Blog Archives
Two victories in the fight against mountaintop removal
Two days; two excellent decisions from federal appeals courts. Last Monday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in our favor in a case against the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and its issuance of streamlined national permits for … Continue reading
SB 562 exemplifies the problem with regulation in West Virginia
By Dan Radmacher Why are West Virginia’s streams so polluted that less than a quarter of them can support their designated uses — such as recreation, providing drinking water, or supporting aquatic life? The example of the passage and implementation of … Continue reading
West Virginia’s streams are in trouble
More than 40 percent of West Virginia’s rivers are too polluted to pass simple water-quality safety thresholds. They are too polluted to be safely used for drinking water or recreation, or to support healthy aquatic life. This is due in … Continue reading
Patriot getting out of mountaintop removal mining
Today, Patriot Coal announced it has agreed to get out of the mountaintop removal business – permanently. This agreement represents an enormous victory in Appalachian Mountain Advocates’ 14-year battle against mountaintop removal mining. Our ongoing actions against Patriot to ensure … Continue reading
Good news on conductivity
The West Virginia Environmental Quality Board issued an important ruling late last month calling on the state Department of Environmental Protection to only issue mountaintop removal mining permits after analyzing the potential for those permits to increase certain types of … Continue reading
Bonding systems are inadequate to protect taxpayers
The 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act requires coal companies to clean up and reclaim mined land. When they cannot or do not, the states are supposed to have bonding systems in place to pay for the reclamation. When … Continue reading
Judge overturns EPA Spruce veto; we will continue to fight
Attorneys for Appalachian Mountain Advocates have been fighting the largest mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia history since 1998. With last week’s decision by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to overturn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s veto of the permit … Continue reading
Virginia isn’t fulfilling its Clean Water Act responsibilities
Because Virginia has refused to adequately notify the public of pending mining permits, Appalachian Mountain Advocates joined the Sierra Club and Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force the state to fix the issue … Continue reading
Tell us your Appalachian story
We want to help Appalachian residents tell their own stories, to help show the rest of the nation what is happening here and what is being lost in this national energy sacrifice zone. As part of that effort, we’d like to … Continue reading
Uranium mining in Virginia
“If the Commonwealth of Virginia rescinds the existing moratorium on uranium mining, there are steep hurdles to be surmounted before mining and/or processing could be established within a regulatory environment that is appropriately protective of the health and safety of … Continue reading