Reflections on Mission Trips to Appalachia

Andrea Trautwein and Lily Priel

Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church

July 29, 2007

Mountaintop removal uses giant earthmovers to strip away the forest, the topsoil and the two hundred feet of sandstone to reveal the coal seam – sometimes lowering the mountain by 500 feet to expose the coal. When the overburden is dislodged, it becomes spoil. Spoil that is dumped into the valleys below is no longer waste, but “fill.” All life forms in these valleys have been – or will be – displaced or killed by these practices.

While valleys are being filled, headwater streams are being buried. Over 1000 miles of streams have been permitted to be buried in valley fills (for scale, this is a greater distance than the length of the Ohio River). These headwater streams form the backbone of the area ecosystem. Disruption of groundwater and/or surface water interactions, by blasting, excavation, and valley fills, can pollute or dry up wells – sometimes many miles from a mining site. The effects on the Kentucky watershed include increases in conductivity, alkalinity, hardness, and sulfate and selenium concentrations downstream from mountaintop removal operations. We are poisoning wildlife, our environment and ourselves.

An Eastern Kentucky University study found that children in Letcher County suffer from an alarmingly high rate of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and shortness of breath that can all be traced back to sedimentation and dissolved minerals in their drinking water. Long-term effects can include bone damage, cancers of the digestive track, liver, kidney, and spleen failure. Erica Urise, who lives on Island Creek in Grapevine, Kentucky told Erik Reece, author of Lost Mountain, that she has to bathe her two-year-old daughter in contaminated water. “She loves baths,” Urise said, “but I can’t let her play in the tub with any toys that she might drink from. I have to give her a sippy cup full of juice so she won’t drink the water.”

We visited the art gallery of Jeff and Sharman Chapman-Crane in Eolia, Kentucky after our hike to Bad Branch Falls. Eager for some indoor plumbing, I made myself right at home. We gathered outside for lunch and I asked Sharman about the water. “Can you drink from your tap?” “No.” “Can you cook with water from your tap?” “No.” “Can you boil the water from your tap and THEN cook with it?” “No.” “So, to make soup, you have to buy the water for it?” “Yes.” While I was eating my sandwich, I kept noticing a smell of rotten eggs. It wasn’t until later, that I made the connection. The water that Jeff and Sharman can not drink was the water with which I washed my hands. Rotten eggs.

The people we met on our tour need us to tell their story.

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LILY:

Some things you notice about the people of Appalachia are that they are very nice. They are very welcoming as well, and always are eager to help you out. Some words I would choose to describe them would be caring, humble, hospitable and patient. Caring because they really seem to care about you and each other. Humble, because they are friendly and modest and they don’t seem to take anything for granted. Hospitable because they were so gracious and welcoming and it made Appalachia more pleasant. And patient, because the people that were working with us and helping us work took their time and got it right where some people might have rushed through their work. And, if you ever had a question, they were always there to help you.

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ANDREA:

As I sit at my computer, in my well lit, air-conditioned home, I struggle to understand the depth of this problem and the role I play in it. Topographical maps show that there are now enough flattened mountains in eastern Kentucky to set down the cities of Louisville and Lexington. In their “Statement on Mountaintop Removal” a group of Kentucky authors writes:

We realize that coal is an important part of our economy. However, coal can be mined in a more responsible way that respects the spirit of the land and its people. Out of greed, we have forsaken moral, aesthetic, and spiritual values. We have traded the futures of our children and grandchildren for cheap coal.

The mountains we saw on our tour need us to tell their story.

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LILY:

Some things that you notice when you spend time in Appalachia about the environment is the beauty. Also, you see how spacious it is, and how some people may say trees are green. But when you look at the mountains you see all shades of green, sometimes you see blue. Also, you’ll notice that the roads move with the mountains, not straight through them. The roads are very scenic, and are rarely interrupted by subdivisions, shopping centers and factories.