Kilowatt Ours Interviews
Julia Bonds - Environmentalist and Activist
Julia "Judy" Bonds is the outreach coordinator for Coal River Mountain Watch in Whitesville, West Virginia. She is a coal miner's daughter, granddaughter. Her family has lived in the Coal River Valley in West Virginia for 10 generations. Julia has been fighting for social and environmental justice for Appalachian coalfields since 1998. In 2003 she won the coveted Goldman Environmental Prize. The prize is awarded to one person from each continent and she was the North American winner. She was recently featured in the March 2006 issue of National Geographic, May 2006 Vanity Fair and in the July 2006 issue of "O, The Oprah Magazine."
Julia Bonds - Part One
Chapter One
- People need to understand that is very hard to see MTR from roads and valleys. They almost have to fly over them.
- Several coal companies have said that the flooding of 2001 was an act of God. That did not go over well.
- When you fill up the hollows with the tops of the mountains there will be flooding when it rains.
Julia Bonds - Part Two
Chapter One
- The companies really don't want you to know what is happening. Unless you go up on a hill to see you don't know what is happening unless they are blasting around your home.
- Only an idiot covers up streams since water is a life giver.
- How can anyone get by with this sort of devastation.
Relevant Links:
- Kilowatt Ours: Mountain Top Removal
- Information on 2001 floods in Dorothy, WV
- Charleston, WV Gazette: article about coal mining damage
- Coal River Mountain Watch
- EPA Report on Big Sandy River Spill in Martin, KY
