Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments
Last week, Appalachian Voices and our partners won a major victory in the Kentucky courts when a judge overturned two slap-on-the-wrist settlements that the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet had reached with Frasure Creek Mining a few years ago. [ Read More ]Monday, December 1st, 2014 | Posted by Kara Dodson | No Comments
Whether you're two days or 20 years deep in environmental or social justice organizing, we all ask ourselves the same question day in and day out: why do I care? Rhiannon Fionn, creator of Coal Ash Chronicles, brings the "Why I Care" video series to the social media scene in the spirit of story-sharing, collaboration, power building and advocacy. Watch a few videos and share your own story.
[ Read More ]Monday, November 17th, 2014 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. That certainly seems to be the case with Frasure Creek Mining. Four years ago we took legal action against them for submitting false water monitoring reports, and now they are at it again, but this time the false reporting is even more extensive. [ Read More ]Thursday, August 14th, 2014 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments
Mountaintop removal's health impacts were the number one concern of eastern Kentuckians that participated in the SOAR Health Impact Series, but the topic was barely addressed at a recent SOAR gathering in Hazard. If they hope to soar beyond political rhetoric, Rep. Hal Rogers and Gov. Steve Beshear must take those concerns seriously, and support more research into the connections between mountaintop removal and health. [ Read More ]Wednesday, July 30th, 2014 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments
Over 2,000 miles of streams have been buried by Mountain Top Removal mining, and many more have been degraded. This seems like it should be illegal, but the destructive practice continues. That's why Appalachian Voices has been working to keep the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry from opening up new loopholes in our environmental laws that would make it easier to poison streams. [ Read More ]Wednesday, June 11th, 2014 | Posted by Eric Chance | 15 Comments
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to loosen national recommended water quality standards for selenium, a toxic pollutant commonly released from mountaintop removal coal mines. You can stand up for streams in Appalachia by submitting comments urging the EPA to protect aquatic life and strengthen selenium standards. [ Read More ]Tuesday, June 10th, 2014 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments
A recent federal court decision found that conductivity released from mines violated clean water laws. Another case just filed in Virginia challenges the discharge of total dissolved solids from mines in watersheds already damaged by high levels of total dissolved solids. Both cases could result in stronger protections for Central Appalachian streams. [ Read More ]Monday, June 9th, 2014 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments
Hundreds of fish were killed after Cumberland County Coal released a chemical into Kentucky's Clover Fork River on May 30. Although the company was cited for polluting the river, fines alone cannot erase the damage done to a community and an ecosystem. [ Read More ]Wednesday, February 19th, 2014 | Posted by Tom Cormons | No Comments
Over the last several weeks, with each report from West Virginia or North Carolina of a coal-related water pollution crisis, I couldn't help but imagine my favorite river, the Moormans, being poisoned by a mysterious chemical called MCHM, choked by toxic coal ash, or fouled by coal slurry. In fact, it is my river that is threatened. And your river, too. But our shared connection to the creeks and rivers running through our lives unites us in the fight to protect our waters, and that’s what gives me hope. [ Read More ]Tuesday, February 11th, 2014 | Posted by Jamie Goodman | 1 Comment
Early Tuesday morning there was a significant slurry spill at Patriot Coals Kanawah Eagle operation. Over 100,000 gallons of toxic coal slurry spilled into Fields Creek near Charleston, WV. Members of the Appalachian Water Watch team were at the site to investigate.
[ Read More ]Tuesday, January 28th, 2014 | Posted by Eric Chance | 2 Comments
Today, Appalachian Voices along with our allies in Virginia filed a lawsuit against Penn Virginia, for water polluted by selenium coming from abandoned mines on their land. This lawsuit is one in a series of suits aimed at cleaning up selenium pollution in Callahan Creek. [ Read More ]Friday, December 13th, 2013 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments
This two headed trout was deformed by selenium pollution. Today, we have taken action to keep EPA and Kentucky from allowing pollution like this to get worse.
Earlier today Appalachian Voices and a number of partner organizations sued the EPA over their approval of Kentucky’s new, weaker standard for selenium pollution.
Selenium is extremely toxic to fish, and causes deformities and reproductive failure at extremely low levels. The pollutant is commonly discharged from coal mines and coal ash ponds, but currently Kentucky does not regulate its discharge from these facilities.
These new standards were proposed at the behest of coal industry groups, likely motivated by citizen groups’ success at requiring companies in other states to clean up their selenium pollution. We have also seen the state governments of Virginia and West Virginia take steps towards making similar rollbacks to their own standards, making the EPA’s approval of Kentucky’s weakened standards even more alarming.
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