CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Fourteen people were cited by State Police on Tuesday in two separate protests against Massey Energy's mountaintop removal operations in Southern West Virginia.

Early Tuesday morning, five activists chained themselves to heavy equipment at Massey's Bee Tree Surface Mine near Pettus, to protest the company's plan to blast apart portions of Coal River Mountain.

Later in the day, eight mountaintop removal opponents were cited after they delivered a letter to Massey Energy President Don Blankenship to a company guard shack, then refused to leave company property, police said.

The actions by the groups Climate Ground Zero and Appalachian Mountain Justice are part of a campaign to block Massey's mountaintop removal plans and put a windmill operation at the site instead.

At the mining site, the activists hung one banner that said, "Windmills, Not Toxic Spills" and attached windmill blades to an excavator.

"They shouldn't allow the wind potential on Coal River Mountain to be destroyed, and the nearby communities endangered, for only 17 years of coal," said one of the protesters, Rory McIlmoil, who has led the Coal River Wind Project campaign.

"There is a better way to develop the mountain and strengthen the local economy that will create lasting jobs and tax revenues for this county, and that's with wind power."

Massey officials did not respond to Charleston Gazette requests for comment on the protest. Company spokesman Jeff Gillenwater told The Associated Press that the protesters were trespassing and were rightfully cited. Gillenwater said the company has the right to mine the site and obtained all necessary permits.

Citizen groups are opposing Massey's latest mining operation along Coal River Mountain ridges. They argue a windmill project would provide more long-term jobs without blasting apart the hilltops and burying nearby streams. In December, Coal River Mountain Watch issued a report by consulting group Downstream Strategies that concluded a wind operation in the area would provide more jobs and tax revenue than a mountaintop removal mine.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Fourteen people were cited by State Police on Tuesday in two separate protests against Massey Energy's mountaintop removal operations in Southern West Virginia.

Early Tuesday morning, five activists chained themselves to heavy equipment at Massey's Bee Tree Surface Mine near Pettus, to protest the company's plan to blast apart portions of Coal River Mountain.

Later in the day, eight mountaintop removal opponents were cited after they delivered a letter to Massey Energy President Don Blankenship to a company guard shack, then refused to leave company property, police said.

The actions by the groups Climate Ground Zero and Appalachian Mountain Justice are part of a campaign to block Massey's mountaintop removal plans and put a windmill operation at the site instead.

At the mining site, the activists hung one banner that said, "Windmills, Not Toxic Spills" and attached windmill blades to an excavator.

"They shouldn't allow the wind potential on Coal River Mountain to be destroyed, and the nearby communities endangered, for only 17 years of coal," said one of the protesters, Rory McIlmoil, who has led the Coal River Wind Project campaign.

"There is a better way to develop the mountain and strengthen the local economy that will create lasting jobs and tax revenues for this county, and that's with wind power."

Massey officials did not respond to Charleston Gazette requests for comment on the protest. Company spokesman Jeff Gillenwater told The Associated Press that the protesters were trespassing and were rightfully cited. Gillenwater said the company has the right to mine the site and obtained all necessary permits.

Citizen groups are opposing Massey's latest mining operation along Coal River Mountain ridges. They argue a windmill project would provide more long-term jobs without blasting apart the hilltops and burying nearby streams. In December, Coal River Mountain Watch issued a report by consulting group Downstream Strategies that concluded a wind operation in the area would provide more jobs and tax revenue than a mountaintop removal mine.

Gov. Joe Manchin has declined to intervene in the DEP permit reviews for the Massey operation, or to voice any public support for putting a wind project at the site instead.

Citizen groups said today's action was also aimed at protesting Massey's plans to begin blasting at the Coal River Mountain operation, which is near the company's huge Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment.

All 13 protesters were given tickets for misdemeanor trespassing and escorted from Massey's property, said Sgt. M.T. Baylous, a spokesman for the State Police. The violation carries a fine of up to $100, Baylous said.

Cited in the morning action were McIlmoil, of Locust Grove, Va.; Matt Noerpel of Rock Creek; James McGuiness of Montegut, La.; Mike Roselle of Forestville, Calif; and Glen Collins of Rock Creek.

Cited in the afternoon action were Lorelie Scarbro of Rock Creek; Larry Gibson of Charleston; Charles Nelson of Glen Daniel; Missy Petty of Knoxville, Tenn.; Mary Wildfire of Spencer; Vernon Haltom of Naoma; Allen Johnson of Dunmore; and Heather Sprouse of Charleston.

Also cited during the morning incident was Chad Stevens, an Athens, Ohio, videographer with the multimedia company MediaStorm. Baylous said Stevens was trespassing to photograph the protests.

Baylous said the protesters were peaceful and that none of them were actually taken into custody or placed under arrest.

"There were no problems - no violence, no confrontations," he said. "It was all very peaceful."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or

304-348-1702.