Making Government Work for the People
By Mike Wood
In many ways, the states that make up Appalachian "Coal Country"—including West Virginia—have become almost forgotten places, unable to share in the fruits of today's post-industrial economy. Coal Country is a region home to high poverty, unemployment, and one of Appalachia's most significant and widespread environmental calamities, acid mine drainage (AMD).
AMD
afflicts more than 7,000 miles of streams throughout these mountainous
states. It is the consequence of years of underground industrial
activity, which fueled our nation through a century of economic
expansion. Today, however, many of the coal mines that once thrived
have all but vanished, leaving a legacy of environmental devastation
in the form of miles upon miles of metals-laden streams and rivers.
How can West Virginia and the rest of Appalachia confront this problem effectively? The answers will not be found solely in the halls of government. They will not be found in corporate boardrooms, nor at the meeting places of nonprofit groups. The answers for sustainable rehabilitation of Appalachia—home to some of America's most economically and environmentally devastated communities—will only come from a genuine collaboration among all of these entities.
One only has to travel to a few small towns around West Virginia to get a feel for the pervasive sense of skepticism that plagues the region and hampers efforts at improvement. It is a common feature where the cycle of poverty can be found—citizens convinced that the status quo is permanent, people unable to envision a society greater than their own.
It may be hard for some to imagine, but there are significant numbers of Appalachians who have been so isolated that they cannot dream of a cleaner environment and a more stable economy. These people are hardworking, strong, proud citizens with a deep sense of family and community. Many of them, however, have been victimized by years of poor economic and environmental policies which have hampered growth and helped to create a culture where solutions are expected from outside sources—federal and state programs—instead of from within.
Things are changing, though, in small but meaningful ways. And things can continue to change for the better.
I have had the good fortune of working for officials at the federal level on AMD remediation in Coal Country, and what I have learned is that government that works best for the people is government that works alongside the people. In the coalfields of southwestern Pennsylvania, for example, a nonprofit group formed by local people wanting to clean up watersheds has developed a way to engage people in environmental cleanup through a partnership-building effort. It brings people together to get things done and creates new places that celebrate the past, provide hope for the future, and draw upon an energy source even greater than the coal still buried in the mountains: the people of Appalachia.
Called AMD&ART, this group based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to turning environmental liabilities into community assets. The organization strives to achieve what its name implies: treating acid mine drainage in an artful manner that incorporates education, recreation, landscape architecture, and respected science. In Vintondale, a small town on the banks of Blacklick Creek in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, AMD&ART has created and designed a community park, which will not only provide a series of ponds and wetlands for treatment of a nearby AMD discharge but will also bring that treatment system out in the open for people to acknowledge—even celebrate—the cleanup effort.
The park will provide recreational opportunities, walking trails, and wildlife habitat areas as well. It is the first of its kind in the country, and what makes it even more special is the fact that it is being built directly on the site of an early 20th-century factory that burned coal to make bricks and left behind environmental devastation that will now finally be a thing of the past, too.
When the project began, a number of residents felt strongly that it would be a failure. These same residents, however, have since become personally involved in "their" park, creating birdhouses and animal feeders for the wildlife that will soon be found on the reclaimed site.
Government can help West Virginia and the rest of Appalachia improve for the better. It must begin, however, with changing a mindset that social problems are too difficult to fix at their roots. Those who reject such a notion can be pioneers in a new century.
The economy can only improve when a clean environment exists to raise property values, public health, and the general quality of life. The people of Appalachia have contributed too much to society to be left behind in this era of unprecedented prosperity in our country. Projects like Vintondale are just a small reminder of what can be accomplished when citizens are empowered to take ownership of their communities, and government plays the important role of supporter—not controller.