Sassafras
Residents of Sassafras, in Knott County, Kentucky have watched from inside there homes as hundreds of coal trucks have rumbled through their town six days a week, starting before dawn and ending after dark.
“You know my house is not a castle, but it’s my dream.
I shouldn’t have to
pay for coal with my dreams or my health. That’s the American dream,
to buy your own home and have your own spot and be able to leave
something for your children. I used to have a sidewalk, now I have a
pile of rocks outside my home. The hundreds of heavy coal trucks have
devoured my walkway."
Pam Maggard, Knott County
These coal trucks are hauling coal from a Diamond May mountaintop removal coal mine about ten miles away. They drive through the community to a coal tipple about two miles up a narrow and crowded road.
The dust, mud, and noise from the hundreds of trucks a day driving up this small road has transformed the community of Sassafras from a nice quite place to a dangerous and ugly place to live. The road theses trucks are hauling on is barely big enough for two cars let alone two fully loaded tractor- trailer coal trucks. To date, one person has been hit by a coal truck in an accident that occurred while the person was pulling out of the local post office. Besides the danger of accidents, the community is suffering in other ways.
“Did you notice Mrs. Polly she was in tears, all she wants to do is sit on her porch and watch her birds. And doesn’t she have the right, if she’s worked her whole life?”
Pam Maggard, Knott County
The worst part is this is all unnecessary. The coal trucks could haul directly from their mine to the tipple and never have to leave the coal companies land and more importantly never have to pass close to anyone’s home. There is a dirt road running from the mine site all to their tipple their trucks should be using. But the coal company would rather use the public roads and shift the cost of the maintenance onto the taxpayers rather than have to maintain their own road.