all:

another good site for information on this situation, which has received
very little  national press for some reason....
(hmmmm..... could it be that this area is populated by a large number
of folks who dwell in mobile homes and old rundown farmhouses??)

http://www.appalshop.org/cmi/

currently, documenters are braving hostile entities to travel into this
area....   they are photographing conditions, and interviewing residents--
many of whom are literally terrified to speak out, having expected the
National Guard at the very least, and having found themselves at the
mercy of coal company security forces when travelling to and from
their homes in the affected area...

these documenters are largely volunteers,
many of them are retired or students,
and are largely working out of their own pockets for gas and film....
if anyone would care to donate a small amount of money to help
defray these expenses   ($5 - $20 would be welcomed)
or if you need more information,  please contact Hilary at:

[log in to unmask]

and be sure to mention you are a pinhead  ;)

a letter to your representative to Congress expressing concern that the
area is being ignored by national agencies and officials, probably wouldn't
hurt either.....

thanks in advance
from  deb


----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Follett <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 11:05 AM
Subject: HLH & Sludge Disaster


> For those BP'rs that regret that Hilary Lambert Hopper is on sabbatical from
> the list... she is currently working with Sierra Club in Kentucky and as a
> result is neck deep in the coal sludge disaster. If you are not aware of what
> this is about then check out this website for graphics and links.
>
> http://www.geocities.com/kyriverpal/martincoky.html
>
> This is a weird scene in which the company that is responsible for the
> disaster has been given the role of taking care of the disaster -- including
> guarded roadblock checkpoints to keep out non-locals and the press. Health
> risks, corporate responsibility, environmental disaster, cover-up, BIG COAL
> (like BIG OIL), and the oddities of environmental politics. Overlay the
> history of the Kentucky coal industry and the socio-economic realities of
> regional poverty. This is NOT an environmental disaster in a remote and
> unpopulated region, like the arctic or the ocean... people live and support
> themselves on their land that has been polluted, they are also, some of them,
> employed by the very same company that is responsible for the disaster.
>
> ][<en


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