Tech | July 27, 2011 | 8 comments

Dept.Of Interior and West Virginia Coal Association seek dismissal of Blair Mountain lawsuit

source: http://wvgazette.com/News/201107260890

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JanforGore
The federal government and the West Virginia Coal Association want a judge to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at protecting Logan County's Blair Mountain from surface mining and returning it to the National Register of Historic Places.

In new court filings in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service and the Keeper of the Register argue that environmental and preservation groups lack legal standing to sue over the 1,600-acre site of a 1921 armed uprising by coal miners.

The Southern West Virginia landmark, considered by many to be an important site in U.S. labor history, was briefly listed on the historic register, then removed when property owners objected.

The government contends the Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Labor History Association and other groups can't demonstrate any concrete harm from the delisting, don't own property on the mountain and lack legal permission to visit any of the privately-owned parcels.

"Their interest in the site is purely notional, and even if mining were to occur on Blair Mountain, the injury that they allege they would suffer is purely speculative,'' the motion for summary judgment argues.

In a friend-of-the-court filing, the Coal Association says the plaintiffs cannot claim they've been stripped of their right to enjoy the mountain because citing specific places they visit would be admitting they've trespassed.

Except for a road, everything in the proposed boundary area is privately owned, "with the majority being owned or leased by members of the WVCA who have strict no-trespassing policies,'' it argues.

"Simply stated,'' the association says, the plaintiffs "have no right to visit or enjoy the Blair Mountain nomination area.''

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8 comments // Dept.Of Interior and West Virginia Coal Association seek dismissal of Blair Mountain lawsuit

  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  

    • Some mountains in West Virginia were mined inside and the timbers are rotting, causing sudden and dangerous even deadly sinkholes. Those mountains may be best they drop them on down I suppose. My Grandma's house is on a high plateau called Rock WV it juts up right high and even it has sinkholes.

      Looks like the coal companies should have to pay to fill in the abandoned mines and stop the ground holes from happening...

    • 10 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • Gravity_Man:

      Of course NOT filling in the mine-holes guarantees the coal companies will later have full permission to take out the rest of the mouintain. Hmm. A good wallet-padding plan actually. Destroy then Salvage, $ + $.

    • 10 months ago
  • squarethecircle
    • +1
      squarethecircle  

    • when the water comes rushing in from the New Madrid event they are going to wish there was still a mountain to climb....get to high ground by Aug 18 if you can

    • 10 months ago
  • coolplanet
  • JanforGore
    • +4
      JanforGore  

    • Thanks to the sour grapes oil sucking denier who keeps voting all of my posts down. Good to know I am so effective here regarding the information I disseminate. I'll make sure to keep them coming.

    • 10 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
    • +1
      COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM  
    • JanforGore:

      Yes, Jan. It seems the "Department of the Interior, the National Park Service and the Keeper of the Register", all entities which the people fund, have declared themselves the enemies of the people and are advocating for the poisoning of the people by polluting their environments and defacing the appearance of their environments, all in the name of Big Dirty Coal! I will copy this to the President and my legislators, although because they may have sold out as well, it may do no more good than to alert them that the PEOPLE are not asleep at the wheel. It is worth a consideration protesting the continuation of funding for these traitorous agencies since they do not promote the welfare of the PEOPLE, but instead conspire against the PEOPLE and their welfare!

    • 10 months ago
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