EKB News

WEST VIRGINIA....
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Sierra Club and Ohio Valley Environmental Council want the Blair Mountain Battlefield returned to the National Register of Historic Places.The battle in which at least 7,500 coal miners marched from Marmet over Blair Mountain, trying to organize non-union mines in Logan County, was fought in August 1921 along a 15-mile ridgeline between Boone and Logan counties. It was the largest armed conflict in U.S. labor history. The miners battled with a force of 3,000 law officers, many of whom worked for coal companies. The National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C., removed Blair Mountain Battlefield from the National Register on January 6th. The three groups intend to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court before September if the site is not returned to the National Register. A large portion of Blair Mountain Battlefield has been acquired by mining interests who intend to undertake mountaintop-removal mining activities within the site, and the environmental groups say less than a majority of owners submitted valid objections to the National Register listing.