Jun
10
2008
What is Hell’s Gate? It is a simple metal gate on Kayford Mountain that separates Larry Gibson’s property from an active mountaintop removal site.
Once you pass Hell’s Gate it is like you are transported to an entirely different planet. Or, as the name would suggest, Hell on Earth.
The next photo shows the dragline which is basically a large piece of equipment responsible for allowing this type of mining. There is really nothing to compare it with in this photo but the dragline itself is in the neighborhood of 22 stories tall.
We were there in time to witness a small explosion. I say small but really it was a large detonation but small as compared to most other detonations. The second photo shows the dust drifting down the mountain towards Dorothy, WV which is located right at the bottom of the mountain.
STOP!!! Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Apr
30
2008
The picture in this post has it all. Horses, meadows, a barn, a creek, trees, mountains, a valley fill, and the accused culprit of the valley fill - power lines.
The active valley fill is in Clear Fork, WV. The site is actually a part of the Kayford Mountain MTR site. Believe me when I tell you the photo does not do the size of this fill justice. It is huge. The whole face of the site is nothing but gravel - large and small. When they are finished filling this valley they will come back and spray hydro-seed on it and call it reclaimed. They can get by with that particular atrocity because the hydro-seed would flourish just as well on the power pole or the horse for that matter.
Without getting into a big description of hydro-seed, suffice it to say - it has been termed grass seed on steroids.
This is the new face of West Virginia. It is definitely - Almost Heaven, West Virginia.
