Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 3 Comments
We at the Front Porch would like to start employing more pieces like this in the future. We welcome your feedback (and in my case, your video editing expertise 🙂 ) Enjoy!
Thanks so much to Katey Lauer, Lenny Kohm, Kate Rooth, Austin Hall, John Humphrey, Kate Finneran, and Doug Aus, who made it possible to speak with more than half of Congress in just two days!
Monday, January 10th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments
In a tragic piece of news, we learn that there has been an attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Congresswoman Giffords was shot in the head at point blank range after a gunman opened fire at a public event. She remains in critical condition, although six are confirmed dead in the attack, and more than a dozen have been wounded.
Appalachian Voices has worked closely with Congresswoman Giffords and her staff, and last year she became a proud cosponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this senseless attack, as well as their families.
Please remember that in America the goal of our politics is the pursuit of peace, both at home and abroad. Our rhetoric should reflect that.
Appalachian Voices’ friend Jeff Biggers hails from Arizona and knew many of the victims, including the Congresswoman. He has more here. Ken Ward has a piece on how our rhetoric impacts our actions in Appalachia here.
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 | Posted by Mike McCoy | No Comments
Just before Christmas, three health organizations announced that they are joining together in opposition to the proposed Hampton Roads coal-fired power plant and are inviting you to join them.
The Consortium for Infant and Child Health (CINCH), the Virginia Asthma Coalition, and the American Lung Association came together with a joint statement of opposition stating that the coal plant proposed for Surry County would add a troubling amount of pollution to the already troubled air in Hampton Roads and Richmond and significantly affect the health of the citizens especially children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems. You can see their joint statement and sign on to it on the American Lung Association website.
Read More ...Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment
A loyal friend, inspiring leader, and and a proud family woman, Judy will be remembered for her unwavering commitment to the people of Appalachia and for her heroic efforts to ending mountaintop removal coal mining. With her sharp wit and quick smile, Judy was a joyful peer, an engaging collaborator, and a powerful and beautiful storyteller who told the rest of America the story of the Appalachia and its people. Judy stood up and spoke up for herself and her region at great personal risk to herself, facing arrest, threats, and even assault from allies of a corrupt coal industry . Born in Marfok Hollow,WV a proud daughter of a coal miner, Judy, received international acclaim in 2003, winning the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for community organizing at a time when few people had even heard of mountaintop removal. [ Read More ]Monday, January 3rd, 2011 | Posted by | 2 Comments
On Dec 17, 2010, Judge Shepherd ordered the Kentucky Energy & Environment Cabinet to post the proposed consent judgments with ICG and Frasure Creek to its website and provide for a 30 day public comment period. When the Appalachia Water Watch crew went to the state’s website to see if they followed the Judge’s order we found that they did not post all the documents incorporated by reference into the consent judgments. Because the public needs access to the whole record so that they can fully comment on the proposed Consent Judgments, we sent a letter to Judge Shepherd and asked him to clarify his order and require that the full Complaints and Exhibits be posted on the cabinet’s website.
The Energy and Environment Cabinet objected and complained to the judge that our request was “unreasonable” and “unduly burdensome” because they would have to post an additional 400 pages of material. While we wait to see if the Judge will clarify the order and make the state provide the full record for public comment, we thought we would show the Energy and Environment Cabinet how easy it is to post everything to a website. We didn’t find it unduly burdensome to provide the full record of Clean Water Act violations made by ICG and Frasure Creek. For your viewing and downloading pleasure here is the:
I guess the larger question is why doesn’t the Energy and Environment Cabinet want the public to see the full record? Perhaps a recent editorial in the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper explains why the Cabinet is so embarrassed:
“The environmental groups uncovered a massive failure by the industry to file accurate water discharge monitoring reports. They filed an intent to sue which triggered the investigation by the state’s Energy and Environment Cabinet. Also revealed was the cabinet’s failure to oversee a credible water monitoring program by the coal industry.”
Persons wishing to comment upon or object to either or both Consent Judgments are invited to submit comments electronically to the Cabinet at water@ky.gov or by U.S. mail to the Franklin Circuit Court, Division I, 669 Chamberlin Ave., Frankfort, KY 40601or to the cabinet at Division of Water, Attn: Public Information Officer, 200 Fair Oaks, 4th Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601.
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 | Posted by Sandra Diaz | No Comments
Our Appalachia Water Watch team has been busy busting Big Coal in Kentucky with great results. After finding over 20,000 violations of the Clean Water Act, including evidence of tampering and falsification of discharge monitoring reports, we filed a legally required 60-day intent-to-sue letter. On day 59, the state of Kentucky announced a settlement, including $660,000 in fines against the coal companies, which preempted our case. While the state’s action is historic, the fines represent less than 1% of the maximum that could be levied under the Clean Water Act. Worse, evidence of tampering and falsification revealed in the 60-day notice and our comments to the EPA, were attributed to clerical errors by the state.
Today, our Water Watch team and other plaintiffs are in Frankfort, Kentucky to file a motion to intervene in the state’s settlement. At a pre-hearing press conference, Donna Lisenby of Appalachian Voices explained why the settlement does not sufficiently redress the companies’ violations or deter future violations, since it shifts the responsibility for the violations away from the coal companies and towards the water monitoring contractors.
