Written by Willie Dodson

AVMountainBorder-frontporch1

Willie Dodson

A Virginia native, Willie has organized with environmental and social justice campaigns in the region for more than a decade. He is Appalachian Voices' Coal Impacts Program Manager.

South Fork Coal Company's Rocky Run Surface Mine cutting a gash into the Yew Mountains above the South Fork Cherry River and the community of Richwood. Photo by Andrew Young/ Southwings

Top mine regulator can and must halt illegal coal hauling in the Monongahela National Forest

Sharon Buccino, the acting head of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, could take immediate action to shut down South Fork Coal’s illegal coal hauling operation in the Monongahela National Forest. 

Read More

Community members resist proposed Eastern Kentucky Prison

A controversial prison project in Eastern Kentucky has resurfaced, despite community opposition that had kept the proposal at bay for several years.

Read More

Signs of trouble for critical mine cleanup fund in Virginia

A bankruptcy of any one of nine coal companies could tank the state of Virginia’s mine reclamation fund within a decade.

Read More

Virginia Residents Score Big Win in Landfill Fight

Plans to turn a former coal prep plant site into a solid waste dump provoked an outcry from local residents, and sparked a movement that stopped the landfill.

Read More

Remembering and honoring Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman, president of the Kanawha County Black Lung Association, passed away on Aug. 24, one day before his 72nd birthday.

Read More
A smiling older man in a hat (vertical), a younger man and woman side by side (top right), and and the same couple years later (lower right).

Coal Miners’ Widows Tell their Stories to Kentucky Rep. Morgan McGarvey

Currently, some miners’ widows can lose their black lung benefits in certain situations. A bill Congress would help make the system more fair.

Read More

Residents Across Five States Benefit From Local Air Quality Monitoring

Through the Upper South and Appalachia Citizen Air Monitoring Project, community members and organizations are collecting data about local air quality.

Read More

Opposition to Proposed Prison on Mine

Environmental risks and negative social, economic and mental-health impacts to prisoners and communities are among the concerns voiced over a plan to build a prison on top of a former mine.

Read More

Appalachian Voices partners with Black By God to examine air quality in West Virginia’s African American communities

Appalachian Voices is launching a new partnership with Black By God, a Black-led news and storytelling organization, with a publication of the same name, in West Virginia. Black By God is dedicated to providing a more nuanced portrayal of African Americans in the Mountain State and the Appalachian region than is often found in other media sources.

Read More

Prominent Navajo environmental leader to speak in Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina

Along with Andrew Atencia and Adrian Herder, organizers for Tó Nizhoní Aní, Nicole Horseherder will be visiting Appalachia in March to teach and learn about the environmental justice movement in the coalfields of Black Mesa and Appalachia, respectively.

Read More