allowed to become more and more aggressive with little repercussion.
The release continued:
The West Virginia State Police arrested the three criminals, who each have a history of prior arrests. Pictures of the criminals can be found below. One of the criminals, Mike Roselle, was a founding member of EarthFirst!, which is considered by many to be a domestic terrorist group.
These domestic terrorists are part of an anti-coal group that wants to shut down mining in Appalachia and destroy West Virginia’s economy. Massey Energy is committed to providing good-paying jobs. As one of the state’s largest revenue sources, Massey coal funds our schools and communities.
Climate Ground Zero has posted on its Web site a “Citizens Arrest Warrant” that it says the protesters delivered to Marfork officials during today’s protest. Here’s part of what it said:
Since 1994, the Marfork Coal Company has committed over 100 documented permit violations. Violations include (but are not limited to) multiple counts of improper blasting procedure (e.g. failure to notify residents of right to request pre-blast survey, failure to properly monitor blasts, etc.), failure to control air pollution, failure to install and/or maintain drainage control systems, and conducting surface mining operations beyond permit limits.Marfork’s continued operations in such close proximity to both Marsh Fork Elementary and the Pettus Head Start Program are not only endangering, but also assaulting the children at these locations with coal dust and other particulates floating off of the mine sites owned by Marfork Coal.
I haven’t been able to get any information from the State Police yet about arrests. But The Associated Press report on today’s events notes it apparently violated a federal court temporary restraining order blocking such protests against Massey operations. A hearing on a permanent longer-term preliminary injunction is set for next Tuesday.
Updated:
AP reports that all three protesters were charged with trespassing and obstruction. All three were lodged in the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, with Roselle and Hamsher held on $5,000 cash bonds and Smyth held on $7,000 cash bond.
In addition, Climate Ground Zero has posted a response to Massey’s press release here on its Web site. Among other things, it says:
The three arrested today have committed themselves to nonviolence and had no intention of causing harm to any individual. We regret to hear of the condition of Marfork’s secretary and hope she recovers quickly. However, Hamsher said in a call from jail that she was still working when they were driven away by police.
The only thing destroying West Virginia’s economy is coal and its boom-and-bust cycle. Appalachian counties that produce coal are, across the board, poorer, unhealthier and see shorter lifespans than geographically similar Appalachian counties that don’t produce coal, according to this study. Two other studies, here and here, also show that the coal industry costs government more than it pays in taxes.
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Hey folks,
We had a number of silly comments from both sides yesterday, and I was busy with some breaking news here and didn’t have time to moderate what was increasingly becoming a name-calling match between Massey supporters and mountaintop removal opponents.
I’m going to open the comments back up on this post, but I think both sides have done enough name calling — no need for anyone to be calling anyone else terrorists.
If you want to discuss these protests, and what role — if any — they should or shouldn’t play in the mountaintop removal issue, that’s fine. If you want to discuss the merits of the arguments anti-mountaintop removal activists make about Massey’s operations, or Massey’s believe that what it does is good for the region, that’s fine too.
But absolutely no name-calling and let’s try to keep the discussion reasonable, calm and thoughtful. If you’re not interested in doing that, then please find yourself another blog to read.
Ken.
By the way, in case anybody missed it, here’s the AP report on this protest:
State Police charged three mountaintop removal mining activists with trespassing and obstruction Thursday after they defied a federal court order and invaded a Massey Energy office in southern West Virginia.
Climate Ground Zero founder Mike Roselle and associates Joseph Hamsher and Tom Smyth were taken to Raleigh County Magistrate Court for arraignment after they occupied the Marfork Coal Co. office near Pettus.
All three were lodged in the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, with Roselle and Hamsher held on $5,000 cash bonds and Smyth held on $7,000 cash bond.
Virginia-based Massey issued a statement offering a dramatic account of the morning protest, describing how “three criminals clad in fatigues and carrying chains invaded a company office and chained themselves to chairs in the lobby. A terrified receptionist went into shock and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.”
The claim about the secretary could not immediately be verified by State Police in Whitesville, who did not return repeated telephone messages.
Massey provided photographs showing Hamsher and Smyth in camouflage jackets and Roselle in a blue parka.
“They are now trying to provoke Massey members into a confrontation,” Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship said, labeling them “domestic terrorists.” He said they “are part of an anti-coal group that wants to shut down mining in Appalachia and destroy West Virginia’s economy.”
The activists presented what they called “a citizen’s arrest warrant” for Blankenship and Marfork President Christopher Blanchard, including a list of violations at the Marfork processing plant, the Bee Tree Surface Mine and the Brushy Fork sludge dam.
Climate Ground Zero, based in Rock Creek, is waging an ongoing campaign of civil disobedience as it tries to stop the particularly destructive form of Appalachian strip mining, and Massey is a main target.
Massey recently won a temporary restraining order barring all protesters from trespassing onto any coal company property in southern West Virginia, and it wants that ban imposed for good. A hearing to make the injunction permanent is set for Feb. 23 in Beckley before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger.
Massey’s lawsuit named five individuals involved in a recent tree-sitting protest, but the order goes further. Berger’s ruling extends it to officers, agents, lawyers and anyone working with the defendants, including Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice.
