Mountain Top Removal Road Show Visits Northern Kentucky

Last night members of the Northern Kentucky chapters of the Sierra Club and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth came together to bring Dave Cooper's Mountain Top Removal Roadshow to Northern Kentucky. Over 30 people came out to learn about the devastation unleashed in Appalachia from this extraction process.

Dave Cooper, who is a native of the region having grown up in Cincinnati, began by telling the listeners how he came to be so passionate about the issues of Mountain Top Removal. Understanding that many in the room have not had a chance to hear about, much less see, the devastation caused by mountain top removal.

Dave began the show by showing the people in the crowd the pristine environment that could characterize Appalachia, before explaining the process of mountain top removal. The presentation explained the process of mountain top removal, the destruction to the land, and the harm to the people.

When talking about the amount of force that coal companies use to perform mountain top removal mining, Dave Cooper, referring to the use of similar explosives as used in the infamous Oklahoma City bombing, quipped, "1,000 Oklahoma City bombs go off every day in Appalachia. That would be a big news story if it was Osama bin Laden dropping those in Appalachia every day."

During the discussion one attendee asked about the recent Hungarian spill, and asked how the Hungarian company was treated compared to the company responsible for the Martin County spill 10 years ago. Learning about the disparity between the two, member Jeff Hampton quipped, "When a spill happens in Hungary the responsible parties are arrested. In Kentucky and West Virginia, they may as well get bonuses."

The discussion created a sense of urgency, with Dave Cooper encouraging those in the audience to "quit accepting mediocrity... [Governor Steve Beshear] is not well informed of the issues regarding mountain top removal, or otherwise he wouldn't make comments like these."

Member Bill Cummins told the group about his experience boating in Johnson and Floyd County, saying, "I found a beautiful mountain lake in Paintsville by Paints Creek. No strip mining or anything there, 14 miles north of Floyd County. I took my boat down there, and stumbled into Floyd County. I was astonished at what had been done to the beauty of our state."