MORE ON THE DOMINION POWER PLANT PROPOSED FOR WISE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Today I received an email message from John Bolton, M.D., a Southwest Virginia expatriate living in California. Much of his family remains in the St. Paul/Castlewood community which straddles the border between Wise and Russell Counties. I have reprinted below what Dr. Bolton has to say about the electric plant which Dominion Power proposes to build in Wise County. I welcome any opinions or insights about this hugely important issue, which will affect the region for generations to come.

April


The rape of Appalachia began in the late 1800's when wealthy entrepreneurs bought up the area's mineral rights for 25 cents or less per acre. This was possible after they had bribed the state legislatures to authorize the new "broad form" deed which allowed the mineral rights to be sold separately from the surface rights. It was only after this that the railroads were built, and the mining of Appalachian coal began.

The shaft mines employed thousands of miners and brought prosperity to the area, a prosperity which peaked in the 1950's. One after the other, the shaft mines began closing. Today, only a few remain active. Now, strip mining and mountain top removal mining allow wholesale destruction of the environment while employing only a handful of workers to harvest the exposed coal seams.

Unless citizens protest, the rape of the land will continue with unchecked strip mining, little or no restoration of stripped areas, mountain top destruction, holler fills, polluted water, and polluted air. My hometown of St. Paul, VA, could be be choked by rock and coal dust from thousands of trucks carrying waste coal from the old shaft mine gob piles in Russell County through the center of the town to the Virginia City plant two miles away.

If you think that having a coal fired power plant next door to your town will be an asset, drive up to what is left of the community of South Clinchfield,VA, in the shadow of AEP's Clinch River (Carbo) plant. Talk to the residents as I have. Listen to their stories of fumes from the smokestack flooding down to ground level when a cool night brings a temperature inversion. Hear how dust from the trucks coats the skin of their infants and blackens their bath water as if they had been working in the mines. Does it also fill their lungs? Sadly, only time will tell. I do not think that "black lung" benefits will be available to neighborhood children or adults who will be forced breathe rock and coal dust from the waste coal trucks. Add to this the fumes from a coal fired power plant and confine them in the small bowl that contains the town of St Paul. This could be a true witch's brew.

Please sign this petition and pass the link along to family and friends. We need to work together to save the air, water, and land of the Appalachian Mountains. http://www.samsva.org/?page_id

Thanks,
John Bolton, MD

Proposed Dominion Power Plant: Economic Boon or Polluting Menace?

The first lesson I ever remember getting in economics and politics came from my Dad, whose Eastern Kentucky family had suffered greatly during The Great Depression. He was a big fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he never pretended to be objective about things when it came to his views on politcs (or anything else for that matter). When I was in elementary school in the 1960's and Lyndon Johnson was running for president, I asked my dad what the difference was between a Republican and a Democrat. Without hesitation, he replied something to the effect that Democrats wanted to help the regular people and Republicans wanted to only help rich people, while letting small remnants of that help "trickle down" to all the rest of us. I must admit this shaped my political views in large part during my growing up years, and I resented any notion that "trickle down" economics was a good thing. As I grew up I learned it was more complicated than that.

In my adulthood I moved to the city and joined the real world of Corporate America for a time. As part of the corporate world I saw first hand that job creation could be a good thing for regular people even if corporations were only operating in their own self interest. So I must admit that when I heard a couple of years ago that Dominion Power was considering spending millions or even billions of dollars on a "clean coal" burning power plant in Wise County, Virginia my first reaction was utter excitement and enthusiasm. I have watched with dismay over the past 30 years the degradation that comes from a struggling economy in the little town of Saint Paul where I grew up many years ago. I haven't lived there since 1975, but I like to visit when I can. It is sad to see that the storefronts that in my childhood held displays of silver tea services and fancy ladies silk scarves are now all boarded over, or convey an invitation to the pool hall or second hand store within. Communities that are dependent on the coal industry are like that, with their fortunes waxing and waning depending upon the plans and successes of their benefactors. It's an unhealthy symbiotic arrangement for a community's long term growth and well being.

The local folks are working on revitalizing downtown Saint Paul, but I think that everyone would admit that without a sustainable source of jobs creating ongoing revenue for the area, revitalization will not last. Supposedly the power plant will not only provide needed jobs at the plant itself, it will also help the coal industry because according to what I've been told, Virginia coal is required to be used as its fuel source. But I also heard some grumblings last year that while hundreds of workers will be needed to build the plant, the number of jobs that the plant will provide long term is a fraction of the number of workers needed for its construction. Hmmmm . . . There will be lots of factors to digest it would seem to develop a conclusive opinion.

