Name: Ardis J
Photo Added: 02/16/2012 7:19 pm
Location: Idyllwild, CA USA
I spent my childhood summers with my grandparents in Prenter, WVA, a small mining town. It was a company town owned by the Red Parrot Coal Company.
The company owned everything: the general store, the gas station, the barber shop, the movie house and the pharmacy. They also had a complete monopoly on all pricing. They also owned all the houses.
I will never forget seeing the men return home from the mine. They were covered with black coal dust. They were so exhausted that they could barely walk to their homes. Many of those men suffered and died from Black Lung Disease. When they could no longer work (or died) their families were evicted from their homes.
In those days (in the forties and fifties) they were mining the deep mines. In recent times the companies have turned to strip mining, devastating the beautiful mountains and destroying the streams and the ecology of WVA.
They are still killing the miners with deadly explosions caused by the carelessness of the companies, the lack of truly looking out for the well-being of the workers.
There is no thing as "Clean Coal". It is a dirty, heartless business. It destroys the environment. This must STOP!
