Action Alert

Dear Friends,

Please help circulate this message to friends and environmental groups in
Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Ohio:

The situation on Coldwater Creek in Martin County Kentucky is not getting much
better. After a month of cleanup operations, with 350 people working around the
clock, seven day weeks, only ten percent of the 250 million gallons of coal
sludge spilled into Coldwater and Wolf Creeks has been cleaned up (more info and
pictures at www.appalshop.org/cmi). A cleanup lasting a year or more seems
likely at this point, and is doubtful that this beautiful Eastern Kentucky
hollow will ever be completely restored.

More to the point, the early winter rainy season is upon us, and Coldwater Creek
residents remained deeply concerned about the sludge piled in heaps and mounds,
further up the mountain. Last Sunday, a group of fifteen Sierra Club, KFTC
members, and students from the University of Kentucky's Green Thumb group
visited the Coldwater Creek area again to assess the damage and the cleanup
operation. We saw a bridge that was once ten feet above the creek, now one foot
below the lake of sludge. We saw fields, vegetable gardens, and backyards
covered in slick, slimy goo. We saw a heavy coal truck that had slid off the
slickened roads, pitched nose first into the creek.

Although there are many state and Martin County Coal employees and contractors
working very hard to clean up the mess, it isn't enough. Martin County needs
to be declared a Federal Disaster Area. This declaration can only come from
President Clinton, who must first receive a request from Governor Paul Patton.

Therefore, we are asking you to do this: Call, write, or fax Governor Paul
Patton (info below) and 1) tell him to ask President Clinton to declare Martin
County a Federal Disaster Area, and stipulate that all federal costs for the
cleanup be billed to Martin County Coal. 2) Express your concern about the
other 600 coal slurry impoundments in Appalachia, and 3) ask the Governor to
inform the residents of the Coldwater Creek, Wolf Creek, and Big Sandy
watersheds exactly what is in the coal sludge and in what concentrations, and
what are the risks for residents and cleanup workers.

Let's help the folks of Martin County have a safe and happy holiday season.

Contact info: Governor Paul Patton, 700 Capitol Ave., Frankfort Ky 40601

email: governor@mail.state.ky.us
Phone (502) 564-2611
Fax: (502) 564-2517

Thanks

Dave Cooper

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