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Renewed Efforts With Opening of 111th Congress
January, 13th 2009 2009 promises to be a good year for clean water. The TVA coal ash spill in Harriman, TN, though devastating, has given citizens a new insight into the dirty side of coal. It has served to remind many of us that the interests of coal companies do not align with what is…
Read MoreUnited Mountain Defense needs help with air quality monitoring and buying respirators
United Mountain Defense, the environmental group that has been leading the charge for the on the ground response here in Harriman, TN, following the TVA coal ash spill on December 22, is now pushing for air testing and respirator protection. According to their blog, no one is testing the air except TVA and the private…
Read MoreFor the Birds: Christmas Count Is A Holiday Tradition
By Maureen Halsema The longest-running wildlife census—the Christmas Bird Count—will kick off its 110th year starting Dec. 14, 2009. The annual event is sponsored by the National Audubon Society and other collaborative organizations, and will run until Jan. 5, 2010. This massive event was started in 1900 by an ornithologist named Frank Chapman, who was…
Read MoreRain water rises in Emory River
Rain water rose in the Emory River yesterday, due to, of all things, rain, which is not uncommon in Tennessee during the winter. And according to the blog site, RoaneViews.com, the river reached record level flows of 25,000 cfs (cubic feet per second). Not flood stage, but at this point you have to wonder if…
Read MoreNew Media Keeping Coal Ash Spill from Drowning in the Muck
Repost from Huffington Post: While the current amount of coverage on the 1 billion gallon coal ash spill in Harriman, TN is definitely lacking compared to how devastating this disaster is, the amount of coverage is more than 4 times what the Martin County, KY spill of 2000 received, based on a quick Google search.…
Read MoreA heckofa job
By Bill Kovarik They might as well have said “Tommie, you’re doing a heckofa job” down there in Tennessee cleaning up that nasty coal ash spill. Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and other senators at the US Senate environment committee looking into the TVA disaster took serious pains to tell Tom Kilgore what a “nice man”…
Read MoreTo the Supporters of Coal River Wind
From our friends at CoalRiverWind.org: December 19th, 2008 To the Supporters of Coal River Wind: We’re writing to give you one last pre-holiday update on the Coal River Mountain Wind campaign. A lot has happened over the past few weeks, highlighted by the release of a landmark “Wind vs MTR” economic study, and we expect…
Read MoreFunds Urgently Needed for Heavy Metal Screenings After TVA Spill
Though the T.V.A. told residents of Harriman, TN that their drinking water was safe following the December 22nd spill, and backed up their claim with the results of water quality testing conducted at the Kingston water facility intake (a site six miles from the spill site, and approximately half a mile upstream of the ash…
Read MoreRuffed Grouse: Drummer of the Woods
By Maureen Halsema It sounds like a drum beat; starting slow, the tempo increases as the air compresses between his cupped wings flapping towards the side of his body. The ruffed grouse stands on his display log in early spring performing this theatrical display to advertise his territory, confuse predators or attract nearby females. The…
Read MoreHope in the Colombian Coalfields: A Lesson For Appalachia?
Story by Sandra Diaz This article is the last in a series about a trip organized by Witness for Peace to the coalfields of Colombia, South America for people in the Appalachian coalfields and other parts of the U.S. Last month, I wrote about the dangerous working conditions of the La Loma mine, and the…
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