The Coal River Group started an effort five years ago to save the Coal Rivers. What began as a few dedicated people has expanded and grown into a forceful movement with hundreds of volunteers.

The effort was originally intended to clean up the trash along the river banks and help improve the public’s access to the many fishing and floating opportunities found on the 88-mile watershed.

But the group’s efforts to address water quality issues found a large group of supporters. The Coal River Group emphasized the need to attack the E-coli threat that was found in a number of locations in the watershed.

With the encouragement of state regulatory agencies, the group promoted a plan to build a new sewer system in the region. The group worked with the local Greater St. Albans PSD, and became its advocate in statewide infrastructure council meetings and other hearings reviewing funding allocations such projects.

The result of this effort was the approval of a $420 million funding program that will eventually add 1,700 river residents to a modern publicly-operated sewage collection system. The resulting millions of gallons of public sewage will be diverted from flowing into the Coal River and sent to a treatment plant in St. Albans.

The efforts to save the Coal Rivers exemplify the needs that we have statewide to protect and improve our watersheds.

The drought of 2007 and the continual revelations regarding climate changes in the country further emphasize the need to protect our rivers and eliminate factors that reduce the quality of water in these rivers.

We in West Virginia have the responsibility to protect 46 rivers that flow through our state. Approximately 40 rivers originate in West Virginia. Texas only hosts 35 rivers!

We are truly fortunate that we have the water resources that can create rivers. But we also have the responsibility to protect this incredible natural resource. As these rivers flow from their humble beginnings in Valley Head in Randolph County (the headwater location for eight rivers) and locations throughout the state, it is the public that changes the clean natural water resource into polluted water.

We have found that the turnaround of water quality on the Coal River watershed can be generated by promoting and securing money for new sewage control facilities. Likewise the Coal River Group has been instrumental in creating partnerships with state agencies and private industry to address specific problems related to siltation and water quality monitoring.

Clean water that originates in West Virginia must be recognized by the government and the citizenry for what it is in the new world we live in — liquid gold is not too strong a statement to apply to our liquid natural resources.

The monetary value of the birthplace of rivers is only one way to value this resource. Our quality of life is enhanced by the presence of clean rivers and a sustainable source of water for drinking and fuel for many industries is another way to value this resource.

Protection of this incredible natural resource is not just a regulatory job but a birthright for all of us who enjoy the benefits of the rivers.

We must demand stronger regulatory actions to protect the rivers from becoming further impacted by sewage and chemical pollutants. Industry as well as citizens must join together in this effort. Private citizens must step forward individually and call for stronger implementation of existing laws that govern septic systems and commercial sewage treatment systems in our own communities.

Finally, we must take individual responsibility for keeping the rivers free from trash, an unnecessary disruption of riparian structure. The rivers once they have been birthed in the remote areas of the state must be allowed to flow in as natural a way as possible.

The growth along the rivers is quickly eliminating many backwater areas, which serve as important filtration and ecosystems to support the rivers’ health. These backwater regions must be protected.

The state of West Virginia has water and water resources that are the envy of many regions in the US as well as the world. We need to look at what is happening in the world regarding climate changes and drought conditions and recognize that we have been blessed with one of God’s greatest gifts — that is water.

The future of our state could well depend upon how well we manage our liquid assets. We can make them a powerful force in our economic future if we work to clean up and protect the rivers. We can market the natural recreational opportunities that exist when we provide clean rivers to drink, float, fish and enjoy.

Bill Currey

St. Albans

Editor's Note: Currey is president of the all-volunteer Coal River Group. He also owns the industrial and commercial real estate firm Currey & Associates Realty.

Editor:

It was a great honor for us to host the annual Cazy Freewill Baptist Church Veterans Day program at the church on Nov. 11. It was held on the actual Veterans Day.

One point we tried to convey was, veterans not only should be shown our utmost gratitude on Veterans Day but also should be thanked on a daily basis.

Without them, we as Americans could not enjoy our many freedoms such as the freedom to worship, work, read, write and even protest. Please be thankful for the simple things you enjoy on a daily basis and remember those men and women who even at this moment might be sleeping in a foxhole or eating rations. They might be cold or hot. They might be in harm's way.

Thank them again today and everyday by giving your respect and admiration.

