The Front Porch Blog, with Updates from AppalachiaThe Front Porch Blog, with Updates from Appalachia

Drinking water problems still plague eastern Kentucky

Friday, May 6th, 2016 | Posted by Tarence Ray | 5 Comments

After a nearby creek ran bright yellow last month, residents of Martin County, Ky., still have questions for local and state officials — and that’s not uncommon in a county that has seen its fair share of coal slurry spills and municipal water problems. So why are so many officials ignoring the problem? [ Read More ]


What happened on Pine Creek?

Tuesday, April 12th, 2016 | Posted by Tarence Ray | 4 Comments

A lot of folks have had questions about last month's mine blowout on Pine Creek, in Letcher County, Ky. So we’ve put together an explainer that runs through the facts, the science and the regulatory protocols behind spills like this — and offers tips on what you can do about them. [ Read More ]


An end to Frasure Creek’s water violations in Kentucky — finally

Thursday, December 10th, 2015 | Posted by Erin Savage | 1 Comment

Late Monday evening, Appalachian Voices and our partners finalized a historic settlement in our case against Frasure Creek Mining. The settlement follows a five-year-long legal battle to protect eastern Kentucky’s waterways and bring a coal company notorious for violating environmental laws to justice. [ Read More ]


Appalachian Crayfish: Canaries in a Coal Mine

Tuesday, May 5th, 2015 | Posted by AV's Intern Team | 1 Comment

16382866013_a4cd6916dd_zTwo species of crayfish native to Appalachia are in danger of becoming extinct after years of suffering habitat loss and water quality impacts attributable to mountaintop removal coal mining and other industrial activity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agency is proposing the species be listed as endangered under federal law. Whether or not they are pushed past the point of no return depends largely on the outcome of a recent proposal by the agency to add them to the federal list of endangered species. [ Read More ]


Déjà vu in Kentucky clean water cases

Monday, February 23rd, 2015 | Posted by Eric Chance | 1 Comment

15813913282_fd4c121114_zFriday, Appalachian Voices and our partners filed a motion to intervene in a case between the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and Frasure Creek Mining to ensure clean water laws are being enforced in Kentucky. To anyone following our lawsuits in Kentucky, these recent developments will sound familiar. [ Read More ]


To protect or prosecute polluters?

Tuesday, January 20th, 2015 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments

FrasureCreek_waterKentucky regulators recently filed an administrative complaint against Frasure Creek Mining for hundreds of violations of the Clean Water Act. As we wait to see if the state is going to take its responsibility to protect the people and water of Kentucky from pollution seriously, Appalachian Voices will continue to do whatever we can to ensure that Frasure Creek and other polluters are held accountable. [ Read More ]


Kentucky court sides with citizens and environment

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 ]


Two wrongs don’t make a right: mountaintop removal and stream protection

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments

Palmer study image, 2014Two recent studies include more bad news regarding the impacts of mountaintop removal on streams throughout Central Appalachia. One indicates that work done to restore previously degraded streams is inadequate, while the other raises important questions about the feasibility of selenium pollution enforcement. [ Read More ]


Same coal company, same old (illegal) tricks

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 ]


Mountaintop removal is the 800-pound gorilla at the SOAR Health Impact Series

Thursday, August 14th, 2014 | Posted by Erin Savage | No Comments

SOARHealthMountaintop 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 ]


Science vs. Mining

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 ]


Great News for Clean Water in Virginia!

Friday, July 18th, 2014 | Posted by Eric Chance | No Comments

Last week a federal judge upheld a previous decision requiring a Virginia coal company to get a permit for their discharges of toxic selenium. [ Read More ]



 

 


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