"Wait Until You See What Our Coal Addiction Is Doing To West Virginia" (excellent photos)

[Petrushka]

11. Have you ever looked at West Virginia's flag?

Last edited Sat Mar 1, 2014, 07:03 AM - Edit history (1)

Notice that there's a miner and a farmer pictured on that flag, as if miners and farmers are (or were) of prime importance in West Virginia. But, are they in the least bit important?

In the county where I was born, thank God there are no mountaintop removal mines; but there are coal prep plants, slurry ponds and high-risk coal waste dams because, in my home country "back home", what's left of the Pittsburgh coal seam is still being mined underground. Actually, more and more underground coal is being mined using shield-supported longwall mining equipment which requires fewer and fewer miners. (Last I heard, it took 3 miners per shift to run a longwall face.)

When it comes to those who live on the surface above the mines, farmers went the way of dairies and subsistence farms that have disappeared "back home" . . . undermined and irresponsibly subsided by longwall mining, natural water sources and supplies are damaged and destroyed, meaning (among other things) you can't water cattle without water in the pasture.

So . . .

All over the State of West Virginia, the name of the game is long-term problems for the state and its people and short-term profits for out-of-state interests . . . and it's getting worse . . . especially now, with fracking added to the mix.