The purpose of this letter is to thank those who helped us with the program by donating their services or products for the veterans as a special token of their appreciation: B&E Graphix, Harper's Market, Gordon's Service Center, Bob White Carryout, Van Flower Shop, Van Beauty Shop, Vernon Eversole, Mike's Tire Shop, Little General, Past Tymes Antiques, Danville Lumber Company, Byrnside's , Barker's Hardware, Finley's Flower shop, Grapevine, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Tic-Toc-Tire, United Bank and Advanced Auto.

Members of Cazy Freewill Baptist Church also donated gift cards, money for gift cards or items. The evening was a successful tribute to the veterans and enjoyed by all. We especially want to thank the members of our church, our pastor and his wife, and our families because we could not have pulled it off without them.

We want to thank our veterans for fighting to give us the right to assemble, worship and celebrate. Mostly, we want to thank God for His grace and His presence that Sunday and always.

Dawn White,

Foster

Editor:

I awoke on Nov. 12 at 3 a.m. to my 55-year-old husband's cries that something wasn't right. I watched him stumble and fall into the bathroom floor in our bedroom. He began to vomit profusely and repeatedly.

He is a cancer and cardiac patient, and I knew I desperately needed to get him help. I called 911 and told them John was a big man and he was experiencing vertigo and vomiting. About 25 minutes later, the much-needed ambulance arrived and I was thankful that my husband now would get help. I had experienced 25 minutes of anguish, watching and wondering if these would be our last moments together, hoping and praying for the ambulance to arrive.

Moments later, the two women came into our home, asked my extremely ill husband to come out of the bathroom unassisted, asked him to walk unassisted to the family room and very casually asked him a few questions. I hurriedly got him dressed because they told him he was a "big fella" and would have to get to the ambulance "on his own."

They were not able to give him the assistance or care he needed, I suppose, because they were not physically capable to do so. I watched as John mustered a breath and grasped at anything he could to help himself get down the six steps and pull himself up into the ambulance, vomiting as soon as he got in and lay down.

John not only is a cancer and cardiac patient but also has a crippled left leg. He is my big, strong man, but even at 6 feet, 1 inch and 250 pounds I never would have guessed that he would be declined emergency medical treatment due to the inadequacies, both physically and medically, of the EMT staff.

Whose decision was it to staff two female EMTs together, knowing they are incapable of providing adequate care to patients because of their own physical limitations?

My husband is one of many people just like him. I see them every day. I thank God he wasn't blacked out or stricken with a heart attack, but he could have been. Or it might have been your husband, your brother or your father.

My intention is to draw the attention of the community and show everyone that this is an unacceptable practice. I appeal to the Boone County Ambulance Authority to smarten up and use the best judgment when it comes to people's lives. It might be your own.

Susan Canterbury

Dry Creek

Editor:

I don’t know how to explain to you how much gambling has hurt our family.

The lottery machines have taken money from our family that would pay bills and other expenses.

It seems every month or so there is a new lottery going in somewhere. Is there no restrictions on how many or how close together they can be?

Gambling is a disease just like alcoholism. You can’t just put these machines everywhere. You cannot go anywhere without seeing them. If you could keep them in just a few places, maybe we could get some relief.

I personally know three families that have lost their businesses, their cars and, in one case, their life because they put all of their money in these machines.

I know you cannot protect everyone from themselves, but even alcohol is only sold at Rite Aid.

There are six gambling machines in a 20-mile radius from where I live. You cannot go anywhere without going by them.

I live in Boone County, where I have seen the crime rate go up drastically.

I don’t know if this letter will help, but we sure need some help.

Evelyn Rhodes

Danville

Editor:

I have had a very difficult time with the Boone Memorial Hospital’s out-of-state billing department since the first of the year.

They continue to bill a former insurance carrier that I have not had for several years even though they have been advised and been given copies of my current carrier for at least three years.

Also, they bill Medicare before billing my primary carrier and, of course, that results in non-payment from Medicare that I am now being harassed over by this out-of-state billing department.

I have repeatedly spoken to them as well as local Boone Memorial Hospital employees (they have been most helpful, but even they cannot get the point across).

Now, I am being threatened with a bad credit rating due to their poor performance. Has anyone else in Boone County had this problem? If so, please contact me and perhaps together we can make a difference.

Richard Miller

Foster