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Widely varied research all points to the fact that surface mining has negative health effects – of all shapes and sizes – despite the industry’s best efforts to say otherwise. Nathaniel Hitt, Ph.D., of Viriginia Tech and Michael Hendryx, Ph.D. of West Virginia University recently published a study entitled Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to…

By Megan Naylor Megan is a frequent contributor to The Appalachian Voice publication, and served as Appalachian Voices’ Communications intern during Spring and Fall 2010. Sludge Safety Project volunteers were out in force during the 2009 WV Legislative Session. Stay tuned to this website for upcoming efforts during the 2009 InterimsThe Sludge Safety Project, a…

By Megan Naylor Megan is a frequent contributor to The Appalachian Voice publication, and served as Appalachian Voices’ Communications intern during Spring and Fall 2010. The Floating Lab Collective, a Washington, D.C arts collective, is looking for submissions of quilt patches to honor mountains damaged or lost due to mountaintop removal. Patches can vary in…

Environmentalists and coal supporters met to debate the largest mountaintop removal mining permit to date—the Spruce No. 1 surface mine in Logan County, W.Va.—at a public hearing on May 18 in Charleston, W.Va. EPA officials accepted comments from the public regarding the permit at what was a subdued and small gathering compared to the large,…

“Past error is no excuse for its own perpetuation. Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” – Robert Francis Kennedy It’s been over 8 weeks since the deadly explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine claimed the lives of 29 American Miners in…

Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship remained cool and unapologetic over his company’s role in the Upper Big Branch disaster during last week’s Senate hearing on mine safety. Legislators in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services grilled Blankenship over his company’s safety record, as they attempted to determine what must be done…

By Megan Naylor Megan is a frequent contributor to The Appalachian Voice publication, and served as Appalachian Voices’ Communications intern during Spring and Fall 2010. For most people a 6 a.m. ride to Raleigh in a rental van is not something worth smiling about, but last week it was a task that 14 other lobbyists…

“Reclaimed” Portions of Black Mountain in Wise County, VA. Undeterred by the concerns of local communities, peer reviewed scientists, and the federal government, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) recently announced approval of a vast 1,230 acre surface coal mine permit for A&G Coal’s Ison Rock Ridge Mine in Wise County, Virginia.…