Kentuckian focuses on the need to end mountaintop removal, improve safety

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Appalachian Voices staff was on hand at the National Press Club last week to watch Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship predict further mining tragedies, dismiss coalfield citizens, and brag about blowing up Appalachia to export coal to India. Needless to say that the press walked away unimpressed. Sunday’s Washington Post put the quick kibosh on Don Blankenship’s high flying public relations circus with Dana Milbank’s headline screaming” Massey Energy’s Blankenship: No shame, but plenty of blame.”

Milbank laments for Blankenship:

Poor CEO Blankenship. That mean federal government is not allowing him to pursue his happiness, just because his employees are dead.

Massey Energy is the #1 perpetrator of mountaintop removal. Don Blankenship is the man leading the charge. If you care about ending mountaintop removal, and protecting Appalachia from greedy, reckless CEOs, read the whole piece here and then call your Congressman (202-224-3121) and ask them to stop mountaintop removal. They can support the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) in the House, or the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) in the Senate.

Robert C. Byrd “may come closer to the kind of senator the Founding Fathers had in mind than any other.” — Almanac of American Politics

Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) passed away early this morning at the age of 92. Senator Byrd is the longest serving member of the United States Congress in American history, and as the Senate’s “President Pro Tempore,” Senator Byrd was third in line to the Presidency. According to this website, he cast more than 18,680 roll call votes — more votes than any other Senator in American history — compiling an amazing 97 percent attendance record in his more than five decades of service in the Senate. He ran for office 15 times and never once lost a race.

Driven by desire to see life improved for those in the coalfields where he was raised, Senator Byrd used his position as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee to bring billions of dollars back to his home state. During a life of high achievement and leadership, he considered this his greatest achievement. When a balanced budget amendment was defeated in 1994, Senator Byrd said, “The basic power which is probably more fundamental than any other power in the Constitution is the power of the purse. That power of the purse belongs to the people, and that is where it is vested.”

In 1937, at the age of 19, Senator Byrd married his high-school sweetheart Erma Ora James. The two were married until her passing in March of 2006. They are survived by 2 children, 5 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. A consumate musician and entertainer (Listen to him play Cripple Creek), Senator Byrd was also a prolific writer, publishing on topics from Senate History to life in the coalfields. He was famous for his knowledge of the United States Constitution and was known to carry a pocket copy with him at all times, often waving it in the air during impassioned speeches on the floor of the United States Senate. Although Senator Byrd was a Democrat, his non-partisanship impressed his colleagues, and he was even considered for a spot on the Supreme Court by President Nixon, a Republican.

As recently as last month, Senator Byrd was demanding that the coal industry respect the miners, land, and people of West Virginia.

The industry of coal must also respect the land that yields the coal, as well as the people who live on the land. If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated.

At the urging of many of his constituents, Senator Byrd’s position regarding coal’s place in West Virginia changed slowly over the years. Senator Byrd called our mountains God’s Gift to West Virginia, and spent his final years urging the coal industry to Embrace the Future.

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In recent years, West Virginia has seen record high coal production and record low coal employment … The increased use of mountaintop removal mining means that fewer miners are needed to meet company production goals.

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It is also a reality that the practice of mountaintop removal mining has a diminishing constituency in Washington. It is not a widespread method of mining, with its use confined to only three states. Most members of Congress, like most Americans, oppose the practice, and we may not yet fully understand the effects of mountaintop removal mining on the health of our citizens. West Virginians may demonstrate anger toward the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over mountaintop removal mining, but we risk the very probable consequence of shouting ourselves out of any productive dialogue with EPA and our adversaries in the Congress.

Some have even suggested that coal state representatives in Washington should block any advancement of national health care reform legislation until the coal industry’s demands are met by the EPA. I believe that the notion of holding the health care of over 300 million Americans hostage in exchange for a handful of coal permits is beyond foolish; it is morally indefensible. It is a non-starter, and puts the entire state of West Virginia and the coal industry in a terrible light.

To be part of any solution, one must first acknowledge a problem. To deny the mounting science of climate change is to stick our heads in the sand and say “deal me out.” West Virginia would be much smarter to stay at the table.

His Senate staff remain some of the hardest working people on Capitol Hill, and have made enormous efforts to find out the facts about the impacts of mountaintop removal on coalfield communities. He proudly stood up against Don Blankenship and the arrogance of Massey Energy. One of his last public actions was to publicly blast Don Blankenship and Massey’s record at Upper Big Branch at a recent Senate hearing on May 20th. You can see the webcast of that here.

