來自西維吉尼亞的茱莉亞龐茲對這些問題絲毫不陌生。在2001年，山巔移除採礦活動迫使她和家人遷離，不只離開他們的家，也被迫遠離記載他們家族歷史的家庭墓園。51歲的龐茲是「煤河山脈監督」團體的執行長，每週花約90個小時在與阿帕拉契地帶的環境及社會慘狀對抗。她曾協助說服州礦業委員會延遲污染礦區的運作及保護谷地免於爆破損害。她的組織也曾和礦工工會聯盟結合，一起對抗礦業公司卡車超載的問題。

　　2003年，她和她的戰友們計劃要正式上路，把有關山巔移除採礦造成危機的呼籲傳到國內其他地區。

　　龐茲和其他的礦業環保活動者面對的是國內前線的艱辛奮鬥。2002年5月，在美國地方法官裁定聯邦政府違反了自己訂立的規定，允許礦業廢料傾倒溪流，之後美國環保署改變它的規定以核准廢料傾倒。雖然地方法院法官再度判決傾倒廢料違法，卻在2003年1月底遭上訴法庭推翻。

　　2003年4月14日那天，龐茲成為2003年6位環保金人獎的得獎者之一。她計劃將獎金投入往後的活動，還有付清她新房子的費用。她在西維吉尼亞懷特維爾的家中接受Grist Magazine訪談。

The ancient mountains of Appalachia are corrugated with deep, narrow valleys, some of them no wider than a football field. Coal-mining families, who have lived in these valleys for generations, are now being driven out of their homes by the latest innovation of the very industry that has sustained them for so many years. That innovation, mountaintop-removal mining, literally slices off mountain peaks, threatening the valleys below with massive floods, sludge spills, and indiscriminate waste dumping. So far, this brutal form of mining has destroyed more than a thousand miles of streams and rivers.

Native West Virginian Julia Bonds understands these problems intimately. In 2001, mountaintop-removal mining forced her and her family to evacuate, leaving behind not only their home but also their history, in the form of the family cemetery. Bonds, 51, is the executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch, where she puts in some 90 hours per week fighting the environmental and social devastation of Appalachia. She's helped convince the State Mining Board to suspend operations at one polluting mine and better protect valley hamlets from mine blasting. Her group has also teamed up with the United Mine Workers' Union to fight mining companies' use of overweight coal trucks.

This year, she and her allies plan to hit the road, spreading the word about the hazards of mountaintop-removal mining to the rest of the nation.

Bonds and other mining activists face an uphill battle on the national front. In May 2002, after a U.S. district judge ruled that the federal government was violating its own regulations by permitting mine-waste dumping in streams, the U.S. EPA changed its regulations to allow the practice. Although the judge again ruled that the dumping was illegal, an appeals court overturned his decision in late January of this year.

On April 14, Bonds was awarded one of six 2003 Goldman Environmental Prizes. She plans to use the prize money to further her work -- and pay off her new house. She spoke with Grist from her home in Whitesville, W.Va.

答：我在礦區看到了人們全然毀壞了上帝創造給人類和所有生物的禮物──阿帕拉契社區和文化的滅絕。不只是把山頂變成荒原而已，連山谷也難以倖免。美麗而寶貴的硬木林被摧毀，如果可能的話，這必須要花600年以上的時間才有可能恢復原貌。我們美麗的山間河流已經被蹂躪。

　　機械化的山巔移除採礦能創造的工作機會遠少於其破壞的。我眼見學校關閉、社區因為沒有工作機會而敗落。山頂爆破損壞住家──有人說這是因為阿帕拉契一帶的建築沒有達到安全標準，這或許沒錯，但是對某些人來說，他們就只住得起那種房子──還有爆破和採礦時的空氣品質是超乎想像的糟。

　　但是最糟的慘狀還是來自於洪流。這是很簡單的道理，在陡峭的山谷上若把土壤和植披移走之後，雨水所造成的土壤流失的量就會增加。我們在阿帕拉契地帶看過很大的洪流，這還只是開始而已呢。當悲劇在這裡發生之後，出錢處理的卻是納稅人，全都要從付稅者的口袋裡掏出錢來解決。這太誇張，太誇張了。

問：我聽說妳和妳的家人是最後從妳的家鄉 Marfork Hollow撤離的居民。那個城鎮怎麼啦？

答：我是這個谷地裡居民的第7代，我的孫子是第9代。Massey煤礦在1994年左右進入當地。我對煤礦業很習慣，我自己就是礦工家庭出身，但是我沒有辦法接受Massey公司在我們家Marfork山頂上所幹的好事。他們現在開發的特定區域可不像1940、50和60年代時那樣乾淨。這些地區產生遠比所生產的煤礦還要多的廢棄物。社區中的空氣污染和 煤灰已經到了令人難以忍受的地步。我的孫子現在有氣喘，我家和鄰近住戶的房子都被煤灰嚴重損壞。

