Published: July 03, 2009 09:09 pm      

Our Readers Speak, Saturday, July 4, 2009

Local people are being used to gain attention



I am writing in response to the June 18 incident, where 14 protesters went to the MTR job near Edwight, and assaulted a Massey employee, and then four of them climbed to the top of a dragline. I can sum my feelings up in one word—idiots.

Local people are being used to gain attention for out of state organizations, so that they can raise money for themselves. These out of state organizations don’t care about us, or our mountains, this is a business to them. Some day, one of these protesters is going to assault the wrong operator. Or worse yet, those machines have very large blind spots, and one of them may accidentally get killed. Then whose fault will it be?

People are using their propaganda to spread lies about the destruction of the environment by surface mining; when in fact, water quality of Coal River has improved, in large part due to surface mining. That river is clear enough to see the toilet paper on the rocks. Oh yes, there is still some raw sewage that enters into Coal River. I wonder how many of these four inch pipes, and illegal septic systems, lead to the homes of these “environmental warriors.”

I grew up in western Raleigh County and I know for a fact that fish died in that river long before surface mining. The bad water came from illegal trash dumps, abandoned cars, old appliances, run off from very old abandoned deep mines, and people using old motor oil to control dust and kill weeds. All of these things led to the bad run off.

When an area is mined, these things are cleaned up and disposed of properly. When water goes through the core of a valley fill, it passes through sandstone, an excellent filter. The water is cleaner when it comes out than when it went in. I admit an active surface mine is ugly, just as your home is when you remodel. But, when it is reclaimed it is beautiful, and useable. As for wildlife, they love what is seeded back. Ask most hunters, they love to hunt reclaimed mines.

Please don’t be fooled by these out of town groups as they try to scare you with the myth of global warming. More and more scientists now believe that global warming does not exist, rather, the earth moves in cycles of heating and cooling. Even the scientists for these groups will tell you that there was a thing called the “ice age.” If this is true, then the earth was warming up long before fossil fuels were consumed. Who do they blame for that warm up?



Billy Treadway

Peterstown



Declare independence from the meat industry



Whatever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on the 4th of July were traffic jams and wayward fireworks?

According to the USDA’s meat and poultry Hotline, this year’s top threat is food poisoning by nasty E. coli and Salmonella bugs lurking in hamburgers and hot dogs at millions of backyard barbecues. The Hotline’s advice is to grill them longer and hotter. Of course, they don’t bother to mention that the high-temperature grilling that kills the bugs also forms lots of cancer-causing compounds.

Luckily, a bunch of enterprising food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious, and convenient, veggie burgers and soy dogs. These new foods don’t harbor nasty pathogens or cancer-causing compounds. They don’t even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs, or pesticides. And, they are available in the frozen food section of every supermarket.

This 4th of July offers a great opportunity to declare our independence from the meat industry and to share wholesome veggie burgers and soy dogs with our family and friends.



Bill Nerrett

Beckley