Last Friday, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin appointed his former chief counsel, Carte Goodwin, to fill the vacated Senate seat of the late Robert C. Byrd. Goodwin, at the age of 36, has become the youngest member of the US Senate, replacing the chamber’s oldest and longest serving member. Goodwin will hold the seat until November, at which point Manchin hopes to fill it.

Speaking of Byrd, Governor Manchin said, “I think today we’ve honored him by choosing a worthy replacement.” Both President Obama and US Representative Nick Rahall [D-WV3] praised the appointment.

Before he had even taken the oath of office, Goodwin was already blasting the climate bill. Our nation’s newest Senator proclaimed:

From what I’ve seen of the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House of Representatives and other proposals pending in the Senate, they simply are not right for West Virginia.

And went on to say:

I will not support any piece of legislation that threatens any West Virginia job, any West Virginia family, or jeopardizes the long-term economic security of this state.

Quite the mantra. But Goodwin must realized that coal mining employs fewer people than it did at the turn of the last century in West Virginia? Owing much to the advent of mountaintop removal, the increasingly mechanized industry has taken the miner out of the mine and turned what once amounted to 130,000 jobs in West Virginia alone, to around 20,000 jobs.

Is Goodwin not concerned about the declining availability of Central Appalachian coal, and what this will mean for the “long-term economic security” of his state? As staunch coal advocate Rep. Nick Rahall himself has admitted:

The state’s most productive coal seams likely will be exhausted in 20 years. And while coal will remain an important part of the economy, the state should emphasize green job development.

On a brighter note, the Associated Press points out that Goodwin was the principal author of coal-mine rescue reforms following the Sago and Aracoma mine disasters of 2006. Yet, Coal Tattoo notes that Goodwin was also involved in “Governor Manchin’s decision to back off any real investigation of the concerns about the safety of Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County.” Marsh Fork Elementary sits below Massey’s massive earthen Shumate impoundment, which holds back billions of gallons of coal sludge. Byrd, contrarily, showed true concern for the students and families of West Virginia, making the the following statement about Marsh Fork and Massey:

“For the sake of the kids, they should address these serious environmental concerns at Marsh Fork Elementary immediately.”

Not long before he passed away, Senator Byrd addressed the coal industry and the state of West Virginia stating:

The greatest threats to the future of coal do not come from possible constraints on mountaintop removal mining or other environmental regulations, but rather from rigid mindsets, depleting coal reserves, and the declining demand for coal as more power plants begin shifting to biomass and natural gas as a way to reduce emissions.

He furthered:

Change has been a constant throughout the history of our coal industry. West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it. One thing is clear. The time has arrived for the people of the Mountain State to think long and hard about which course they want to choose.

Only time will tell if Goodwin is willing to accept the realities of the 21st century and embrace the change that Byrd envisioned.

Internationally renowned author and farmer, Kentuckian Wendell Berry, has taken back personal papers he donated to the University of Kentucky. The prolific writer made the decision after his Alma Mater, where he also taught for 19 years, named a basketball dormitory the “Wildcat Coal Lodge.”

“The University’s president and board have solemnized an alliance with the coal industry, in return for a large monetary ‘gift,’ granting to the benefactors, in effect, a co-sponsorship of the University’s basketball team,” Berry explained.

Mr. Berry has penned as many as 50 books and received multiple awards for his writing. The papers at hand are 60 cubic feet in volume – extensive enough to fill around 100 boxes – and the author plans to move them to the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort.

The famous Kentuckian is no fan of the coal industry and staunchly opposes mountaintop removal. In a 2005 essay entitled, Not a Vision of Our Future, But of Ourselves, he wrote:

Eastern Kentucky, in its natural endowments of timber and minerals, is the wealthiest region of our state, and it has now experienced more than a century of intense corporate “free enterprise,” with the result that it is more impoverished and has suffered more ecological damage than any other region. The worst inflictor of poverty and ecological damage has been the coal industry, which has taken from the region a wealth probably incalculable, and has imposed the highest and most burdening “costs of production” upon the land and the people. Many of these costs are, in the nature of things, not repayable. Some were paid by people now dead and beyond the reach of compensation. Some are scars on the land that will not be healed in any length of time imaginable by humans.

The author goes on to say:

If Kentuckians, upstream and down, ever fulfill their responsibilities to the precious things they have been given—the forests, the soils, and the streams—they will do so because they will have accepted a truth that they are going to find hard: the forests, the soils and the streams are worth far more than the coal for which they are now being destroyed.

