Toxic West Virginia

Meredith Danluck is a New York artist, director, and all-around amazing person who has a killer collection of power tools. VBS bumped into her a few months ago and discovered that she has been working on a film in West Virginia, a sort of impressionistic account of the current environmental catastrophe in the Appalachian Mountains. Mining companies are destroying entire mountains in order to get at the coal inside them. Quickly and efficiently, the oldest mountain range in the world is being systematically obliterated. We sent Meredith and VBS correspondent Derrick Beckles to the hills and hollers of West Virginia to show us what the end of the world looks like.

VBS: How did you get involved in this West Virginia mining issue?
Meredith: This project began with my interest in Appalachian religion and these heavy demonstrations of faith like serpent handling, fire handling, poison drinking, faith healingx the whole extreme Pentecostal thing. I had a dream about Christina Aguilera speaking in tongues, and I was like, “Damn, that would be a really cool video.” I looked into it and the only place where it’s legal to handle serpents without restriction is in West Virginia. I started to think, “What’s so special about West Virginia?” And then through my research into it I was like, “West Virginia is fucked up.” 

To put it mildly.
I was seeing these images of blown out landscapes that looked like the moon. It looked like science fiction. Then I came across this woman, Maria Gunnoe, who is a community organizer. She gave me some phone numbers. The first people I met with were these two women who were hell-raisers in their town because they were getting coal dust dumped on their home from a processing plant. It was to the point where their clothes would be black. If you walked through the grass in their yard, your shoes would be black. Wipe the surface of their dining room table—just drag a cloth across it—and it comes up black.

If that’s falling every day through your closed door and windows, how much are you breathing in? I had to dig deeper.

Comments

[flamingpuppeteer1 from youtube]

Hello vbs,
I just want to say that yall are kicking ass!!!! This series has recently been featured on youtube and it is getting the word out. I would love it if you could download the other two episodes asap. I volunteer with a grassroots direct action movement called Mountain Justice Summer.org (MJS) and we are interested in having our organization's name added to the tags of your videos. We should collaborate on future media projects. Also have you considered placing these videos onto google video so that they may be downloaded. Thanks for your time and keep kicking ass!

I also volunteer with a local 501c3 non profit called United Mountain Defense. org as part MJS.
We have been doing outreach and education on the issue of mountaintop removal coal mining since 2004. Our organization is seeking a work-trade agreement in exchange for a property with paid utilities to house volunteers year round. Our volunteers go through an extensive screening process allowing us to only house the hardest workers. There would be at least two full time volunteers living on the property year round to make sure it stays in tip top shape. We are willing to do home improvement and landscaping as possible work trades or can offer many other skills as well. Your donation of rent and utilities can be written off for your taxes because of our 501c3 status. Donations are also tax deductable. Additionally we can make any land donations or loans tax deductable as well. We are searching for any property that is rent free with paid utilities and has at least one or multiple structures. Ideally your property would have electricity so that we could continue some of our volunteer projects including media and newspaper production. Also if the property had space to set up tents, a woodlot for winter firewood heating, a spring for clean drinking water, and was somewhat secluded or at the end of a dead end road that would be nice. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't match this whole list, just drop us a line and we will be more than happy to talk with you further.
We are also seeking volunteers to do or help provide the following items or services-DAT or digital audio recorders, GPS, chemical water testing equipment, office supplies, cars/trucks/4 wheelers/mortorcycles/dirtbikes/helmets, gas cards, cash, property in the coalfields or Knoxville, bicycle powered machinery/water pumps, gardening equipment, straw bales, concrete/quick crete, wood stoves, maul, axe, hand saw/ bow saw, pop up tent, trailer for hauling with hitch, high definition cameras, household appliances, solar panels/ battery bank, wind turbine, large glass doors or window panes for green house, vegetable seeds/organic heirloom, fruit trees, farm animals/feed, computer, laptop, desktop scanner, printer, chairs, file cabinets,climbing gear, camping gear, I heart Mountain stickers/ fundraiser. Our organization is in need of people with the following skills ASAP- grant writing, lobbyist,climbers, solar panel installing, wind farmers, scientists- aquatic ecologist, geologist,mycolgist,GIS/ Archview experience, economist, journalism, web designers, media editors- video, youtube, chemical and biological water monitoring, listening projects- oral history, scouting- driving on road and off road vehicles, outreach and education-tabling, fundraising, musicians- songwriters, chefs, coal miners,mycologists, lawyers, artists, and actors. Thanks for your time and truly all offers will be considered. till then, matt :)

[Matt]

This is an impressive piece. However, too many of my fellow West Virginians have no idea just how devastating mountain top removal is to our state. Thanks for educating.