For more on the life and times of Senator Robert C Byrd, please see the WV Gazette, NPR, MSNBC, New York Times.

Senator Byrd earned a law degree while serving in Congress, presented here by President John F Kennedy.

From a young age, Senator Byrd was an outstanding fiddler, gracing the stages of the Kennedy Center, the Grand Ol’ Opry, and Hee Haw, even releasing his own album called “Mountain Fiddler.”

The US Army Corps of Engineers has decided to suspend the “streamlined” Nationwide Permit 21 in Appalachia.

According to statements made by Meg Gaffney-Smith, Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program:

“Under the surface coal mining MOU, we identified concerns with surface coal mines specifically related to mountaintop removal…within those states.”

“Over the past several years, we have had enough new information, much of it complied by the Corps and other interested parties, that indicated that there may be concerns with this particular type of mining technique, impacts to aquatic resources and water quality, and how well stream mitigation projects were performing….we believed it was best to suspend NW permit 21 in this region.”

This is an enormous victory for coalfield citizens who have worked for years and years to end the abusive nationwide permitting process. Companies seeking to do fills will now need to use the more stringent individual permitting process, which allows for greater public input.

Read Appalachian Voices’ Official Statement on the announcement.

iLoveMountains.org has more about the lead up to this decision here, here, and here. As always, Ken Ward has more over at Coal Tattoo.

Press releases from Army Corps of Engineers below…
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Army Corps of Engineers announces decision to suspend Nationwide Permit 21 in the Appalachian Region

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today it has suspended the use of Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21) in the Appalachian region of six states. NWP 21 is used to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities. The suspension is effective immediately and applies to the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. NWP 21 continues to be available in other regions of the country.

The suspension in Appalachia will remain in effect until the Corps takes further action on NWP 21 or until NWP 21 expires on March 18, 2012. While the suspension is in effect, individuals who propose surface coal mining projects that involve discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States will have to obtain Department of the Army authorization under the Clean Water Act, through the Individual Permit process. The individual permit evaluation procedure provides increased public involvement in the permit evaluation process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects.

On June 11, 2009, the U.S. Department of the Army, U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding with each agency agreeing to work together to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian region. As a part of the MOU, the Corps agreed to issue a public notice to seek comment on the proposed action to modify NWP 21 to preclude its use in the Appalachian region.

On July 15, 2009, a Federal Register notice was published soliciting public comment on the Corps’ proposal to modify NWP 21. The notice also proposed to suspend NWP 21 in order to provide more immediate environmental protection while the longer-term process of modification is fully evaluated. The comment period was extended in response to many requests, and public hearings were conducted in October 2009 in each of the six affected states. Approximately 6,000 individuals attended the public hearings and about 400 individuals provided oral testimony. The Corps received approximately 23,000 comments during the comment period that concluded on October 26, 2009, of which 1,750 were substantive comments that were nearly evenly divided for and against the proposed modification and suspension actions.

The Corps determined after a thorough review and consideration of comments that continuing use of NWP 21 in this region may result in more than minimal impacts to aquatic resources. Activities that result in more than minimal impacts to the aquatic environment must be evaluated in accordance with individual permit procedures. Therefore, NWP 21 has been suspended in this region and coal mining activities impacting waters of the U.S. in this region will be evaluated in accordance with individual permit procedures.

NWP 21 verifications provided in writing by the Corps to mining companies before today’s suspension will continue to be valid until the NWP expires on March 18, 2012. Modification of NWP 21 will continue to be evaluated and a decision on this proposal will be made before NWP 21 expires.

Five pending NWP 21 requests are currently being processed in the Appalachian region affected by suspension of NWP 21. Corps districts will contact these applicants to discuss the process to submit individual permit applications for these activities. If applicants submit individual permit requests for these activities, the Corps districts will prioritize the evaluation of these applications. The Corps will work with the applicants and other interested parties to address and resolve substantive concerns and make final permit decisions as expeditiously as possible.

The Corps’ decision will be published in the June 18, 2010, edition of the Federal Register. A copy of the notice, FAQs and the decision document will be posted on the Corps’ Web site at https://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Pages/nnpi.aspx.

HUGE news. Don Blankenship will testify before Congress next week alongside UMWA President Cecil Roberts, whose impassioned testimony drew quite a reaction a few weeks ago before the Senate HELP Committee. (.pdf)

Senator Byrd has accused Massey of “scoffing and laughing at” repeated MSHA violations at the Upper Big Branch mine prior to the disaster that killed 29 men.

