National Coal Co. Takes Katuah EF! to Court

Submitted by john johnson:

National Coal Corporation Takes Katuah Earth First! to Court in Attempt to Crush Free Speech Protests Against Mountaintop Removal

Knoxville, TN – National Coal Corporation has taken out a Temporary Restraining Order against the environmental group Katuah Earth First! The first hearing on the court order occurs Friday, October 15th, in Chancery Court (part 3) at 9:30 am at the City/County Building on 400 Main St in downtown Knoxville. Activists with Katuah Earth First! will arrive at 9:15 am.

Katuah Earth First! has been campaigning against mountaintop removal methods of coal mining. National Coal Co. is in the process of purchasing the mining lease, equipment and permits from Robert Clear Coal Co. for the controversial Zeb Mountain mountaintop removal project in Campbell County, Tennessee.

According to legal documents served to two members of Katuah Earth First!, National Coal claims to have been threatened with violence. Katuah Earth First! is explicitly non-violent and denies the charges. Katuah Earth First! has retained two local attorneys and will be fighting the charges in court. National Coal claims that because Katuah Earth First! circulated a flyer with their publically available contact information on it, the activists are responsible for the negative reaction from the public regarding mountaintop removal.

“This is a blatant attempt to silence critics of controversial mountain top removal mining techniques that are now being used in Tennessee” said Chris Irwin, a longtime activist with Katuah Earth First! in Knoxville.

“The public has a right to protest destructive mountain top removal projects that decimate forests, mountains and rivers and ruin the quality of life in Southern Appalachia” said Amanda Womac of Katuah Earth First! “National Coal’s legal manuverings will not work to keep folks from exposing the horrors of mountaintop removal.”

The text of the flyer that started this nonsense:

National Coal Corporation:
Destroying the Cumberland Mountains for fun and profit!

National Coal Corporation (NCC) is intent on digging up remaining coal from seams in the Cumberland Mountains of northeast Tennessee, north of Knoxville. From their website (www.nationalcoal.com): “NCC has been successful in gaining ownership of the mineral rights located on 65,000 acres of property in Anderson, Campbell and Scott Counties. NCC’s goals are to continue to acquire property, and to acquire newer and additional equipment in order to increase production.”

“The majority of this property has been mined minimally over the last one hundred years or so, but to nowhere near the extent to which NCC plans on mining it.”

This can only mean one thing: National Coal is intent on using mountain top removal and other destructive strip mining techniques to get at the remaining coal. The land NCC is operating in was “ground zero” for the strip mining fights of the 60’s and 70’s. The land is trying to recover and doesn’t need to be blasted, scraped and hammered again!

“One of the greatest environmental and human rights catastrophes in American history is now underway. In the coalfields of Appalachia, individuals, families, and entire communities are being driven off their land by flooding, landslides, and blasting resulting from mountaintop removal coal mining. Mountain top removal coal mining is a relatively new type of coal mining that involves clear cutting native hardwood forests, using dynamite to blast away 800-1000 feet of mountaintop, and then dumping the debris into nearby valleys forever burying streams. Meanwhile, communities near these mining sites are forced to contend with; continual blasting from mining operations that can take place up to 300 feet from their homes and operate 24 hours/day, air pollution from dust and debris, and the threat of floods that have left hundreds dead and thousands homeless." (appvoices.org)

NCC is also in the process of purchasing the mining permit for the controversial 2,100 acre, Zeb Mountain mountain top removal project in Elk Valley in Campbell County. Zeb Mountain is an integral part of the Cumberland Mountains with some of the most biologically diverse forests on earth including many endangered land & aquatic species. The forests, mountains and waters of Southern Appalachia make life both possible and desirable.

NCC is a new company, formed in January 2003; by July 7, 2004 in the first month of mining in what is NCC’s first mine as operator (a surface mine in Anderson Co. that National bought from Gregory Coal who bought it from TN Mining Co), NCC has had a violation for "Failure to conduct blasting to prevent flyrock beyond the permit boundary.”

One of the officers of National Coal is Operations Manager William R. Snodgrass, who was a former operator of Apollo Fuels, which has a long history of many mining violations. Mr. Snodgrass has served as Superintendent for Tennessee Mining, Inc., a subsidiary of Addington Enterprises, Inc., one of the largest coal companies in the nation, and the subject of numerous mining controversies in the Ohio Valley.


October is Hell Month for the National Coal Company.

Each Monday in October, start National Coal’s week out right be calling, faxing or emailing them with your objections to mountain top removal and all other forms of destructive surface mining for coal. Bug ‘em during the week too!

National Coal:

Phones - 769-3749, 690-6900, (866) 703-COAL (toll Free)
Fax - 691-9982
Email – info@nationalcoal.com,
investorrelations@nationalcoal.com,
sales@nationalcoal.com
jdavis@nationalcoal.com

National Coal is headquartered at:
8915 George Williams Rd.
Knoxville, TN 37923

join with Katuah Earth First! for the first of many protests against National Coal:

Sunday, October 3rd – Protest against mountain top removal coal mining at the offices of National Coal Company – Noon

Monday, October 11th – Protest against mountain top removal coal mining at the offices of National Coal Company. for more info contact Katuah Earth First! at zorgonus@yahoo.com

For more info on Zeb Mountain see: http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/zebmountain/

Katuah Earth First! is committed to stop the practice of mountaintop removal and other forms of destructive strip mining and to protect Southern Appalachia's natural and cultural heritage.

For photos and more information on mountaintop removal coal mining, please see the following:
www.ohvec.org, search for articles on www.tnimc.org

Katuah Earth First! – “We won’t stop until the destroyers do!”

To get involved, contact: zorgonus@yahoo.com, johnjef@bledsoe.net, efactivist@yahoo.com

The secret of joy is RESISTANCE and the secret of resistance is JOY!

Get active in the campaign to save Southern Appalachia – your life depends on it!



friends,
Hope y'all join us at the HQ of National Coal Corporation
this Sunday, October 3rd, at noon. bring signs, leaflets, etc...

Directions:

Head west outta downtown Knoxville on I-40 W and I-75 S.

exit at exit 379A (Gallaher View Rd).
at top of exit ramp, turn Left onto Gallaher.
turn Right onto Kingston Pike and continue west.

travel about a mile into the 8700-8800 block of Kingston
Pike.

Look for the "Plaza at the Commons" strip mall on the Left.

At the "Walgreens", turn Left onto S. Peters Rd.

Go down S. Peters

Before the first red light, turn Left onto George Williams
Rd. (it’s the first non dead end road on the left) (see
electrical station on right of GW Rd)

National Coal is at #8915 George Williams Rd. there is no
sign, but the Building is well marked with the address. It
is the only building on GW Rd on the Left. the building is
tan and has green shingles, and has lots of windows.

there is a parking lot, just down the street under the big
power line tower.

National Coal Corporation
8915 George Williams Rd.
Knoxville, TN 37923