Thursday, November 6, 2008

purple mountain majesties?














Ok so we all know appalachia is beautiful, and I luckily was able to experience it in the Fall.  But there is this little thing called mountaintop removal that is occuring.  It's a new form of mining...you can read all about it on ilovemountains.org.  We were actually able to take a pic of it as we were driving into Kopperston.  There wasn't actually any mountaintop removal mining happening near our site.  Many of the West Virginians we spoke with (including one coal miner who worked underground)were against the bad effects of mountaintop removal, but they said that the higher levels of safety are definitely preferable.  In addition to the environmental problems that mountaintop removal cause, there are many other problems that are compromising the state of such a beautiful environment.  For one, many of the water systems, especially in rural areas are coming from contaminated sources.  According to our program director, many of the towns just don't care to talk about it because it is obviously not pleasant to hear the feces is floating in your water.  And changing the systems would cost them money they dont have.  In addition to these problems with water, there is a problem with trash removal and pickup.  As we were cleaning a backyard out and taking out trash for a man, we asked what day the garbage truck cam around to pick up trash.  The response we got was that it depended, sometimes he doesnt come, sometimes he wont take trash if the bag is too heavy, sometimes he will come at 7 in the morning, sometimes he will come at 7 in the evening, etc., etc.  Also, there was ABSOLUTELY NO RECYCLING.  Although Kopperston is in a rural area, the county/state should still allocate for regular trash pick up and recycling education and pickup.  Who knows, this maybe would even create a few more jobs.  I did some googling and it looks like last year the state did award Wyoming County 10,000$ for trash pickup, but it was to be allocated specifically for the pickup of abandoned mobile homes.  

It's sad, but when people are living along the poverty line, the environment is not going to be a top priority; it's just not.  So, again, a rehaul of the economy and labor market is needed in order for change in other sectors to take place.  

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