The Organization

Coal River Mountain Watch’s mission is to stop the destruction of our communities and environment by mountaintop removal mining, to improve the quality of life in our area, and to help rebuild sustainable communities. We envision just and caring communities in which residents are aware of and involved in solving community issues and in which public officials and agencies fulfill their responsibility to provide sustainable forms of economic development and a healthy, safe environment. 

Coal River Mountain Watch boasts a proud history of persistence and results, beginning in 1998 with our formation by citizens concerned about MTR’s threats, including deadly floods, dust clouds, and blasting damage to homes. In 2003, our outreach coordinator and eventual executive director Judy Bonds won the Goldman Environmental Prize (https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/julia-bonds/). Judy died of MTR-related cancer in 2011. In 2009, we provided clean water to a community suffering deadly brain cancer because their well water had been contaminated with coal waste. In 2010, our community suffered the heartbreak of 29 miners killed in the Upper Big Branch explosion just ten minutes from our office. Our proudest achievement was in 2013, when the students of Marsh Fork Elementary started class in the new school that we secured for them (https://www.byrdcenter.org/byrd-center-blog/senator-byrd-and-marsh-fork-student-edition). Their previous school was adjacent to a coal preparation plant, a 2.8-billion-gallon coal waste sludge dam, and a 2,000-acre mountaintop removal site. In 2014, we responded to the coal chemical spill that poisoned the tap water for 300,000 people in nine counties, providing hot meals and clean water the next day. In 2018, we installed a solar electric array at our office and community center, the Judy Bonds Center for Appalachian Preservation, to generate as much electricity as we use and to function as a community resource when the power goes out due to weather or disaster.

The Project

The Tadpole Project cleans up streams, hollows, roadsides, and cemeteries, involving local volunteers and youth to develop community pride and a preservation ethic. The project focuses on the tributaries of the Marsh Fork of the Big Coal River. The Tadpole Project includes the Coal River Environmental Education for Kids (CREEK) program, which provides wholesome, fun outdoor learning activities and a sense of pride in community service. We provide these opportunities in a community where they are badly needed, in an area plagued with poverty, childhood obesity, drug addiction, and environmental hazards.

 Our Tadpole Project had 16 cleanup days in 2018 and has collected over 7,500 tires for recycling since we started counting in 2012. The goal is to build community pride while cleaning up and preserving our streams and river. Some of the neighborhoods now conduct their own cleanups, and we’ve made great progress in eliminating the illegal dumps in our headwater hollows. We also host visiting student groups that pitch in for community service. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection presented the Environmental Stewardship Award to the Tadpole Project in 2017.

 The CREEK kids take part in Tadpole cleanup days and learn from field trips and visiting instructors. In 2017, they learned about stream water monitoring from the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection's Save Our Streams program coordinator. Field trips include learning about recycling at the county landfill, area flora and fauna at state parks, and local history and culture at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and other area learning centers. CREEK participants also directly learn about renewable energy from our solar array, pollinators and beekeeping from our beehives, and sustainable agriculture from our hemp farm.

Key Project Milestones

Our late executive director Judy Bonds was fond of the saying, “You are the one you’ve been waiting for.” Seeing the disregard the coal industry had for our communities, the careless people tossing trash out the window, and the decades of neglect causing our streams and hollows to be unsafe for such activities as swimming, fishing, and gathering berries and mushrooms, we decided that enough was enough. Even though we knew that the task ahead was not easy or quick, the trash was no deeper than our commitment. The Tadpole Project has helped bring a sense of community pride and “something to do” to make a positive contribution.

Project Locations

Marsh Fork of the Big Coal River and tributaries, western Raleigh County, WV

Rough Budget for This Project

$35,000