Comments on: Death by Coal in Prenter, WV

By: Sherry Young

Sherry Young — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:39:25 +0000

An article was sent to me from the Mpls Tribune. We moved here from Mn. I had to find out about the AWFUL water in Prenter from far away. It is hard to believe there is water out there like that. We had good water to drink in Mn. Shouldn't everyone be entitled to that???

By: Oddly coincidental

Oddly coincidental — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:00:46 +0000

Found the 98% of population gall bladder removal interesting.... I live in a neighborhood where so far 7 people in a small block area(about 25 homes) have had their gallbladders removed and 1 who had a ruptured appendix. Could these be the result of water contamination? Or just oddly coincidental? We do not live near any mining but do live on/near a granite quarry.

By: Hmmm

Hmmm — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:28:58 +0000

Well if the tree huggers would stay out the business of Southern West Virginians, we would be a whole lot better off. These people come into our area from places as farr of as California. They bring negative media attention to our communities and try to reak havoc on the coal companies. If these people only knew the truth to the matter is that the coal companies pay a lot of tax monies that help to fund schools, roads and other ammenities and coal companies keep many West Virginians employed and off of Welfare and other government handouts. So before you come into an area, you better make damn sure you are wanted by the majority of the people in the area, not just a few, redneck, liberal radicals that want to raise cain about anything and everything, such as the Coal River Mountain Watch who are based out of Whitesville, which by road is 15-20 miles away from Prenter and no one who is affiliated with this crap even lives there. So these people need to STFU and stay in CALI with the homosexuals.

By: Michelle Cantley Jackson

Michelle Cantley Jackson — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:43:10 +0000

Boone County, I have fond memories.And then there were the blasts. I lost my first family home. The blasting little by little shaking the foundation , The entire structure. 10 years old burnt to the ground!!!!I still own this propery, pay taxes, cant use it. The mine is closed,full of water, seeps out of solid rock.
The driest days its still wet. It runs out of my mountian.I PAY TAXES ON IT STILL.
GLAD I DIDNT HAVE TO DRINK FROM A WELL.But my father lives in Prenter.
SO I CARE!

By: colleen

colleen — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:12:25 +0000

thanks for spreading the word about prenter, jon!

another grassroots group to check out is the Prenter Water Fund, http://www.prenterwaterfund.org

jennifer - an undeniable trend in the transition from deep mining to strip mining to mountaintop removal has been the mechanization of the work, which leads to unemployment.
massey energy and it's CEO don blankenship are notorious for breaking up unions, and for employing one person in a family or neighborhood and using the need for that one job to keep everyone else silent. there have even been places that coal companies have written up depopulation plans for entire towns. they don't care about the people or land, they just want the feeling of power and the cold hard cash.
there are other things people could do, if the coal company wasn't intentionally keeping out meaningful, truly sustainable work.

By: Jon Booth

Jon Booth — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:28:49 +0000

the amount of coal miners in west virginia has dropped from 150,000 to less than 15,000 in the last 20 years.

By: Jennifer R.

Jennifer R. — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:09:13 +0000

I agree that the harm to Prenter's residents needs to stop, but the side effect of halting coal mining would be wide-spread unemployment, which is also not good for the town.

By: Social Democrat

Social Democrat — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:08:40 +0000

who the fuck cares?

@4:49

By: Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:49:12 +0000

Who is John Galt?

By: Marty

Marty — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:30:04 +0000

Well-written and incredibly informative! Thanks for putting this together, Jon.

I like that you pointed out that some of the most pristine waters in Appalachia bubble through coal seams (which act as carbon filters), but once we disturb the carbon matrix and mix things up, it becomes poison.

I think the water issue is the biggest argument against coal burning and extraction. We're literally sacrificing the most basic resource (for generations to come) for seemingly cheap energy. We gotta make this stop.

It would be good to have a followup on the work being done to stop these injections and sludge ponds. Perhaps highlight the efforts of grassroots groups working to raise awareness and apply pressure, including the Sludge Safety Project and OVEC.

Thanks again Jon! Keep up the good work.