Author
jdc
2 min mp3
A mountain takeover early this morning by activists near Knoxville, Tennessee marks an escalation in the ongoing campaign of Mountain Justice Summer against 'mountaintop removal mining' - a campaign that has involved protests, marches and now, direct action.
Citizens from eastern Tennessee and other parts of Appalachia began a blockade this morning of a mining site on Zeb Mountain in Campbell County, Tennessee, a blockade in which people locked themselves to mining equipment, and at least one activist suspended himself from a fifteen-foot wooden tripod to block an access road to the mining site. The site is currently being mined by National Coal Company, using a type of mining known as "mountaintop removal mining", which destroys whole mountain ranges and creates valley fills that contaminate water supplies of nearby communities. This site marks one of the first mountaintop removal mine sites in Tennessee, and local citizens are attempting to stop this type of mining that scientists have estimated to have destroyed approximately 1,000 miles of streams and 500 square miles of land in West Virginia, and a similar amount in Eastern Kentucky.
Mountain Justice summer organizer Hillary Hosta:
"Mountaintop removal mining is one of the most destructive resource extraction practices happening anywhere on the planet - and it is harmful to workers -- these are some of the poorest communities in this country, and yet they are living on mountains of gold...So we're telling these companies you're destroying our mountains, you're blasting our homes, you're creating a toxic environment for our children, and we want you to behave responsibly in our communities."
This blockade marks an escalation of the campaign against National Coal in Tennessee, after law suits, petition campaigns, and protests outside National Coal's Knoxville offices have not succeeded in changing company policies since mining began on Zeb Mountain in early spring.
One of the locked down activists, Sage, of eastern Tennessee:
"These mountains are our homes, and they are being stolen and destroyed by companies like National Coal and this must be stopped. To put my body between the mountain and the companies' machines may be the only way to stop them"
At least nine of the locked down activists have been arrested so far, and a tripod was toppled by police and miners, injuring the protester perched upon it. National Coal representatives offered no comment on the matter.