Archive for March 2014
Mountaintop removal bill passed by U.S. House imperils Appalachian waters
Contact: Thom Kay, legislative associate, 864-580-1843, thom@appvoices.org The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to make it easier for coal companies to dump mining waste from mountaintop removal sites into Appalachian streams and the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans. The House voted 229-192 to pass the “Preventing Government Waste…
Read MorePatriot Co. slurry spill in W.Va. violated water discharge permit
Contact: Erin Savage, Water Quality Specialist, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, erin@appvoices.org Cat McCue, Communications Director, Appalachian Voices, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Rob Goodwin, Citizen Enforcement Specialist, Coal River Mountain Watch, 304-712-9854 robert.alton.goodwin@gmail.com Test results from water samples taken from Fields Creek the day of the Patriot Coal Co. slurry spill in Kanawha County last month revealed levels of…
Read MoreTenn. committee nixes bill for state “primacy” over regulating surface coal mining
Contact: Ann League, Tennessee campaign coordinator, 865-617-2451 (cell) Today, the Tennessee Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee essentially killed a bill that would have given regulatory oversight of surface coal mining in the state to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation rather than the federal government, which currently oversees mining in Tennessee. The…
Read MoreEPA takes right action on Alpha mining violations, must do more to prevent future pollution
Contact: Tom Cormons, executive director, 434-293-6373, tom@appvoices.org Cat McCue, communications director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org A settlement filed late yesterday in federal court between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Alpha Natural Resources — the largest mountaintop removal mining operator in the nation — stipulates that the company pay a $27.5 million fine for almost 6,300 violations…
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