After spending the night watching the Perseid Meteor Shower my photographer, Michael, and I decided to explore West Virginia a bit before heading back to the NC mountains. Driving through the surrounding towns of Charleston, WV is not only a severe environmental nightmare but politically these cities make zero sense.
One of the first examples of this environmental nightmare were the massive towers that took coal from the incoming trucks and dumped it into giant mounds all over the ground.
Truck after truck entered the Kanawha Railroad where dozens of trains sat waiting for their turn to fill up with fuel and make their transport to the final destination.
Beautiful mountains loomed in the distance, but the sight of one of our planet’s biggest enemies steadily poured it’s fossil fuels all over the ground, blowing coal dust in the wind.
As you can see from the picture below, it was business as usual for the people around the railroad while they breathed in coal dust and fumes; not to mention that there were no environmental protectors to combat runoff from the piles of coal when any sort of weather anomaly might occur.
After getting seriously nasty looks as Michael photographed the railroad, we drove around to the other side just to see what might lead to the mountains. Our minds were blown when around the corner, literally across the street from the railroad, sat Riverside High School and a public agricultural field that had vegetables growing in it.
Thinking that there couldn’t possibly be more to this area, we started driving down one of the main roads that lead through this economically shattered industrial town. The weather was warm, but a light sprinkle fell from the clouds bringing an oily mixture sledging across our windshield, reminiscent of driving on the highway after the roads are half plowed during a snowstorm.
We passed public sports fields with signs that read “Friends of Coal Soccer Field.”
We passed run down homes in a town where the two primary industries brought in millions, but the citizens lived with barely the necessities they needed. And even among this poverty, Trump signs peppered the yards of mobile homes on the sides of the road.
After being overwhelmed with the sight of a severe lack of environmental and ecological watchfulness, we drove up next to a large chemical plant in the tiny town of Belle. As we parked on the side of the road, snapping a few pictures of the torches lit on top, we noticed a drainage ditch that leads directly into the river. There was nothing to keep the chemical or the trash from floating out into the water.
It didn’t take long for us to be asked to leave by the chemical plant’s security, but before we drove off we were able to record the amazing bus ride these children have each day. The next generation of kids growing up in this area will be infected not just physically by the damage of these plants, but mentally by not understanding the full impact that the coal and natural gas industry are having on our environment.
Driving through the Charleston area of WV was like taking a look back at all the things that we’ve been doing over the las that has lead us to where this planet sits right now. It felt like if you lifted WV from the earth, we might just reduce our environmental impact aggressively, and we only viewed a tiny fraction of the state. Let’s hope someone starts opening their eyes to the damage they are inflicting daily.
Watch this video on the damage caused by coal.
Featured Image Via Michael H.D. Kline