Adopting a firm opinion is also complicated by the fact that I'm also one of the biggest tree huggers you'll ever meet, and have been a card carrying member of the Sierra Club for decades. I've dragged my children all over this country to visit America's amazing National Parks system, and I can attest that until you've sat on the banks of Jenny Lake and looked up at the snow capped tops of the Grand Teton Mountains, you haven't really lived at all. So I am torn, especially when I received an email yesterday authored by an Appalachian ex-pat like myself, who lives in Mill Valley, California. This California man is a cousin of one of my dearest friends (who still lives in St. Paul) and is an Episcopal priest. From his home on the West Coast, it seems that he's gone on a one man crusade against the power plant, and what it might do to spoil the natural beauty and environmental soundness of his native Southwest Virginia. I've gotten emails from him about the plant before, but this email announced that a group calling itself the Energy Justice Network plans to hold a protest on Monday at Dominion Power here in Richmond in opposition to the proposed plant.

The message about the protest was addressed to "all mountain lovers, energy activists, students, electricity consumers, and caring people!" While I consider myself to be part of most of those groups, I'm not convinced that a protest is an effective or wise tool to use at this point. The message also states that "[t]here is no such thing as 'clean' coal. Coal's dirty when you dig it, dirty when you prep it for and haul it to market, dirty when you burn it, dirty when you dispose of the ash, and it sure dirties up politics!" I guess my gut feeling is that it would be of no use to protest at Dominion even if I decided I was against the plant. It seems to me that if the group wants to be heard they should have contacted their elected officials to express their concerns. But I can relate to their feelings of frustration and maybe they just want to protest to make themselves feel better, and that's o.k. I guess. I share many of their concerns, and I wonder if as a matter of policy we want to continue our reliance on fossil fuels in general. I'm also very, very troubled about the pollution that will be caused by the plant. But I want to support efforts to jump start the economy of Appalachian Virginia.

When I was practicing law in Kentucky, I once represented one of the nation's largest manufacturers of baseball bats. I loved visiting their factory. It was squeaky clean and brightly lit and the workers were all fiercely proud of the product they were producing. Even though many were assisted by machinery, they were all highly skilled craftspeople who loved what they did. The only byproduct of their work were piles of extremely fragrant shavings of Northern White Ash, which caused no harm to the environment upon disposal. So I found myself thinking today about the baseball bat industry, and how nice it would be if we could find a nice nonpolluting industry to help Southwest Virginia. I'd love it if my native region could get a permanent divorce from the coal industry, as it has been a battered spouse in its marriage with Big Coal for generations.

But I'd also like to see the store fronts of Saint Paul bustling again. In my dreams I can walk along its main street on the sidewalk and look at all the pretty things that are in the windows, just like in my childhood. In these visions, its main business district will always have a Western Auto, a Norton Floral Shop, a Woolworth's and a Willis Department Store instead of empty storefronts. I wish someone could find a way to make this happen without also making a big ugly mess. In my dreams someone besides Big Power and Big Coal will come a courtin' the Perty Miss Southwest Virginia. But if no one else comes, perhaps a less than perfect marriage might be better than her continuing to be an economic spinster.

April A. Cain is an attorney, writer and mother living in Richmond, Virginia. She is a native of Saint Paul, Virginia (Wise County) in far Southwest Virginia

New Appalachian Art Form: Acid Mine Drainage Tie-Dying

The ninth annual Clinch River Days Festival was held the first weekend in June in Saint Paul, Virginia and according to all reports it was a rousing success. There were juried art and photography exhibitions, singing competitions, canoe rides on the Clinch River, and according to the CRDF website there were wine tastings, games, amusements and food vendors among many other activities.

But this week's Clinch Valley Times has an interesting report by Chris Green of the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable about a new activity which took place this year: tie dying t-shirts with Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Mr. Green reports that the "craft" of AMD tie dying was used to raise awareness of the serious threat to water quality presented by AMD emanating from abandoned coal mine sites, and the need for AMD treatments to improve water quality in affected waterways. Some readers might already be aware that the Clinch River is one of the most unique bodies of water in North America, being home to mussels found no where else in the world.

Although the creation of tie dyed shirts with AMD is a unique and clever "craft", let's hope that ways are found to render this art form, and the poison which is used in the process of its creation, things of the past. If you'd like to learn more about the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable, visit them at http://www.uppertnriver.org/.

