As the battle for the mountain drags on, we find ourselves finally coming face-to-face with the mysterious company behind the Ridgeline Project. In some ways, this meeting felt inevitable. The company man, growing tired of resistance and seeking to squash it, comes to town, flashes a cheap smile, and spins a tale of good faith to the locals. Closed-door meetings feature phrases like, “We hear your concerns. We care. Trust us. We will do the right thing.” He even asks, “What can we give you to make you happy and feel better?” These empty statements are accompanied by elbow rubs and pictures of company leaders smiling with local politicians. But as the photos and rumors of the meetings start to trickle out to the broader community, it all looks as rancid as the water from the spigots down in Mingo County.
It’s a tired play from a well-known playbook. From the Montana Mining Company in 1852 to the Justice family in the 2000s, we have seen it all before. Time and time again, extraction industries promise to do the right thing, only to fall short when it comes to actually putting their money where their mouths are. And as history starts to repeat itself yet again, I ask: “Do we bow down because the odds are stacked against us, or do we stay firm with integrity and challenge Goliath head-on?” For me, the answer is clear. We stand! We do not accept that “this project is inevitable.”
If Mary Harris Jones had just accepted the inevitable, we would still be buying our milk and cheese with script from the company store. If the people of Tucker County had just accepted “the inevitable” in the 80s, we would be adding out-of-state trash and waste to the already growing mound of landfill.
David fought Goliath and won because of his faith. Unjust policies and unconstitutional legislation are amended because those who oppose them do not falter when faced with uneven odds. So we march on. We do what is necessary to get the job done, and we do so with the strength of our backs and the sweat of our brows. We fight with courage and heart. And even if we lose the battle, we can always say that we never gave up. That, my friends, is showing courage in our convictions.
The Ridgeline Project in Tucker County is and will always be a wrong fit for our community. There is no way to spin that. There is no way for an out-of-state company to demonstrate integrity or expertise when it has no experience building such a project. There is no way to show integrity in a group of state leaders who enact a plan when they don’t even have the blueprints completed.
To say, “It’s unstoppable,” and that “We just have to hope they do the right thing,” is just wrong. We’ve fought against grandiose schemes and empty promises before, and we will do so again. To take the word of a stranger because he flashes a smile is just plain old ignorance. The company man has come before, and now he comes again, so ask yourself, what has changed? To me, the only difference is that he arrives in an SUV instead of by railcar.
Shaena M. Crossland.
Resident of Thomas, West Virginia