Read More ...Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 | Posted by Matt Wasson | 6 Comments
Last Friday the State of Kentucky announced that they had negotiated a $660,000 settlement with three coal companies over 2,765 water quality related violations at 103 coal mining operations in Kentucky. Based on a recent analysis by Appalachian Water Watch team, however, the state’s investigations may not have dug deeply enough.
The long list of violations for which the state did cite coal companies included:
As the office of Governor Beshear announced on Friday, the state initiated its action in response to a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue (NOI) against three coal companies – ICG Knott County, ICG Hazard, and Frasure Creek Mining – submitted by Appalachian Voices, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance on October 7th. The NOIs detailed numerous examples of the three companies exceeding pollution discharge limits in their permits, consistently failing to conduct the required monitoring of their discharges and, in many cases, submitting false monitoring data to the state agencies.
Appalachian Voices and allies were generally pleased that the state’s investigations confirmed our allegations that mining companies in Kentucky have been irresponsibly monitoring and failing to accurately report their harmful discharges into rivers of the state. But what the state did not hold the companies liable for, indeed attributed to clerical errors, were allegations in the NOI of “falsifying the required monitoring data.” Specifically, the NOIs demonstrated that on many occasions, companies submitted duplicate monitoring reports in which only the dates on the forms were changed. As the Appalachia Water Watch team reported in October:
Read More ...“The claims brought today may just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to irresponsible mining reporting practices and a failure in the state’s monitoring program. A recent trip to Kentucky’s Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement regional offices by Appalachian Voices’ Waterkeeper found stack after stack of discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) from more than 60 coal mines and processing facilities covered in dust on the desks of mine inspectors’ secretaries. They did not appear to have been evaluated for compliance by the regulators for more than three years. A sampling of the reports showed hundreds of repeated violations by coal mine operators in the state.”
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments
Having run the deadliest coal company in America for 10 years, Don Blankenship will earn a tidy $12 million retirement bonus for his troubles. Maybe this type of reimbursement seems normal in some circles, as this sum is roughly equal to what Sarah Palin made the first year after she quit her job. Massey remains the #1 perpetrator of mountaintop removal coal-mining – the costliest form of mining to our mountains, our health, our Appalachian communities, and our long-term economic well-being.
Over at Coal Tatoo, Ken Ward adds:
On first glance, [Blankenship’s] deal appears to include:
– $12 million, in two payments — one of $2 million this Dec. 31 and another of $10 million on July 1, 2011.
– Health-care coverage for two years.
– Blankenship will continue to consult for Massey for two years, and will not compete with Massey nor hire away Massey employees for that same period of time. He will be paid a $5,000 per month retainer as a consultant.
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 | Posted by | No Comments
By Mike Alilionis
Mountaintop Removal Campaign intern, Fall 2010
In our fight to end mountaintop removal, Appalachian Voices staff work day-in and day-out to make progress on legislation that would stop the destruction of Appalachia. A keystone of our legislative work is our office in the belly of the beast, right here in Washington, DC.
With some great accomplishments made in the last year and a lot of time spent wandering through the halls of Congress, we’ve decided that we’re due for a celebration!
(more…)
Monday, December 6th, 2010 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments
Massey Energy sets the standard for the kind of reckless, union-busting, corner-cutting mentality that has put workers and communities in Central Appalachia at constant risk of danger and death. Singularly, as bad as his leadership was, Don Blankenship was never the only problem. He was the product of an entire coal culture that puts executive profits and cost-cutting ahead of worker safety, economic diversification, human health, Appalachian culture, ecologic integrity, and America’s energy future. We’re not sad to see Don Blankenship go, but his example of corruption and community endangerment should be a clear example of why the Appalachian people need the help of Congress and the President to end practices like mountaintop removal immediately.
Lowell Feld has a great piece up at Blue Virginia, and Ken Ward has more at Coal Tattoo.
Friday, December 3rd, 2010 | Posted by | 2 Comments
Due to violations of the Clean Water Act by ICG and Frasure Creek Mining companies, discovered and made public by Appalachian Voices and our partners in October, the state of Kentucky today filed its own legal action against the two companies.
Kentucky charged ICG with 1,245 violations at 64 coal mining operations in 8 counties and Frasure Creek with 1,520 violations at 39 coal mining operations in six counties. The state levied a $350,000 fine against ICG and a $310,000 fine against Frasure Creek. The state cited the coal companies for:
· Failure to maintain required records
· Improper operation and maintenance,
· Failure to comply with effluent limitations contained in the KPDES permit
· Improper sample collection
· Failure to utilize approved test procedures, and
· Failure to comply with the terms of the permit.
· Failure to submit monitoring results with an authorized signature
· Failure to utilize approved test procedures,
· Contributing to pollution of the waters of the Commonwealth
· Degrading the waters of the Commonwealth. (more…)
Monday, November 29th, 2010 | Posted by Austin Hall | No Comments
This just in from the Public News Service.
CHARLESTON WV – About 150 West Virginia union workers have started building the Laurel Mountain wind farm on the border of Barbour and Randolph counties. 
The contractor expects to have the 61 turbines done by the end of next summer. Investment in the entire project should total about $250 million, and it should be able to produce a hundred and thirty megawatts of electricity.
This clean energy facility is employing local union and non-union contractors and purchasing local materials.
For the whole story and a short radio clip click HERE.
