The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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Jan 2014 back issue
by Ami Vitale
We spent time talking to people on porches in West Virginia, at playgrounds near Detroit, and in the Nevada desert.
Our concept was to show how coal damages lives in all three phases of its energy-generating cycle: when it's
extracted, when it's burned, and when the leftover waste is discarded. DIG, BURN, DUMP. That was the title we'd
envisioned.
But we kept hearing a different phrase, from all quarters. First, from defiant Donna Branham in Appalachia, whose
once tight-knit family atomized after a mountaintop-removal mine shuttered her hometown: "They always talk about
the cost of coal. I can tell you the true cost of that lump of coal. It cost my family."
We also heard it from Vernon Lee, a resolved member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, whose community breathes the
toxic ash from a nearby power plant: "All the suffering going on here, they don't include that in the cost of cheap coal."
Lane Miller has trouble breathing and uses an inhaler and nebulizer for his lungs. Sierra Club is working with the
Moapa Band of Paiutes to transition NV Energy away from the Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant -- which sits only
45 miles from Las Vegas and a short walk from community housing at the Moapa River Indian Reservation. The Reid
Gardner coal plant is literally spewing out tons of airborne pollutants such as mercury, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, and
greenhouse gases. This has resulted in substantial health impacts on the Moapa community, with a majority of tribal
members reporting a sinus or respiratory ailment.
Jennifer Samson, 43, sits with her relative and closest friend Russell Samson who passed away Friday, August 3,12
from cancer. Though it can not be proved, many people on the reservation suffering from health issues, believe the
enormous number of deaths are because of the coal plant next door.
Left to right, Sisters Ayona Hernandez, 13, Aaliya, 16, and Zayda, 14, hold their inhalers on the Moapa reservation in
Nevada. All of their family suffers from Asthma and though they can't prove it, they believe its because of the coal plant
next door. Her grandfather died in march because of cancer.
On the steps of the West Virginia State Capitol, Paula Swearengin shaves the head of Tori Wong of Virginia. The
shaving of their heads was symbolic of the mountains that have been stripped of all of the living things on them. It was
also symbolic of the many people who are sick or dying as the result of Mountaintop Removal. Mountaintop Removal is
a method of surface mining that literally removes the tops of mountains to get to the coal seams beneath. It is the most
profitable mining technique available because it is performed quickly, cheaply and comes with hefty economic benefits
for the mining companies, most of which are located out of state. Many argue that they have brought wage-paying jobs
and modern amenities to Appalachia, but others say they have only demolished an estimated 1.4 million acres of
forested hills, buried an estimated 2,000 miles of streams, poisoned drinking water, and wiped whole towns from the
map. "Watch out, King Coal," Swearengin said, "because here come the Queens of Appalachia."
Alisha Winters and her family with children Myshelle James, 4, Deborah Smith 5, Jasmine Raley, 11, Jayvon Raley, 11,
Robert Conner 3rd, 13, Dante Thomas, 14 and Michael Winters, 15 as well as relatives Nikeya Aaron, 9 and Nicole
Aaron outside of DTE coal plant in Detroit, Michigan August 9, 2012. Her family suffers from Asthma.
DTE coal plant in River Rouge, a part of Detroit.
Siobhan Washington holds her granddaughter Mariyah McGhee,1, who suffers from Asthma in her home in River
Rouge, Detroit, near a DTE coal plant August 13, 2012.
Just down the road from Lindytown, West Virginia, Leo Cook visits the now-vandalized building that once served as
the meeting hall for members of Local 8377 of the United Mine Workers of America. Back when the building was in use,
Cook sometimes polished its wooden floors. Mountaintop-removal mines are now abundant in the area. Mountaintop
Removal is a method of surface mining that literally removes the tops of mountains to get to the coal seams beneath.
Many argue that they have brought wage-paying jobs and modern amenities to Appalachia, but others say they have
only demolished an estimated 1.4 million acres of forested hills, buried an estimated 2,000 miles of streams, poisoned
drinking water, and wiped whole towns from the map. The mountaintop-removal mine near Blair caused the population
to fall from 700 in the 1990s to fewer than 50 today, according to the Blair Mountain Heritage Alliance. "I saw Lindytown
disappear," Leo Cook said. "Three people up there that died, and I believe in my soul -- I'll go to my grave believin' this,
that aggravation's what caused it."
Trains carry coal from Williamson, West Virginia, where
mountaintop mines are abundant.
Quinnie Richmond walks around her home in Lindytown, West Virginia. Lindytown was once home to dozens of
families, many with roots dating back generations. In 2008, residents started moving away because of a nearby mine.
Today, only one original family remains: Quinnie Richmond and her son, Roger.
Signs are posted outside Hobet Mining's mountaintop mine in southern West Virginia.
A bird's-eye view of the mountaintop-removal mine that emptied Lindytown, West Virginia.
Zayda Hernandez, 14, and Ayasha, 4 play on the Moapa reservation in Nevada. All of their family suffers from Asthma
and though they can't prove it, believe its because of the coal plant next door.
Siobhan Washington's granddaughter Marianna holds her cousin Mariyah who suffers from Asthma in River Rouge,
Detroit, near a DTE coal plant August 13, 2012.
Roger Richmond and his mother, Quinnie, pose outside their home in Lindytown, West Virginia. Lindytown was once
home to dozens of families, many with roots dating back generations. In 2008, residents started moving away because
of a nearby mine. Today, Roger and Quinnie Richmond are the only original residents that remain.
Detroit pollution.