Massey has sued environmental activists in state courts as well, and similar restraining orders have been issued there.
Last year, Raleigh County Circuit Judge Robert Burnside issued one against several protesters, including Roselle, a veteran activist who co-founded Earth First! and the Rainforest Action Network.
But Roselle said he has no intention of backing down.
“I won’t stop breaking the law until they do,” he said.
And here’s another update from AP:
Massey Energy is formally accusing three environmentalists who occupied a southern West Virginia office of violating a federal restraining order.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Beckley, lawyers for Marfork Coal Co. complain Climate Ground Zero activists chained themselves to chairs in the lobby.
U.S. District Judge Irene Berger recently barred the protesters from trespassing on any property owned by Virginia-based Massey. A hearing to make that order permanent is set for Tuesday.
Mike Roselle of Rock Creek and Joseph Hamsher of Charleston are being held at the Southern Regional Jail on $5,000 cash bond. Thomas Smyth of White Plains, N.Y., has a $7,000 cash bond.
All are charged with trespassing, conspiracy and obstruction.
There seems to be a pattern of setting very high cash bonds for these incidents, at least for the Climate Ground Zero people, but I think all that succeeds in doing is make the WV justice system look punitive. But that’s just me.
I think calling people who chain themselves to chairs “terrorists” and equating people who hang banners to “suicide bombers” sets up a dangerous situation in which someone may again feel justified in using violence against pro-mountain/community activists. Victims of real terrorists would have a hard time accepting sitting in a chair or a tree as terrifying.
I’m @ a total loss – these people ARE BREAKING THE LAW!!!!…..They have been warned time and again that their continued actions will meet with more and more stern enforcement. This is no way to get your message across. They were trespassing on private property and continue to thumb their nose @ our courts. Sadly enough my fear is that this continued “in your face” style of “civil disobedience” will only lead to some sort of violent confrontation – God Forbid.
Traditionally, non-violent civil disobedience has been an extremely effective way to get a message across. Look at the attention generated by protestors, and their successes, contemporary and historic–Tea Party protests, felling the Berlin Wall, the civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, the end of the British Raj in India, and the Jesuits. In each case, conventional channels were deemed inadequate in addressing issues of social justice. And in each case, those who exerted violence against the peaceful live in infamy.
If I were a betting man, I’d say that someone who chains his body down to get a message across, who gives of his flesh for an idea, has two things going on inside his mind: it is a last recourse, and he believes in his message enough to perish.
JohnnyKilroy,
I certainly agree that these folks (the protesters) are steadfast in their beliefs. What I’m not so sure of is how their actions are going to “play in Peoria”, in this case Peoria being the southern coalfields of Southern West Virginia.
Vnxq809
Vnxq809,
Your question of how the protests play in the view of the general public is one I’ve thought a lot about — and I happen to know that folks in the more traditional environmental groups also think about.
I haven’t seen any public opinion surveys on the issue, and I’d be interested to know what they would show.
But it’s worth keeping in mind that the audience here is not just the coalfields of Southern West Virginia. For these protesters, the audience is nationwide, perhaps even around the world. Their goal is to stop mountaintop removal, and my understanding is that they believe the majority of Americans oppose it and will be moved to take action against it by these protests.
Are they right about that? I don’t know. But I just wanted to point out that their audience goes beyond Peoria.
Ken.
I guess Roselle can speak for himself (when he gets out of the joint) but I’m under the impression based on his blog comments that he and his group are interested in stopping the mining and burning of coal, not just MTM. His group is guilty of multiple violations of the law that represents a pattern of violations that require stricter enforcements. Apparently the illicit behavior is not being corrected so increasing penalties are required.
How all this plays out with public opinion would be interesting.
Just so we are clear, the following people in America’s history were considered to be lawbreakers:
Samuel Adams and the (real) Tea Party
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers in their quest to obtain independence
Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad
Suffragettes of many types over many years
Rosa Parks and many others who broke down the segregation barriers
I’m not saying these guys are George Washington. But they are engaged in civil disobedience, long regarded as a useful and even necessary tool to effect change or do what is right. This is not burning down a Hummer dealeship, or spiking logs. I think anyone with half a brain would agree that type of action is wrong and would lead to immoral violence. We’ve had enough of that in the coalfields in the past.
Casey, these actions are intended to protect the community and draw attention to the dangers posed by Massey Energy, headed by Don Blankenship. To use your words, “his group is guilty of multiple violations of the law that represents a pattern of violations that require stricter enforcements. Apparently the illicit behavior is not being corrected so increasing penalties are required.”
There’s plenty of evidence of that here http://apps.dep.wv.gov/WebApp/_dep/search/Permits/ViolationsDetailsQuery.cfm?permit_id=S301299&dep_office_id=OMR
and here http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2010/01/14/when-will-masseys-water-pollution-violations-stop/
I also believe in the right to non-violent protest and confrontation and take heart that both sides are willing to do jail time for their cause. CGZ members are already going to jail as the price of their protests. No doubt Massey and its executive officers would be equally enthusiastic about doing time and paying civil penalties should the slurry dam at Marfork fail.