Click here to read his entire essay.

At present, Mr. Berry is focused on promoting Wes Jackson’s 50-Year Farm Bill (pdf) and working to stop mountaintop removal. The author was recently featured in a special issue of Solutions journal, dedicated to ideas for a brighter future in Appalachia.

The Watauga Riverkeeper Festival is THIS SATURDAY! Come out on July 24, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.! Enjoy a day of outdoor recreation and a celebration of the river with live music, games, food and if the river is running—a float down the wild and wonderful Watauga River. This week’s river critter:

The Crawdad: A Southern Staple

We all know that people down south love their “crawfish boils”, where crayfish (more colloquially called crawfish or crawdads) are seasoned to delicious tastes and eaten en masse.

But crawdads aren’t just an important staple of a southern diet; even more importantly they are a staple of rivers and their ecology. The largest diversity of crawdads in the world is exhibited right here in the southeastern United States, with over 330 species populating the waters.

Relatives of the lobster, crawdads are freshwater crustaceans of the order Decapoda. This means they have ten legs, one pair of which is a set of large, sharp pincers.

When cooking up some Louisiana crawdads, we might not think about what they eat at their parties. Crawdads generally feed off of small aquatic creatures, living and dead, and plants. This diet provides important ecological processes to keep rivers healthy.

One important note: Crawdads are very sensitive to changes in river health. Most crawdads cannot withstand water pollution of any kind, so it is important to keep the waters fresh for our crustacean friends.

News broke today that former Congressman and West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler has also filed to run for the vacated Senate seat of the late Robert C. Byrd. Representative Capito, meanwhile, has announced that she will not be seeking the seat.

Hechler stated this morning:

I don’t want to make it a campaign against Gov. Manchin. I want to make it about mountaintop removal. A vote for me is not a vote for Ken Hechler — it’s tantamount to a vote against mountaintop removal.

Hechler is a long time opponent of mountaintop removal. The 95-year-old former representative was arrested last year for blocking traffic and protesting Massey Energy at one of the company’s prep plants in Raleigh County. More recently, Hechler took part in a protest at Marsh Fork Elementary in Coal River Valley. Marsh Fork Elementary sits below Massey’s massive earthen Shumate impoundment, which holds back billions of gallons of coal sludge. Close to the dam and the school, mountaintop removal operations detonate earth shattering explosives.

Representative Hechler and other members of the 1962 House Committee on Science and Astronautics

After being elected to the House in 1958 (the same year Senator Byrd was elected to the Senate), Hechler served nine terms. In 1974, after a House amendment was introduced to allow mountaintop removal in to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, Hechler proclaimed:

Mountaintop removal is the most devastating form of mining on steep slopes. Once we scalp off a mountain and the spoil runs down the mountainside and the acid runs into the water supply, there is no way to check it. This is not only esthetically bad as anyone can tell who flies over the State of West Virginia or any place where the mountaintops are scraped off, but also it is devastating to those people who live below the mountain. Some of the worst effects of strip mining in Kentucky, West Virginia, and other mountainous areas result from mountaintop removal. McDowell County in WV, which has mined more coal than any other county in the Nation, is getting ready right now to strip mine off four or five mountaintops. They are displacing families and moving them out of those areas because everybody down slope from where there is mountaintop mining is threatened. I certainly hope that all the compromises that have been accepted by the committee, offered by industry in the committee, that now we do not compromise what little is left of this bill by amendments such as this.

Hechler served as a military officer in World War II, helped President Franklin Roosevelt write his 13-volume public papers, and was the only member of Congress to march with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

He does not expect to win the seat, but has noted:

I’m running for the environmentalists who are opposed to mountaintop removal. It’s a way to put it on the ballot. I’m trying to give an opportunity for all those people in the state to show there is strength in our numbers.

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin announced this morning that he is making a bid for the late Robert Byrd’s Senate seat. There will be an August 28 primary and a November 2 general election for the vacated seat, and the winner of the election will take over for Carte Goodwin – Manchin’s temporary appointee.

Speculation has it that Republican Representative Shelley Moore Capito could also run for the seat, though the Congresswoman has yet to announce she will make a bid.

Click here to learn more from the NYTimes.

Over the weekend, polluted runoff from the BB&T parking lot on Highway 105 in Boone, NC killed all life in a 1.5 mile long stretch of Hodge’s Creek. The incident was caused by a toxic asphalt sealant that a careless contractor failed to keep from entering the creek during rainfall on Saturday. Of the many fish that were killed, most were trout, including one that was 13 inches long.

