West Va. Supreme Court Affirms Toxic Coal Silo as Wonderful Playground

West Va. Supreme Court Affirms Toxic Coal Silo as Wonderful Playground

by Jeff Biggers


While coal may now be the official rock of West Virginia, it might soon become the official school vegetable, too. Call it organic clean coal.

On the heels of being reprimanded by the US Supreme Court this week for allowing one of its Massey coal company-bankrolled justices to refuse to recuse himself on Massey coal-related court matters, the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision to allow the construction of another controversial coal silo within yards of the Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, West Virginia. The WV Supreme Court (this time without the recused justice) made their ruling on a very narrow technicality.

As always, Ken Ward has the full story at the Coal Tattoo blog.

According to Vernon Haltom of the Coal River Mountain Watch: "The West Virginia Supreme Court has once again proven that coal company profits outweigh law, science, justice, and basic human decency. The court has given Massey Energy the go-ahead to put more tons of fine coal dust in the air that children breathe every school day during their crucial development years. Placing a second coal silo within 300 feet of the school is a clear violation of the intent of the law, which is to protect the public. Now, more than ever, Governor Joe Manchin and the Raleigh County School Board must do everything in their extensive power and influence to get these kids a safe new school in their own community."

The Marsh Fork Elementary School might be the poster child for everything that is wrong about our failed mining policies: Only a few football fields downslope of a 2.8 billion gallon coal sludge impoundment, the school and its children are also subjected to the toxic coal dust within a football field of their playground.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/10-4

> On the heels of being reprimanded by the US Supreme Court this week
> for allowing one of its Massey coal company-bankrolled justices to
> refuse to recuse himself on Massey coal-related court matters, ...

This sort of shit is real Third-World corruption material.

:grr:

http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/docs/Spring09/34138.htm

I hate to say this, but the "very narrow technicality" seems to be the actual wording of the statute governing the granting of the permit, i.e. permits are to be granted within areas previously approved for such actions and clearly marked as such, in this case, an area clearly marked by markers since 1981. The 1981 markers had been within 300 feet of the School since 1981 and no one objected when the markers were first put down till the second silo was proposed.

The problem is the actual statute that does NOT consider dangers to the surrounding areas even if the danger area is clearly marked. This is something the state legislature has to fix not the courts.