Coal Tattoo

‘Coal Country’ listed on terrorist watch reports

Makers of the film “Coal Country” interview coal industry official Randall Maggard in this courtesy photo.

Thanks for Mari-Lynn Evans for pointing out that her film, Coal Country, showed up on the list of things that were being monitored by the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security as potential terrorism threats.

The bulletin mentioning Coal Country showed up on the Pennsylvania government’s Web site as part of the ongoing controversy over monitoring of environmental and other groups by Pennsylvania law enforcement officials.

You can read the whole November 2009 report mentioning Coal Country for yourself, but here’s what it had to say:

Throughout the next two months, Planet Green will air ‘Coal Country,’ a documentary promising to “reveal the truth about modern coal mining” …

… Though Pennsylvania mountains have not been subjected to mountaintop mining as of yet, the waste materials from mountaintop mining in other states has been dumped into streams in Pennsylvania, reportedly causing damage to the environment.

On 15 October, 2009, over 300 people attended a public hearing at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh to discuss the Obama administration’s decision to restrict mountaintop removal-related permits. Security was heavy.

In the report, state contractors from the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response warned:

TAM-C analysts view this film as a potential catalyst for inspiring ‘direct action’ protests or even sabotage against facilities, machinery, and/or corporate headquarters.

The report listed three power plants as potential targets, and cautioned:

Actions against these facilities would likely cause counter-protests from the pro-coal side, which TAM-C analysts believe already feels assaulted, not only  by environmentalists, but by any government bodies and/or policies that support them.

TAM-C analysts will continue to monitor this documentary as well as the larger issue to determine whether destructive rhetoric or actions are being planned by either camp.