Mountaintop Coal Removal

Local men join march against mountaintop coal removal

Participants in a march to preserve the site of a historic 1921 skirmish between union miners and coal company security forces near Blair Mountain, W.V., walk past a stream that they say is discolored by runoff from mountaintop removal mining. The march took place from June 6 through June 11. In addition to honoring the historic significance of the Blair Mountain conflict, marchers also sought to draw attention to what they perceive as environmental and cultural perils of mountaintop removal mining practices. (Photo courtesy of Brownie Carson)

June 24, 2011 - “I’m a Vietnam vet, and it reminded me of Agent Orange,” Carson said. “Once they blow these mountain tops off, the water’s undrinkable, the streams are polluted, the properties are devalued, the schools close.”

Carson, who now lives in Harpswell, gained prominence in Maine as the longtime executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a position from which he recently retired.

Retirement has not come quietly for Carson, however. Earlier this month, he joined Brunswick resident Henry Heyburn in an abruptly scheduled trip to West Virginia. There, the two men folded into a crowd of more than 250 activists who engaged in a five-day, 50-mile march on Blair Mountain, the site of a bloody 1921 labor conflict. Many marchers feared Blair Mountain would be destroyed for its coal. {read more}