Thirty-one protesters were charged with obstructing officers and impeding traffic after they sat down in the middle of W.Va. 3 outside Massey Energy's Goals Coal preparation plant in Raleigh County.
Protesters dropped their initial plan to enter the Massey operation, and risk arrest for trespassing, when several hundred coal miners, family members and other industry supporters blocked the entrance to the site. One Massey supporter was also arrested, and charged with battery during a brief confrontation with protesters.
"Tensions were pretty high," said State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous. "But nobody got hurt and we're pleased with that."
Those arrested in the protest were among several hundred people who gathered for an anti-mountaintop removal rally, held just down the road in a field adjacent to Marsh Fork Elementary School. Organizers picked the site because of the school's proximity -- less than 300 feet -- to Massey's operations, especially the huge slurry impoundment up the hollow.
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