　　曾經有過一波魚類死亡發生。真正令我難過的是我那6歲大的孫子，站在一條躺滿死魚的溪裡問我：「這些魚怎麼了啊？」我往下看，忍不住尖叫。我的家人已經徜徉溪中幾代了，但是我們自此之後再也不敢回到那條河去。我們也目睹幾條（塞滿煤廢料的）黑河流過。顏色濃厚到看起來像豌豆湯一樣，裡面還有大塊的黑色切丁。我知道人們終究得要喝下這噁心的東西。

　　在Marfork有一個儲存煤廢料的隄堰，裝滿的話大概會有924呎高，可容納70億加崙的廢料──就在我家上頭三哩的地方。我和孫子坐在門廊上，他告訴我他已經選好一條隄堰倒塌時的逃生路徑。我心知肚明，其實是逃不掉的。但是你要怎麼告訴一個孩子他的生命要被這些貪婪的財團所犧牲？你沒辦法告訴他這些，也不會告訴他，但是其實他現在已經知道了。

問：你為什麼待了這麼久，比任何鎮上的人都要來得久？

答：那是我家。住在西維吉尼亞的谷地是特別的。你覺得安全、有保障，既平靜又安寧──當然，直到礦業公司進入這個地區。他們對於居住在當地的人們漠不關心。我們家一直有找律師，（Massey礦業）也同意要收購我們的產業，所以我們搬到污泥槽上方12哩處。但是我孫子所上的小學上方還是有一個污泥槽在。

問：你是如何開始你的環保運動的？

答：當我看到魚被殺死的時候，我打電話給住在我上游的鄰居，而且發現那其實不是第一次魚類大規模死亡。我鄰居說：「我有環境保護部門的電話，打給他們。」兩週後，我在窗戶上看到對抗不負責採礦的集會宣傳單。我去參加那個集會，之後又參加另一個會議，從此就不再回頭。

問：當你開始的時候，你認識的人裡有很多挺身而出嗎？

答：是有一些人，但是很少人真正積極在做。隨著礦區越來越靠近社區，有更多人挺身而出。除非你親身住在礦區，不然很難真正了解人們所受到的壓迫。這是單一的經濟環境，政客們刻意把其他產業排除在外，所以我們只能依此為生。如果有任何爆破、滲漏、噴發，影響到的將是鄰近受壓迫的可憐村里居民或是少數的社區。這是一個現在人們都在談論的骯髒秘密。

問：能請妳告訴我們為了這個工作妳曾經遭遇過什麼樣的威脅嗎？

答：有次重達60噸的煤礦車在一條小路上朝我滑衝過來，一邊是岩壁、一邊是深達100呎的峭壁，在那之前從來沒有什麼能真正嚇到我過。我有個朋友說，現在和1920年代時（當時煤礦公司會對組織籌畫者動私刑或甚至殺害他們）唯一不同的只是他們不會公然在法院外的階梯上射殺我們罷了。他們也只是改成用煤礦車壓死我們。

　　煤礦公司把公聽會塞滿他們的人，對這些人洗腦，告訴他們：「就是這些人想要把你們的工作奪走。」所以有許多人罵髒話、威脅和打電話來。真的很難應付。有一次我在公聽會上聽到有人說：「我如果是這些女士其中之一的話，我今天晚上就不敢回家了。」嗯，他們應該要知道，阿帕拉契的女人嚇不倒的。我們終其一生都在奮鬥。

問：妳相信礦業公司會有重新整頓的一天嗎？

答：我們期望他們負起採礦的責任，但是我們也希望可以帶入其他產業。我們希望有多樣的經濟發展，這樣一來，當礦產不再發展時至少不會一無所有──而那一天很快就會到來。我們得為此做好調整。我們的政府很清楚，也不乏選擇，但是政治意願太過於薄弱。

　　同時，我們也不能夠一味譴責產業和政治人士。我們也難辭其咎。我們必須站起身來，讓我們的心聲在電視上宣達，教導我們的孩子大聲說出心聲。我們需要一點動力。

問：截至目前為止妳最大的成功是什麼？

答：我想是看到或讀到被壓迫的阿帕拉契居民帶著抗議牌子站出來，或是寫信給報章編輯時。當人們給予他們自己力量時，那就是我最大的成功。

Julia Bonds: What I've seen happening in the coalfields is the total destruction of what God put on Earth to help humans and wildlife, the complete annihilation of the communities and culture of Appalachia. It's not only turning the mountaintops into wastelands, but the valleys as well. The wonderful and valuable hardwood forests are being destroyed, and they will not return for over 600 years, if ever. Our beautiful mountain streams have been devastated.

Mountaintop-removal mining destroys more jobs than it creates [because of mechanization]. I've seen schools close, communities die from the lack of jobs. The blasts from the mine damage homes -- people think that houses in Appalachia are substandard, and that may be true, but that's all some people have -- and the air quality where they're blasting and mining is the worst anyone can imagine.

