COAL JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO CARE, 1

As West Virginia Coal Companies Expand, Graves Vanish
March 9, 2009 (AP via FoxNews)

"Walter Young can't find his great-grandmother's grave. The coal company that had it moved doesn't know where the remains ended up…The land around and under the cemetery passed from one coal company to another as mines grew up around it. Now, no one is sure where Young's great-grandmother was ultimately laid to rest.

The loss is a problem that resonates across West Virginia as small family cemeteries and unmarked graves get in the way of mining, timbering and development interests…Advocates are asking state lawmakers this year to enact regulations that would require better tracking of the graves and protect families who believed that their loved ones wouldn't be disturbed…"

Coal is burying historic graveyards...(click to enlarge)

"Young hadn't visited his great-grandmother's grave regularly since the 1970s, but wanted to check up on it when he realized the cemetery, near Delbarton in the southwestern corner of the state, was near a site being built to store coal waste. When he called for permission to cross company property, he was dumbfounded by the response. The company that now operates the site didn't know where the grave had been relocated…

"International Coal Group's Patriot Mining Co. is currently in court in northern West Virginia, seeking approval to relocate a cemetery where the last burial occurred more then 70 years ago. Patriot received permission last year to move a nearby cemetery.

"Patriot estimates…80,000 to 100,000 tons of coal would be lost if the cemetery isn't relocated…worth at least $5.2 million…Patriot says it will treat the remains with respect and move them to a public cemetery with perpetual care where descendants can visit…"

...And digging graveyards for mountains. (click to enlarge)

"Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition organizer Robin Blakeman doesn't know how much coal is beneath her family cemetery in Brier Branch Hollow. The Harless-Bradshaw Cemetery had been used by her family and the nearby community since the mid-1800s, and contains the grave of a Civil War cavalry corporal…The former farm passed out of her family's hands more then 50 years ago… On a recent Saturday, Blakeman planted Gladiolus bulbs near several of the stones. As she worked, the sound of heavy mining machinery and trucks drifted across the narrow valley.

"'Sometimes in the midst of all this destruction, sometimes the only thing you can do is try and add a little bit of beauty,' Blakeman said. 'I'm also thinking these flowers will at least alert somebody to the fact that somebody cares.'"