The hearing will seek to address funding issues in regards to mining safety. Appalachian Voices and the iLoveMountains.org community is asking Congress to provide safe mines and safe communities in the coalfields by improving mine safety and ending mountaintop removal. Join 3000 people who have signed our letter to Congressman Rahall here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Robert Byrd (D-WV), the senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, announced today that the panel will hold a hearing to discuss the need to provide additional federal funding for mine safety. The hearing will be held Thursday, May 20 at 2:00 PM in room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearing will also be webcast at https://appropriations.senate.gov/.

“The entire nation mourned the recent loss of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia. As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I am examining possible legislation that would make a number of policy changes in the area of mine safety. But additional Federal appropriations are also needed to help prevent similar disasters, particularly when it comes to reducing the backlog of appeals at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission,” said Harkin. “Senator Byrd requested this important hearing and I am happy to examine this critical area.”

“I would like to thank Chairman Harkin, a fellow son of a coal miner, for agreeing to hold this very important hearing at my request,” added Byrd. “This is a good beginning to a process that I hope will lead to substantial and long-overdue changes. We must examine the level of resources allocated to our mine regulatory agencies to ensure that, in this day and age, tragedies like the one at Upper Big Branch mine are prevented in the future.”

The witness list as it currently stands follows:

Panel I
The Honorable Joseph A. Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.
The Honorable M. Patricia Smith, Solicitor of Labor , U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.
John Howard, M.D., Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, Washington, D.C.

Panel II
Don L. Blankenship, Chairman and CEO, Massey Energy Company, Richmond, Virginia
Cecil Roberts, International President, United Mine Workers of America, Fairfax, Virginia

The recent Montcoal disaster highlighted the need for stronger mining safety reforms in our coal mines. We will continue highlighting policies where we see a need for improvement.

We suggest following Ken Ward’s fantastic blog Coal Tattoo, and highly suggest reading all of his great piece in this Sunday’s Charleston Gazette. It included this staggering list of explosions occurring in intake airways, blamed on sparks from electrical equipment that was not explosion proof.

# March 9 and 11, 1976 — A total of 26 miners were killed in two explosions at the Scotia Mine in Letcher County, Ky. The first of the fatal blasts, which killed 15 miners, was blamed on sparks from a battery-powered locomotive used in an intake air tunnel.
# Nov. 7, 1980 — Five miners died in an explosion at Westmoreland Coal’s Ferrell No. 17 Mine near Uneeda, W.Va. Investigators trace the ignition to a locomotive used in an intake airway.
# June 21, 1983 — Seven miners are killed in an explosion at Clinchfield Coal Co.’s McClure No. 1 Mine at McClure, Va. The ignition was believed to have been caused by sparks from one of the following: A battery-powered mantrip, a circuit breaker, a dinner hole light connection, an electrical cable plug, or a cable for a conveyor belt feeder.
# July 4, 1983 — One miner is killed at Helen Mining Co.’s Homer City, Pa., Mine. Investigators blame arcing on mine vehicle controls.
# Feb. 16, 1984 — Three miners die in an explosion at Pennsylvania Mine Corp.’s Greenwich Collieries No. 1 Mine in Indiana County, Pa. Arcing of a battery powered locomotive is blamed.
# Dec. 26, 1987 — One miner dies in a methane and coal dust explosion at Double R Coal’s No. 1 Mine in Duty, Va. Investigators blame two power centers, a battery charging cable and a scoop vehicle.
# Sept. 13, 1989 — Ten miners died at Pyro Mining Co.’s Pyro No. 9 Slope William Station Mine at Wheatcroft, Ky. Investigators could not pinpoint whether the ignition occurred at the mine face or in the intake airway, but among the possible sources was a wire in the intake.
# Sept. 23, 2001 — Thirteen miners die in a series of explosions at the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 Mine in Brookwood, Ala. The two major explosions were linked to electrical equipment in the intake tunnels.

Sources: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

This just in from Senator Byrd…

“Our Greatest Resource” – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.

The recent explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in my home county of Raleigh, which killed 29 West Virginians and injured 2 others, has brought West Virginia statewide sorrow and worldwide attention.

Reflecting on President John F. Kennedy’s death, Robert F. Kennedy once said, ” A tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom.”

As we seek to understand how and why the Upper Big Branch disaster occurred, we might also re-examine conventional wisdom about the future of the coal industry in our state.

Americans depend mightily on our coal to meet their energy needs. Coal is the major source of electricity in 32 states, and produces roughly half of all the electricity consumed in the United States.

As West Virginians, our birthright is coal. The ancient fossil is abundant here, and is as emblematic of our heritage and cultural identity as the black bear, the cardinal, and the rhododendron.

