Number
xiv
• Eostar
Spring 2014
Earth First! News ON THE FRONTLINES OF ECOLOGICAL RESISTANCE
WEST VIRGINIANS STILL DEALING WITH POISONED WATER by Wiley In early January Freedom Industries spilled 7,500 gallons of 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians. Within a month of the crisis, mainstream media coverage of the disaster had almost disappeared. But for those living in affected areas, “The overwhelming reality is that the water is not safe,” said Gnat, a volunteer with West Virginia Clean Water Hub (CWH) in a late-January interview with Earth First! Journal. “It’s not an accident, it’s a disaster,” they said. CWH is the only organization actively distributing potable water in the spill zone. The group is comprised of volunteers and members of environmental groups like Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival (RAMPS). By mid-January, American Water Company—the corporate municipality that controls water in the area— declared the Elk River water safe to drink for most of the nine counties dependent on the poisoned municipality. The color-coded system that American Water set up to notify residents about water safety labeled all nine counties blue (“go ahead and drink”), though the safety assurance was quickly rescinded for pregnant women. “At this point the red/blue thing is a little bit irrelevant,”
News
said Gnat, “because people know that you should smell your water and decide for yourself.” Chemical spill-related emergency room visits doubled in the week after the “do not use” ban was lifted. In a statement from the Bureau of Public Health, Dr. Letitia Tierney blamed the spike in ER visits on hysteria. “Anxiety is a real diagnosis and it can be really hard on people and it’s okay to be seen by a health professional to ensure you’re okay.” On the ground, however, the...continued on page 3
from the eco-wars
Dec 8—1500 Mink Run Free in Italy Anonymous individuals claimed responsibility for cutting fences, destroying breeding cards and damaging cages in Carzago Riviera. In a communiqué the liberators urged, “Do not wait for the arrival of larger cages, but instead immediately destroy the existing cages.” Dec 9—Penan Tribe Abandons 77 Day Blockade Faced with rising waters approaching their villages, lack of food at the protest site and the
announcement that the bridges that lead to their villages were going to be dismantled, anti-dam members in Malaysia were forced to halt their blockade and move to a new government resettlement site. The tribe relies heavily on the forest for sustenance and their survival is in jeopardy. Penan people have promised further protest and legal action. Dec 10—Algonquins Erect AntiLogging Blockade Barriere Lake First Nation in
Quebec established a Land Protection camp, halting logging taking place in violation of signed agreements. Logging companies have already damaged many ecologically and culturally important sites on the Barriere Lake Trilateral Agreement Territory, including sensitive area sites which the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and the logging companies know to be of particular cultural and ecological importance. ...continued on page 2