Call 336-771-5000 to ask the local Deptartment of Water Quality to investigate the incident! The Appalachian Voices Waterkeeper Team is investigating and produced the video below.

The material data safety sheet (MSDS) for Asphalt Based Pavement Sealer reads:

SECTION VII — SPILL OR LEAK PROCEDURES SARA TITLE III: #302: No #304 CERCLA: No #313: No Steps to be Taken in Case Material is Released or Spilled: Ventilate the area. Wear approved respiratory protection. Wear suitable protective clothing, gloves, and eye/face protection. Coal Tar Driveway Sealer is a marine pollutant and should be placarded as such when transported in bulk over sea or large bodies of water. Coal Tar Driveway Sealer will harm waterlife and should be prevented from entering any body of water. Dispose of in accordance with federal, state and local regulations.

Stay tuned for more updates, CLICK HERE to visit the Upper Watauga River Keeper website, and don’t forget to call 336-771-5000 to ask the local Dept. of Water Quality to investigate the incident!

Make sure you don’t miss today’s NPR article about methane monitors being disabled at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine.

From the article:

An NPR News investigation has documented an incident in February 2010 in which an Upper Big Branch electrician was ordered to circumvent the automatic shutoff mechanism on a methane detector installed on a continuous mining machine. The machine then continued to cut rock without a working methane monitor, a dangerous and possibly illegal act.

The incident occurred two months before the explosion that killed 29 mine workers. Running mining machines without methane monitors risks similar explosions.

Massey contends:

The supervisor did not order an electrician to bridge a methane monitor on a continuous miner “to keep the mining machine from shutting off while operating.” The methane monitor was bypassed in order to move the miner from the area that did not have roof support to a safer area for repair.

Click here to read the NPR piece

An unannounced change in the EPA’s web page for Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2) may signal a shift in the agency’s stance on reusing toxic coal ash for “beneficial reuse.”

Since July 2, 2010 the informational page has been blank except for a lone note: “The Coal Combustion Products Partnerships (C2P2) program Web pages have been removed while the program is being re-evaluated.”

Every year, 129 million tons of coal ash waste is produced by coal fire power plants in the United States. This toxic fly-ash is made of fine particulates and heavy metals that pose a growing threat to the environment and public health. Yet, the EPA has allowed coal ash waste to be reused in agriculture, construction materials, consumer products, concrete, and even mine filling. Ash that is not reused is stored in billion-gallon ponds, known as slurry ponds, or dumped in landfills.

In late June the EPA proposed two regulation standards for coal ash waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The more stringent option, Subtitle C, would classify coal combustion waste as a hazardous material; however, beneficial reuse would not be regulated under either EPA regulation option. The EPA is currently accepting public comments on the proposed regulation, which you can submit here or through Appalachian Voices in the near future.

The C2P2 program seems a contradictory step for the EPA. Shouldn’t an environmental agency be regulating hazardous materials, not promoting its use in public works, our food supply, or in potential contamination situations? Recent news from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) cites the EPA allowing coal executives to “edit agency reports and fact sheets to downplay risks of coal ash.”

PEER also uncovered the EPA using coal industry research as basis for promoting the reuse program, and filed a formal complaint this month over EPA publications that claim coal ash reuse is a form of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

“We suggest that EPA use this opportunity to honestly review the entire range of potential public health and environmental effects of injecting millions of tons of unquestionably hazardous materials into the stream of commerce,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch.

Downplaying the disastrous consequences of the TVA ash spill is impossible, as is denying coal ash’s threat to public health. Through further regulation and dismissal of the “beneficial” factors in coal ash reuse, coal companies may finally begin to pay the real price for an outdated fuel source.

Mountain Justice Photo

Yesterday, activists with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice locked themselves to a piece of mining equipment called a highwall miner on Coal River Mountain at Massey Energy’s Bee Tree Surface Mine. Colin Flood and Katie Huszcza locked themselves to the machine in order to raise awareness of the threats Massey is posing on the local community and the region’s ecology.

The activists are also calling attention to the fact that detonating earth-shattering explosives a short distance from Massey’s immense earthen Brushy Fork Impoundment—the largest lake of coal sludge in the Western Hemisphere – is ill-advised, to say the least.