The Clinch River Festival: A Weekend of Fun in the Mountains

If you can arrange to visit Saint Paul, Virginia on June 1,2 or 3, you're sure to have fun at the Ninth Annual Clinch River Days Festival, featuring among other things:

River and Railroad Lore and History

Art and Photography

Carnival Rides and Games

Symphony and Bluegrass

Samplings from Local Vineyards

Regional Appalachian Cuisine


If you need more information, here's a link to their website:

http://www.clinchriverfestival.com/

Weekend Five: Saint Paul, Virginia

St. Paul, Virginia's (Old) Railroad Station
(Image from one of Appalachia's greatest cultural resources, the Virginia Tech Imagebase - donate money and visit often)

Well, I'm back. After the most insane couple months of my life (my wedding, my brother's wedding, at least five days in four states, creating a new class and dare we forget it, the dissertation), some regularity is beginning to dawn on me. Crossing fingers, knocking on wood, and so forth, forever. Combine that with my work to switch us here at the ol' HS over to Blogger 2.0 and throw up our third redesign (pretty good for being around since last spring) and I have been AWOL. Apologies and no more excuses.

Well, over my interminable insanity a self-described "Appalachian ex-pat," currently living in the capital of the Old Dominion has been writing me, sending me posts that warrant real attention here. So, after only a month of hemming and hawing, well, I'm gonna' post 'm. Her name is April Cain, she's originally from one of my favorite little towns (St. Paul, Virginia) and we've invited her to be a contributor, though she is a busy woman - she already posts regularly at two other interesting blogs - Mothers With Attitude and The Women's Post. Regardless, April, keep sending the links - for all our procrastination, we really are listing.

Clinch River Festival: This is one of those sites which describes itself better than I ever could. . . and so, the quote:

Every year on the first Saturday in June, the town of St. Paul, Virginia comes alive with the flavors of the region during Clinch River Days.

The ninth annual Clinch River Days Festival will be held on June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 2007.

Located along the scenic Clinch River, St. Paul shows off its uniqueness, blending River and Railroad Lore and History, Art and Photography, Carnival Rides and Games, Symphony and Bluegrass, Samplings from Local Vineyards, and Regional Appalachian Cuisine.

Most of all, Clinch River Days is a weekend of fun in the mountains, celebrating a Scenic River that is home to rare and endangered fresh water mussels, more varieties of fish than any river in Virginia, and miles of free-flowing canoeing.

And on the first Saturday in June, St. Paul is home to festival-goers who come to celebrate the Clinch River!

I think I'm free that weekend. . . hmmm.

Wetlands Estonoa: Appalachian wetlands, like wetlands everywhere, are, to be frank, under siege. They're difficult territories to manage properly, in part because even slight imbalances in their ecosystems leads to the profusion of life forms hazardous to humans (e.g. mosquitos), not to mention the fact that they are highly dependent on the quality of their surrounding biomes. Without them, however, water quality drops radically, not to mention issues of biodiversity as both a practical concern and a moral issue. Thus, I take my hat off to anyone who's willing to take on the often dirty and difficult jobs of helping maintain our wetlands. One such group of folks are the people over at Wetlands Estonoa. I want to quote you their history . . . consider:

During spring 1999, Appalachian Ecology student, Stevie Sabo chose to investigate a forgotten lake, Lake Estonoa. His project encompassed the lake’s history, present condition, and his desire to return it to its pristine self. During the fall of 1999, Nikki Buffalow adopted the project and identified the lake as a wetlands through the process of the Corps of Engineers. Based upon these findings Estonoa could not be returned to the pristine lake of the past. Nikki’s quest to restore the newly named wetlands began to gain interest and soon became a project undertaken by the entire Appalachian Ecology and Physics class. Our goal as a team is to enhance our little corner of the world.

Cool enough, right? Well, perusing the grants and awards these folks have garnered, well, your eyebrows raise a little more - not bad for for a teeny town in the hills. If you're in the area and looking to volunteer, I say give 'm a holler.

St. Paul, Virginia: St. Paul is tiny and it is fantastic. . . . some of the nicest people I ever met (including one of my roommates in college) are from there. If you're headed to deep southwestern Virginia (Lebanon, Big Stone Gap, Wise, or Norton, for instance), it is definitely worth an hour of your time for a drive or a walk. All that said, this site drops serious knowledge about St. Paul - specifically it has a series of links to government, religious, business, educational, and NGO sites

"Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word": An essay The Women's Post on the issue of formal racial reconciliation in the South . . . food for thought and particularly interesting to me, having read quite a bit lately on the effectiveness of formal reconciliation efforts in former British and German colonies of southern Africa.

I wanted to add one more site to April's suggestions. . . it's a doozy.

A River Runs Through It: St. Paul, Virginia: Revitalizing a small community through economic development and environmental awareness: This review of St. Paul (provided by the Urban Affairs & Planning program at Virginia Tech) is specifically a brief examination of St. Paul's efforts to renew its local environment while economically developing, specifically as an example for other communities.