Indeed, the coal severance tax codifies the philosophy that the coal belongs to all West Virginians, and that they deserve meaningful compensation for its extraction. This philosophy has also been embraced nationwide, through the Black Lung Excise Tax, the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee, and several other existing and proposed programs that provide additional compensation to the people and places that produce our coal, oil, gas, and other energy resources.

Coal brings much needed jobs and revenue to our economy. But the industry has a larger footprint, including inherent responsibilities that must be acknowledged by the industry.

First and foremost, the coal industry must respect the miner and his family. A single miner’s life is certainly worth the expense and effort required to enhance safety. West Virginia has some of the highest quality coal in the world, and mining it should be considered a privilege, not a right. Any company that establishes a pattern of negligence resulting in injuries and death should be replaced by a company that conducts business more responsibly. No doubt many energy companies are keen for a chance to produce West Virginia coal.

The industry of coal must also respect the land that yields the coal, as well as the people who live on the land. If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated.

The sovereignty of West Virginia must also be respected. The monolithic power of industry should never dominate our politics to the detriment of local communities. Our coal mining communities do not have to be marked by a lack of economic diversity and development that can potentially squelch the voice of the people. People living in coal communities deserve to have a free hand in managing their own local affairs and public policies without undue political pressure to submit to the desires of industry.

We have coal companies in West Virginia which go out of their way to operate safely and with minimal impact on our environment. Those companies should be commended and rewarded.

But the coal industry has an immensely powerful lobby in Washington and in Charleston. For nearly a hundred years they have come to our presidents, our members of Congress, our legislators, our mayors, and our county commissioners to demand their priorities. It is only right that the people of West Virginia speak up and make the coal industry understand what is expected of it in return.

The old chestnut that coal is West Virginia’s greatest natural resource deserves revision. I believe that our people are West Virginia’s most valuable resource. We must demand to be treated as such.

With this mornings Notice of Intent for an Environmental Impact Statement (.pdf), the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement give a few new details on their intended change to stream protections in regards to surface mining.

In their words, the principle elements of the proposed action include –
• Adding more extensive and more specific permit application requirements concerning baseline data on hydrology, geology, and aquatic biology; the determination of the probable hydrologic consequences of mining; and the hydrologic reclamation plan; as well as more specific requirements for the cumulative hydrologic impact assessment.

• Defining the term “material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area.” This term is critically important because, under section 510(b)(3) of SMCRA, the regulatory authority may not approve a permit application unless the proposed operation has been designed to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area. This term includes streams downstream of the mining operation.

• Revising the regulations governing mining activities in or near streams, including mining through streams.

• Adding more extensive and more specific monitoring requirements for surface water, groundwater, and aquatic biota during mining and reclamation.

• Establishing corrective action thresholds based on monitoring results.

• Revising the backfilling and grading rules, excess spoil rules, and approximate original contour restoration requirements to incorporate landform restoration principles and reduce discharges of total dissolved solids.

• Limiting variances and exceptions from approximate original contour restoration requirements.

• Requiring reforestation of previously wooded areas.

• Requiring that the regulatory authority coordinate the SMCRA permitting process with Clean Water Act permitting activities to the extent practicable.

• Codifying the financial assurance provisions of OSM’s March 31, 1997, policy statement2 on correcting, preventing, and controlling acid/toxic mine drainage and clarifying that those provisions apply to all long-term discharges of pollutants, not just pollutants for which effluent limitations exist.

• Updating the definitions of perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams.

“The President has parked his tanks on our front lawn”- Luke Popovich of National Mining Association
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The Washington Post gave us a big sloppy pile of news-ish Sunday morning about how Appalachian citizens are wary of President Obama’s environmental policies. The authors choose to regurgitate the uber-Appalachian authenticity of Washington DC’s own Luke Popovich (a chief spokesperson for the DC coal lobby) while ignoring the 1000s of Appalachian citizens who have shown their appreciation to President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency for “doing their jobs.”

These four paragraphs sum up the rudderlessness incomprehensibility of the article’s narrative, but check out what shock-jock Popovich has to say about protecting Appalachian communities from the inevitable impacts mining coal:

Obama argues that mine owners could afford operations — if they wanted to — that protect the waterways while preserving valuable mining jobs.

Many coal companies didn’t seem to suffer financially in Obama’s first year: Massey Energy, for instance, recorded a $104 million profit despite the recession. But companies say the new guidelines threaten both companies and mining towns.

“You’d be hard pressed to find a president whose actions have been more warlike on coal. There are those who say the president has parked his tanks on our front lawn, and it’s hard to dispute that,” said Luke Popovich of the National Mining Association.