The worst devastation comes from the flooding, though. You don't have to be very smart to understand that once you remove soil and vegetation from the top of a very steep mountain valley, you're going to increase runoff from rain events. We've seen extensive flooding in Appalachia, and there's much more to come -- and when disasters occur here, the taxpayers pay for it. It comes out of your pocket. It's insane, just insane.

Grist: I understand you and your family were the last residents to evacuate from your hometown of Marfork Hollow. What happened to the town?

Bonds: I'm the seventh generation to live in that hollow, and my grandson is the ninth. Massey Coal [Company] moved in there around 1994. Now, I'm used to coal mining -- I'm from a coal-mining family -- but I was not prepared for what Massey brought down on our heads in Marfork. The reserves they're mining now are not the clean reserves they were mining in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. These reserves create more waste than coal. The air pollution, the coal dust, is unbearable in that little community. My grandson now has asthma, and my home and my neighbors' homes were damaged by coal dust.

There were a series of fish kills. The thing that really sticks in my mind is a six-year-old child, my grandson, standing in a stream full of dead fish and asking, "What's wrong with these fish?" I looked down at the water and screamed. My family, for generations, has enjoyed that stream, but we never went back in the river again. We also witnessed several blackwater spills [of coal waste]. Those are so thick they're like pea soup, with big black chunks in it. I knew people were going to have to drink that crap.

In Marfork, there's a huge earthen dam for coal waste -- it's eventually going to be 924 feet tall and will hold 7 billion gallons of waste -- that sat three miles above my home. I was sitting out on the front porch with my grandson, and he told me he had picked out an escape route in case the dam failed. I knew in my heart there was really no escape. How do you tell a child that his life is a sacrifice for corporate greed? You can't tell him that, you don't tell him that, but of course he understands that now.

Grist: Why did you stay so long -- longer than anyone else in town?

Bonds: That was my home. Living in a hollow in West Virginia is unique. You feel so secure and protected, it's so peaceful and quiet -- until a mining company moves in, of course. They were completely indifferent to the people that lived there. Our family retained a lawyer, and [Massey Coal] agreed to buy our property, so we've moved 12 miles above the sludge dam. But there's still a dam right above my grandson's elementary school.

Grist: What was the first step you took as an activist?

Bonds: When I saw the fish kill, I called the neighbor that lived above me, and I found out that it wasn't the first fish kill. The neighbor said, "Here's the Department of Environmental Protection's number, call them." Two weeks later I noticed a flyer on a window that said there was a rally against irresponsible mining. I went to that rally, I went to one meeting, and I never looked back.

Grist: When you started your work, were many people you knew speaking out?

Bonds: There were a few people, a very few people active. As these mines come closer to communities, more people are speaking out.　Unless you live in the coalfield counties, you don't understand the oppression the people live under. This is a mono-economy, and politicians have kept out other industries, so we've had to rely on it. If it blasts, oozes, or gushes, it's done near poor, oppressed, rural communities or minority communities. This is a dirty little secret that people are now speaking out about.

Grist: Can you tell me about some of the threats you've experienced because of your work?

Bonds: You really haven't been intimidated until you see a 60-ton coal truck swerve at you on a narrow road, when there's a rock cliff on one side and a 100-foot drop-off on the other. I have a friend that says the only difference between now and the 1920s [when coal companies persecuted and even killed union organizers] is that they're not shooting us on courthouse steps. They're running us over with coal trucks.

The coal companies pack permit hearings with their men, and they brainwash the men, telling them, "These are the people who are going to take your jobs away." So there's foul language, threats, phone calls. You really can't dwell on it. Once I heard someone say at a permit hearing, "If I were these ladies, I'd be afraid to go home tonight." Well, you can't scare Appalachian women, and they ought to know that. We've had to fight all our lives.

Grist: Do you believe the mining companies can reform their practices?

Bonds: We'd like for them to mine coal responsibly, but we also want to bring in other industries. We want diverse economic development so that we have something when the coal is gone -- and that day is not far away. We need to wean ourselves. Our government knows this, and the alternatives are there, but the political will is missing.
At the same time, we can no longer blame the industry and politicians. It's our fault, too. We have to get off our duffs, get our noses out of the TV, and get our children to speak up. We really need to push.

Grist: What's been your greatest victory so far?

Bonds: I think it's watching or reading when an oppressed Appalachian person stands up with a protest sign, or writes a letter to the editor. When people empower themselves, that's the greatest victory.

■有關Grist Magazine：Grist Magazine是一線上環境雜誌，總部設在美國西雅圖。Grist Magazine嘗試以詼諧、幽默的角度來切入環境議題與行動，希望能在傳遞環境資訊之餘，也能夠娛樂讀者。

■本系列專訪中對答的部份，（）內的文字表示為原作者自行補充，以補足受訪者的談話內容。（Grist註）表示為Grist編輯群所加上的註解。（編按）表示為本報編輯部註解。