Massey, of course, is the company that owned the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners tragically lost their lives in April. Going back 10 years, 52 miners have died in Massey mines. Making the argument that the company shows a remarkable level of disregard for the welfare of miners, communities and ecologies could hardly be easier. In 2009, Massey was charged with $12.9 million in proposed fines for safety violations. In 2008, the EPA fined Massey $20 million for 4,500 violations of the Clean Water Act; the largest fine in the history of the law. In 2010, four environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the company citing evidence that, unbelievably, Massey’s Clean Water Act violations had, increased in frequency since its record 2008 fine.

Particularly relevant, in October of 2000, a Massey owned sludge impoundment in Martin County Kentucky failed and leaked more than 300 million gallons of sludge, killing 1.6 million fish and contaminating over 27,000 people’s water.

If the “Level C” rated Brushy Fork impoundment fails, Massey itself estimates that at least 998 people will lose their lives. Level C ratings are given to dams that have “specific problems that could lead to failure.”

Compounding concerned residents frustration is the understanding that Coal River Mountain has wind resources at the highest “Class 7” rating. However, if Coal River Mountain is leveled by Massey, wind farming will not be economically viable on the unstable ground and lowered ridges.

Vernon Haltom, co-director of the Coal River Wind Project, expresses his concern:

“The Brushy Fork sludge dam places the downstream communities in imminent danger. The threat of being inundated by a wall of toxic sludge is always present. Blasting next to this dam increases this risk at the same that it destroys the opportunity for renewable wind energy.”

Katie Huszcza and Colin Flood, along with Jimmy Tobias and Sophie Kern, have been taken into custody and are being held on a collective $12,000 bail.

Head over to ClimateGroundZero.org or MountainJustice.org to learn more and/or check on the activists.

Junior Walk of Coal River Mountain Watch joined me on the recent Pennsylvania Appalachian Treasures Tour. Junior is from the Coal River Valley, attended Marsh Fork Elementary School, worked at prep plant, and was a security guard on a mountaintop removal mine. Oh, and by the way he is only twenty years old.

At all times Junior presented his story with eloquence, confidence and a certain inherent honesty that overwhelmed the audience. He was a delight to travel with, and I felt privileged to share the stage with him.

Approximately 100 hand written letters addressed to Senator Specter were generated at the presentations that Junior spoke at. As you all know Senator Specter is seen as a pivotal vote on the EPW committee.

Here is a quick snippet of Junior in action:

Less than two weeks left until our Watauga Riverkeeper Festival. Come out on July 24, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.! Enjoy a day of outdoor recreation and a celebration of the river with live music, games, food and if the river is running—a float down the wild and wonderful Watauga River. This week’s river reptile:

The Bog Turtle: A Shy Little Guy

The bog turtle is the smallest turtle in North America. As a full grown adult, it maxes out at three to four inches!

They are easy to distinguish from other turtles, clad in a dark-brown shell with a distinctive red, orange or yellow blotchy marking on either side of its neck.

This reptile is no picky eater. Bog turtles are omnivorous, snacking on everything from worms, snails and beetles to berries and seeds.

Bog turtles prefer to live in wetland areas, such as wet meadows, fens and bogs. Occasionally, though, there are sightings of bog turtles roaming around in cattle pastures.

The bog turtle often lives about 20-30 years, but has been known to survive for over 50 years. You can tell how old a bog turtle is by counting its rings on its scute, a section of its shell. Each ring is a year, minus one ring that develops before the turtle is born.

Bog turtles are threatened by destruction of their habitats, particularly because of human development. An illegal trade that captures and sells them as pets is also a major threat to this species.

Keep a sharp eye out while you are enjoying your afternoon at the river, bog turtles are difficult to spot. They are rare and spend most of their time underwater, nestled in the mud or hiding in thick vegetation. They do like to lie out in sun and they are most often seen after periods of rainfall. So this week’s rainy days might help out your chances at catching a glance of this elusive tiny turtle.

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to delay a decision on its proposed veto of Arch Coal’s Spruce No. 1 mine until September 24, 2010. The decision to delay came after the agency received over 4,000 public comments.

The Spruce mine permit, if granted, would allow over seven miles of Appalachian headwater streams to be buried and more than 2,000 acres of West Virginian forests to be destroyed. It would also constitute the largest mountaintop removal permit ever granted.

CLARIFICATION: The September decision will be EPA’s Regional Administrators Recommended Decision. The Recommended Decision is next referred to EPA’s office in DC, and at that point the Corps of Engineers has an opportunity to fix the permit. A final decision on the veto may not happen until early 2011.