Erica and Brenda Urias at their family cemetary

By Lora Smith

August 7, 2007 - Brenda Urias lives in a small community called Island Creek in Pike County with her son Rully, daughter-in-law Erica and granddaughter Makayla. They live on the land Brenda’s family settled in 1825. They also live with the daily effects of a large mountaintop removal site that sits above their home. Mountaintop removal is a form of surface mining that blows off the tops of mountains and pushes the dirt, rock and debris into adjacent valleys. The process levels mountains, buries streams and destroys forests forever. It also effects the health and lives of the people that live near the mountaintop removal operations.

Aerial view of the mountain top removal coal mine at Island Creek

Due to the mining, the Urias family have had their well water contaminated, their house shaken by blasting and their air filled with dust. Their health is at risk from the dangerous effects of daily exposure to blasting and pollution. Most of their neighbors have sold and moved away, but the Urias family is determined to stay. With the help of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth they have had success organizing against the mining operation and protecting some of their rights. This CCC piece explores some of the reasons why Brenda Urias is choosing to stand her ground and protect her family’s land.

Valley Fill at Island Creek

Mountaintop removal mining is effecting families like Brenda’s throughout the Central Appalachian region. To learn more about the Urias family and others in Eastern Kentucky fighting against mountaintop removal and for a better future, please visit kftc.org/canary.

 

 Standard Podcast [5:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Trackback URI | Comments RSS