To comply with a federal court ruling, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement restored an earlier version of a rule meant to protect water quality and stream channels from coal mining waste.
Blog Archives
Regulators Restore 1983 Stream Protection Rule
TAGS: mountaintop removal coal mining Office of Surface Mining Stream Protection Rule Water Pollution
Alpha Agrees to Water Pollution Settlement
Alpha Natural Resources agreed to a settlement in a 2012 lawsuit, brought by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, regarding high levels of conductivity found in streams at two of its mountaintop removal mining complexes in West Virginia.
Well, that was quick
It was only a matter of time before the new Congress would commence with its anti-environmental, anti-science agenda. But 24 hours? That we weren’t expecting.
Fighting Mountaintop Removal During the Obama Years
From The Appalachian Voice: In 2009, representatives of the new Obama administration said that “the administration will do what the science calls for.” In Appalachia, the science calls for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. But six years later, mountaintop removal is still happening.
Exposed: Linking Human Health and the Environment
As an assortment of pollutants leach into our lives, the harmful effects continue to surface in public health. Read about the connections between human health and environmental concerns associated with energy, pesticides and climate change. This article is featured in an Appalachian Voices webinar
TAGS: Climate change Coal Ash coal combustion Environmental Justice fracking mountaintop removal coal mining Pesticides public health
Fighting Mountaintop Removal During the Obama Years
In 2009, representatives of the new Obama administration repeated that “the administration will do what the science calls for.” In Appalachia, the science calls for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. Six years later, mountaintop removal is still happening.
TAGS: Appalachian politics EPA mountaintop removal coal mining Office of Suface Mining Politics President Obama Water Pollution
Contested Mine Next to Kanawha State Forest Continues Operations
An effort by West Virginians to stop mountaintop removal mining near a state forest failed even as the mine amassed a series of violations.
Court Upholds EPA Revocation of Mine Permit
A federal judge acknowledged the environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal this September when she ruled to uphold a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency veto of a permit for one of the largest surface mines ever proposed in Appalachia.
Research Finds Mine Reclamation Failures
Efforts to restore mountaintop removal coal mines are not meeting the objectives of the Clean Water Act, creating a variety of consequences for aquatic life, according to a September study by the University of Maryland’s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center.
A Family’s Troubled Water
After mountaintop removal coal mining began near their eastern Kentucky home, the Halberts saw their water quality and quality of life plummet. Three years later, they continue to seek answers.
TAGS: beryllium Kentucky Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet mountaintop removal coal mining Water Pollution Water quality
