Franciscan says mountaintop removal takes heavy toll on Appalachia

Published: 2005-05-02

FRANKFORT, Ill. (CNS) -- Franciscan Sister Robbie Pentecost, executive director of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia, said she often shares the story of a little boy crushed to death by a giant boulder to illustrate the dangers associated with coal mining in the Appalachian region. "The mining staff said it was an act of God," Sister Pentecost told an audience gathered April 23 in the chapel on the campus of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Frankfort. On Aug. 20, 2004, near the small town of Inman, S.C., in the Appalachian Mountains, a giant half-ton boulder ripped away from the mountain and escaped the clutches of the bulldozers. Rocketing toward the town, the massive rock destroyed everything in its path, smashing through one family's modest home and crushing 3-year-old Jeremy Davidson to death. Addressing a group of nearly 100, Sister Pentecost said she was exasperated by the alleged negligence of the crewmembers and furious by their outwardly indifferent attitudes. The 43-year-old Franciscan, who lives in Johnson County in eastern Kentucky, was a speaker at Ecology Day, held the day after Earth Day. The event was sponsored by the Joliet diocesan peace and social justice ministry and the West Suburban Faith-Based Peace Coalition.

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