The kids of Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia have been suffering from health problems because of coal dust and other toxins in their school. The dangerous pollutants come from a coal factory just 150 feet from the school grounds. As if that wasn't bad enough, an earthen dam 400 yards upstream from the school is holding back 2.8 billion gallons of toxic coal waste. Federal inspectors have identified "seeping" in widespread areas of the dam. The students and families of Marsh Fork Elementary want Gov. Manchin to build them a new school within their community, yet far away from any pollutants.

Much of the coal near Marsh Fork comes from mountaintop removal coal mining. With mountaintop removal, the tops of mountains are blasted off with explosives so that mining companies can get to the coal underneath. The dirt, rocks and forests from the tops of the mountains are pushed into the valley, filling up rivers and streams. In the Appalachian Mountain range, more than 450 mountains covering a million acres have been destroyed already. In West Virginia alone, more than 1,000 miles of streams have been buried, and 500 square miles of mountaintops have been removed by coal companies – with permission from the government.

Please write a letter to the governor of West Virginia asking him to protect the kids at Marsh Fork Elementary School and the mountains of Appalachia! The letters will be collected by Rainforest Action Network and delivered to the governor!

Please address envelopes to:
Marsh Fork Letter Drive
Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine Street, Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94104

SAMPLE LETTER

Marsh Fork Elementary School Fact Sheet