By Courtney D. Clark
Register-Herald Reporter
BECKLEY — A federal judge has extended to 5:30 p.m. Friday a temporary restraining order that bars five environmentalists from the property of Marfork Coal Co. The order was set to expire at 3 p.m. today.
U.S. District Judge Irene Berger heard testimony in Beckley federal court Tuesday to make permanent the TRO that bars David Aaron Smith, Amber Nitchman, Eric Blevins, Joshua Francisco Graupera and Isabelle Rozendaal from the company’s properties.
The initial restraining order was issued following the defendants’ nine-day tree-sitting action, beginning Jan. 21 at Marfork’s Beetree mine, and was also extended previously on Feb. 3.
After listening to testimony Tuesday, Berger said first said she would issue an opinion today before the temporary order was scheduled to expire.
In addition to the defendants listed, the order covers their agents, lawyers and Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice.
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Recounting last month’s protest, Michael Bays, Marfork’s director of security, said Rozendaal and Graupera were found Jan. 21 sitting at the base of the trees.
“They were taken away that day,” Bays explained Tuesday. “The other three refused to come down.”
He added Smith came down Jan. 25, but Nitchman and Blevins did not leave the trees until Jan. 29.
Defense attorney Tom Rist responded by stating his clients were “peaceful and polite,” and Marfork employees intentionally made noises, blaring horns to keep them awake.
As Rist continued, he said the court should consider the best interest of the public, but according to Berger, “the legal merits of the case do not have to do with public opinion.”
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Chris Blanchard, president of Marfork Coal, a subsidiary of Massey Energy, said his biggest issue was safety, but Marfork also endured four days of interrupted production.
“We are talking about a relatively small surface mine,” he said, “so there was a loss of productivity for all equipment. We won’t be able to fully quantify that loss.”
Several people had to be sent home and were not paid for time off, he added.
Protesters had argued the incident did not cause sufficient monetary damages to Massey; however, Blanchard said it would be impossible for him to put a dollar figure on their loss when all focus was on one specific event for a period of nine days.
“To my knowledge, it’s the longest trespass to date,” he said.
Marfork representatives say there have been several instances of trespassing before and after the Jan. 21-29 incident, yet the focus of the trespassing has been the same — to stop mountaintop removal blasting on Beetree Mountain.
Coal River Mountain Watch director Julia Bonds, a resident of Rock Creek, claims the protests are giving people hope in the Coal River Valley.
“These young people are helping older people voice their concerns,” she said. “I believe it has served a purpose.”
The defense raised several public interest issues and environmental concerns which influenced the protests, but representatives from Marfork say all violations have been found and corrected.
— E-mail:cclark@register-herald.com
