Scottish Anti Open-cast

Donald Dewar, Secretary of State for Scotland, was recently given a 'souvenir' from Coalburn by the Scottish Opencast Action Group: two full carrier bags of coal dust were handed over at the Scottish Office with the message, Collected from the lungs of children living next to opencasts. There's more where this came from! Scotland is more threatened by opencast now than ever before as opencast companies see Scotland as having laxer planning laws and fewer people to object. The demo, to the tune of pipes and drums, coincided with 'Minerals '98 - Making More of Life', a UK-wide week to celebrate mineral extraction. Said a Coalburn local - It is outrageous that Minerals '98 have been given L64,000 by the DTI and Department of the Environment to 'celebrate' opencasts! No-one is giving a penny or a thought for the communities whose lives are made miserable by all the traffic, dust and noise. Contact SCAG - 01501 785202.