[August 02, 2011] 'Battle for Blair' Mountain' to air Sun. on CNN Tweet SHARPLES, Aug 02, 2011 (The Logan Banner - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A CNN documentary will look at both sides of the battle for Blair Mountain. The documentary, called "Battle for Blair Mountain: Working in America" airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CNN. A press release from the production company said that Sharples, with a population of around 100 people, is "ground zero in the fight over an issue of importance to every American who has ever plugged in a computer, watched a television or taken a hot shower." The press release said around 50 percent of electrical power in the United States is produced by coal. "Across the nation, a schism that separates pro-coal and pro-environment movements over mountaintop removal, a destructive yet highly effective form of strip mining, is deepening," the release said. In the show, CNN documents the intense struggle over mountaintop removal with the documentary being replayed on August 20. CNN's Soledad O'Brien examines the fight over the Spruce No. 1 mine, the largest ever proposed mountaintop removal site in the U.S. "When O'Brien's team first arrived in Sharples, nearly everyone in Appalachia was waiting to see if the Environmental Protection Agency was going to allow Spruce One's permit to proceed, citing Clean Water Act violations," the release said. "Several groups were invested in the fight: coal miners who wanted to keep the jobs they've had for decades, the green activists who oppose all coal mining and a coalition of people who would like to see mountaintop removal replaced by less damaging mining practices. Coal companies and politicians, such as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Senator Joseph Manchin (D-WV), had plenty to say about the outcome, too. O'Brien and her team tell the story from all sides." The battle for Blair Mountain has raged for several years, but has heated up recently with a march to Blair Mountain by several hundred environmentalists and celebrities like Kathy Mattea, a West Virginia native who has taken up the anti-strip mining fight. In recent years, a pro-coal rally was held at Holden that featured Ted Nugent and other celebrities. Additional reporting on the mountaintop removal debate and video excerpts from The Battle for Blair Mountain: Working in America can be found at www.cnn.com/inamerica. CNN Student News is producing an Educator and Parent Guide for the documentary, which will include discussion questions and a learning activity. The guide will be available on www.CNNStudentNews.com prior to the debut of the documentary as a companion viewing aid and teaching tool. A meeting was held several years ago to decide if Blair Mountain should be placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the meeting got heated between miners and environmentalists. Blair Mountain is the site of the largest labor upriding in U.S. history, but it is owned by several different coal companies who want to strip mine the mountain for its coal reserves.But, after land owners said they did not agree with the mountain being placed on the historic registry, it was taken off and environmentalists have been fighting to get it back onto the registry ever since. To see more of The Logan Banner, go to http://www.loganbanner.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Logan Banner, W.Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]