The Liberal Patriot

Suffer the Little Children at Marsh Fork Elementary school

Mary MacElveen - March 21, 2007

As outlined in the first amendment to the United States Constitution it states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

One only has to read this passage which can be read below and it rings true in many cases.

Our government no longer represents the People. Congressional candidates cannot get elected in today's information age unless they get major financing from wealthy special interests groups. Instead wealthy special interests groups now excessively influence many of our elected representatives and assure their repeated reelection.
Our democracy is rapidly transforming into a plutocracy—a permanent ruling class of congresspersons serving wealthy special interests groups.
This significantly harms the People in many and varied ways.

It is becoming clearer as each day goes on that our government does not wish to address these redress of grievances coming from the people. The first one was when millions around this country and globe told President Bush on February 15, 2003 that we did not agree with him or those that supported him through their votes to invade a guiltless country in Iraq .

It is becoming clearer as each day goes on that the only time these elected officials wish to hear from us is when it comes to getting them re-elected in which they will ask all of us for donations to their campaigns and that is directed to both sides of the political aisle. If they succeed in their re-election bid, they will turn a deaf ear to our redresses and do the bidding of special interest groups. We are nothing. We suffer the consequences when it comes to abhorrent legislation that goes against the will of the people. So, how is it that we can claim ourselves to be a democracy?

The reason I am bringing this forth today is that a man whose name is John Schwam who runs the LiberalPatriot.org brought to my attention the plight of a group of people living in Appalachia who only wish for their children to attend a school in which they are kept out of harms way. My friend John has worked tirelessly exposing the dangers of MTR (mountain top removal) that is presently going on in West Virginia at the hands of corporations such as Massey Energy. As I have read up on this subject, it is not only happening in West Virginia , but in other regions of this country.

As you will see in this one video they are forcefully removed when it comes to them expressing their grievances as it pertains to the “Marsh Fork Elementary, and increase the already dangerous levels of exposure to coal dust these children experience every day.”

John sent me these comments as you will hear the screams of one protestor he knows, “Watch Carefully and think about yourself being carried out like that and listen to her screams. Can you imagine the pain?” To answer John, no, I cannot. I ask those of you reading this; can you? Why does an American citizen have to scream out in pain? It is because those in government are not listening.

As you will view in this video and in this video you will see for yourself a woman explain why they are protesting the continued use of coal as an energy source and you will also see the indifference shown those protesting on behalf of Marsh Fork Elementary School . It seems that no one wishes to listen to them and that is directed towards those elected officials that have the power to do something.

In reading a report by D. Scott Simonton, PE, PhD he states of this toxic dust, “This dust has known health hazards, especially in the inhalation exposure route. I believe that the inhalation of this dust must be avoided and prevented. I believe that the occupants of Marsh Fork Elementary School are at risk from exposure to the dust emitted from the Goals Coal facility.”

As Al Gore through his Oscar winning film “An Inconvenient Truth” has been teaching us all how to care for planet Earth, you will be shocked to see these photos as Mother Earth is continually raped. The best way to describe these photos is as if one were looking at the landscape of the moon or a far away planet that is devoid of life itself. All of these patches of land are void of the greenery and the sludge that does come from the blasting of these mountains is toxic. It leaches into our waterways and the soil itself. Yet, these corporations get away with it and no one holds them accountable.

As written by the Sludge Safety Network they bring the reader’s attention to this fact that the “Massey Energy subsidiary, Independence Coal, is starting a 1,849 acre strip mine. How crazy to have blasting at this strip mine above an impoundment held by a violation-prone earthen dam--just 400 yards from an elementary school!” These are children who will suffer the consequences and placed in danger by Massey Energy. Would you wish for your child to attend such a school?

Dawn Seeburger, a scientist and owner of the Charleston area-based Environmental Resources and Consultants while citing that these particles are “ten microns” in size “will go into the lungs — and because they are so small, they will cause irreversible damage. In describing the size of a micron, she said several thousand of them are about the size of a period.”

Seeburger then went on to add, “If they are that small, they will not go to the mucus membranes and then be spit back up,” she said. “The little stuff goes deeper — and once it goes deeper, you can’t get that back out.” I am still trying to wrap my brain around that one. It makes me angry to know that little children are being treated this way. Yet, you do not see them on any major news broad cast. It is like these corporations and even the indifferent government are saying to them, suffer.

She also opined that while the children will not shows signs immediately, they are more at risk of developing illnesses due to the fact that their respiratory systems are still developing.

It is this passage that I want all of you to sit up and take notice of, “Maria Gunnoe, and Bob White resident and Coalfield Community Organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, expressed strong displeasure at the DEP and other state regulatory agencies for what she believed was failing to do their job to protect residents and their children. She said she also believed the wealth of coal companies influenced state officials’ decisions at the expense of the citizenry.” Now does that sound familiar as it pertains to other topics that we have all dealt with? From health care, to affordable drugs, it seems that the HMOs and big pharmaceutical companies make out at our expense and in this case the coal industry.

Why in this so called democracy are people dragged from their redress of grievances? This is insane at best and shows the criminality coming from the state legislators along with Massey Energy to put these children in danger. When John sent me these videos, I felt the need to express my anger by writing this piece so that all of you will know it.

While this one topic alone is not included in the hot topic issues in our recent history, it takes brave people like John Schwam to investigate it, uncover it and to call all of our attention to the plight of our fellow Americans. You do not see the major news outlets doing exposes on MTR. This is why I feel it imperative that this nation switches over to alternative energy means so that children at an elementary school are not put in harms way. Which leads me to ask; how are other children fairing at other schools around this nation who maybe under siege coming from other industries.

Just where are our elected officials when you need them most? After all, they are supposed to work for us and when we try to call attention to the plight of the people, all we get are those idiotic form letters back. By the way, it is you and me who are paying for that postage. As it stands, I am not a huge fan of our federal government and in the case here in New York State where hospital cuts will be made. Once again, the people are royally screwed.

It angers me that residents have to protest on the behalf of their children’s safety and their right to a quality of life free from illnesses caused by the coal industry. It should be that corrective measures are taken immediately instead of letting companies such as Massey Energy continue to threaten the lives of our children.

A massive dragline, dwarfed by the huge scale of the operation, at work
on a mountaintop removal operation near Kayford Mountain , W.Va Photo by Vivian Stockman, Oct. 19, 2003

I suspect that other injustices are occurring across this nation at the hands of these corporations in which not only children are being placed in danger, but the weak and the powerless and yet no one hears them. No one hears the call coming from ‘we the people’. One should not have to be dragged away in any protest. That only occurs when the government no longer wishes to do right by the American people.

Author’s note: Please feel free to write me concerning this article: xmjmac@optonline.net

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