On Sunday, however, Obama will be talking about miners, a subject that unites all parties. Local political experts say he could win favor by promising more federal safety oversight and punishment of coal companies’ offenses.

Mr. Popovich’s rhetoric is astoundingly irresponsible. The NMA’s beltway spokesperson, responsible to ZERO citizens, who lives in Washington DC, indulges in right-wing militaristic fantasy talk about Obama’s personal aggressiveness towards him in vivid 3D detail. In that culture of unaccountability, no wonder then that the NMA encourages mountaintop removal and also fights worker safety regulations at every turn.

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See pictures and a full transcript at the White House blog

Another study – this one from Than Hitt and Dr. Michael Hendryx – shows a high correlation between coal mining and certain types of cancers. It also outlines what a loss of ecologic integrity can mean for human health. You can purchase the study here, as well as see the abstract and preview. The image below shows a respiratory cancer cluster, focused on southwestern West Virginia.

Conclusions
It is intuitive that ecological integrity and human health are intrinsically linked (e.g., Rapport, 1999; Di Giulio and Benson, 2002; Tabor, 2002). However, global analyses have shown weak or statistically insignificant relations between ecological integrity and human health (Sieswerda et al., 2001; Huynen et al., 2004). In contrast, our analysis demonstrated a significant association between ecological disintegrity and human cancer mortality in West Virginia, USA. We detected significant influences of known socioeconomic risk factors (smoking, poverty, and urbanization) on cancer mortality, but these factors did not account for the observed integrity–cancer relationship. Nor could we explain our observations as a statistical effect of spatial autocorrelation within the study area. Instead, our study demonstrated that the ecological integrity of streams was significantly related to public health in nearby areas. Although the macroinvertebrate data evaluated in this study were collected to assess the quality of aquatic life, our study revealed that these assessments may also contribute an improved understanding of human health and safety.

Text of the President’s Remarks

Now, let me say a few words about what has happened in West Virginia.

This has been an unimaginably difficult week for the people who live near Montcoal. Thirty-one workers were inside the Upper Big Branch mine when an explosion ripped through its walls on Monday afternoon. Two were saved. Twenty-five were lost. And for the four who remain missing, we are praying for a miracle.

I want to offer my deepest condolences to the friends and the families of the fathers and the husbands and brothers, nephews and sons who were killed in this accident. I’m also in awe of the courage and selflessness shown by the rescue teams who’ve risked their lives over and over and over this week for the chance to save another. They’ve worked around the clock, with little sleep, for the past few days, and this nation owes them a debt of gratitude.

Now, mining has a long and proud history in West Virginia. For many families and communities, it’s not just a way to make a living; it’s a way of life. And the jobs they do in these mines help bring heat and electricity to millions of Americans.

It’s a profession that’s not without risks and danger, and the workers and their families know that. But their government and their employers know that they owe it to these families to do everything possible to ensure their safety when they go to work each day.

When I was in the Senate, I supported the efforts of Senators Byrd and Rockefeller to try and improve mine safety, but it’s clear that more needs to be done. And that’s why I’ve asked my Secretary of Labor as well as the head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration to give me a preliminary report next week on what went wrong and why it went wrong so badly, so that we can take the steps necessary to prevent such accidents in the future.

Because mining is a tradition that’s often passed down through generations, it’s not uncommon to see an entire family choose this line of work. And sadly, when a tragedy like this occurs, it’s also not uncommon to lose almost an entire family all at once.

I spoke to some surviving members of one such family on Wednesday. This week, Tim Davis, and two of his nephews, Josh, age 25, and Cory, age 20, were killed in the explosion in the Upper Big Branch mine.

Rescuers have reported that Tim and his two nephews were all found together. Two other members of their families that worked in the mine were able to escape unharmed.

Before he left for the mine on Monday, Josh wrote a letter for his girlfriend and young daughter. And in it, he said, “If anything happens to me, I’ll be looking down from heaven at you all. I love you. Take care of my baby. Tell her that daddy loves her, she’s beautiful, she’s funny. Just take care of my baby girl.”

Reflecting on that letter, and the losses she endured in just one week, Josh’s mother Pam simply said, “It is just West Virginia. When something bad happens, we come together.” When something bad happens, we come together.

Through tragedy and heartache, that’s the spirit that has sustained this community, and this country, for over 200 years. And as we pray for the souls of those we’ve lost, and the safe return of those who are missing, we are also sustained by the words of the Psalm that are particularly poignant right now. Those words read: “You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Thank you very much.