I KNOW you've seen the dead rivers, streams, and brooks that occur from running through mine tailings. The mineral deposits kill EVERYTHING in the water. SOIL (the top coupla feet) is far different than the rocks and minerals torn up by the mining process.

Further, I KNOW you are well aware of flooding problems in WVa. Happens when an entire state is on a hillside or the bottom of a valley. Somehow, I don't think that getting rid of the drainage streams is going to help.

Yes, the economy is even worse there.

Is your economic equation is money(NOW)>life(FUTURE)?

I've always loved WVa, as you know. The state has defied efforts to destroy it - even after ripping apart mountains and staining so much river-rock with with poisonous minerals, it's beauty is STILL greater than most of the places I've been in my life.

I also think the people there are some of the nicest I've met (as a generalization, of course) - and God knows that if the economy was better in the state, I'd still live there.

My point - this is NOT the easy, one-sided, pro-mining issue you make it out to be.