Fighting for Virginia’s Clean Water

Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and the Sierra Club — represented by attorneys from Appalachian Mountain Advocates — filed a lawsuit against Penn Virginia Operating Company in late January regarding selenium pollution from abandoned mines near the southwest Virginia town of Appalachia.

Water monitoring by SAMS members uncovered major selenium problems in Callahan Creek and its tributaries, which pass by several coal mines. Selenium is toxic to fish at low levels, triggering reproductive failure, deformities and death.