Articles by Grist staff

The latest in W. Va. adventures

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This week, Gabriel Pacyniak and Katherine Chandler are traveling throughout southern West Virginia to report on mountaintop removal mining (MTR). They'll be visiting coalfields with abandoned and "reclaimed" MTR mines, and talking with residents, activists, miners, mine company officials, local reporters, and politicians.

We'll publish their reports throughout the week.

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Tom White's directions to Yeager Airport instruct us to follow the signs outside of town, turn right at the first fork, and take the road straight up to the top of the hill. Like many of the instructions that we have received, he tells us, "And if you think you've gone too far, it's probably just a little bit farther up." The airport is, in fact, on a flattened mountain overlooking the city of Charleston, a location that shows how difficult it is to find flat land in the area.

Tom's business card reads "In deep? WHO YA GONNA CALL. Contract lawyer for hire ... former newspaper reporter, author, commercial pilot." He's also passionate about the environment, so he is a perfect fit for Southwings, a non-profit conservation organization that links volunteer pilots with journalists and researchers studying conservation issues in the south. It's a pretty crucial service for anybody looking at mountain top removal mining (MTR). On the ground, you can drive up a hollow all the way over the mountain and never know that just beyond the trees the mountains have been mined away.

A mine site with valley fill in Mingo and Logan counties. (photo: Katherine Chandler)

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