In the recent Days, Marfork Coal Company has been awarded with the Prestigious Green Miner Award from Massey Energy Co, which was presented at Massey Energy's Yearly Award Banquet on Wednesday June 17. Every year, Massey Energy gives this "prestigious" award to the company that they view has made the most attempts towards going green. Marfork is an underground mine that prides itself on staying about the environmental standards.

In the recent wake of this award, comes the realization that Marfork Coal Company is 6.8 miles away from Marshfork Elementary School, all of a 13 minute commute according to Google Maps. Now what is Marsh Fork Elelmentary School? This school, also in Raleigh County, is located in front of two gigantic coal silos. There is a 2.8 billion gallon coal sludge impoundment just uphill from the school. Kids report breathing difficulties, and frequently go home sick. One teacher at this school did a project with her students where she taped a white Kleenex tissue to the window on a monday. By friday, the tissue was black. Parents are concerned about their childrens' health and the rising rates of Asthma in the immediate area. Yet a coal company just less than 7 miles away receives the highest green honor by Massey Energy.

Marfork Coal Company is not the company directly responsible for the sludge dam. A 1,849 acre surface/strip mine, Goals Coal, operates just above the silo and the school. Thomas Cook who is the Massey Energy VP of Environmental Affairs says, "We like to keep our areas clean, we like to keep them pristine and usable for the future,and we believe our members lead the way in making that happen." Marsh Fork Elementary School barely has conditions in which students are able to live let alone learn.

Massey Energy chose Marfork Coal Company as a result of the following factors that go above and beyond the company's standards:
"An industry leading slurry system that includes high pressure steel pipe with double containment, twice yearly ultrasonic pipe inspection and certification, a Massey designed and industry-first leak detection system with remote monitoring devices and live video feed to the control
room. The system initiates an automatic plant shutdown if a leak is detected." _Yahoo news

The hypocrisy that Massey Energy holds as a company is astonishing. If their coal subsidiaries are so successful with detecting leaks, then why are children so sick?

There is a foundation you can donate to: Pennies of Promise (www.penniesofpromise.org), to help the people of the Marsh Fork region get a new school. Coal Processing plants don't belong next to schools. Especially Green Ones