All Posts
An end to Frasure Creek’s water violations in Kentucky — finally
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 MoreDocumenting Appalachia
Filmmakers Discuss Their Work in the Region By Elizabeth E. Payne It has been almost forty years since “Harlan County, USA” (1976) brought attention to the miners’ strike at the Brookside Mine in southeast Kentucky. Since then, dozens of films, including “Justice in the Coalfields” (1995), “Sludge” (2005) and “The Last Mountain” (2011), have explored…
Read MoreWide-Angle: Contemporary Photography
Broadening our view of Appalachia Compiled by Melanie Harsha, Lou Murrey and Molly Moore Ed Shepard has owned a gas station in the town of Welch, W.Va., for over sixty years. A prominent local figure, Shepard is depicted in the mural behind him. Spangler says, “He was telling me what was in place in the…
Read MoreNC DEQ’s blatant bid for control
Over the past few months, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has seemed determined to have complete environmental regulatory control with little regard for federal or public input. In this endeavor, DEQ has taken every chance to highlight how external forces, including citizens groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are simply getting in its way.
Read MoreWelcome to New Staff
Leigh Kirchner, Development Coordinator Join us in welcoming two new members to the Appalachian Voices team! Leigh grew up in beautiful Rockbridge County in the heart of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where her roots go back many generations to a Monacan Indian on one side and German settlers on the other. A first-generation college student, she…
Read MoreCitizens groups, Kentucky reach historic settlement with coal company over water pollution
Deal sends strong signal to incoming Bevin administration Contact: Erin Savage, Appalachian Voices, 206-769-8286, erin@appvoices.org Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-784-6885, tfwithrow@windstream.net Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu Peter Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org Alice Howell, Sierra Club, 859-420-8092, a.howell0607@gmail.com Highlights of press coverage New York Times Louisville Courier-Journal Daily Independent (CNHI) Lexington Herald-Leader…
Read MoreFormer Coal Executive Guilty of Conspiracy to Violate Mine Safety
Don Blankenship was convicted of conspiracy to violate federal mine safety standards, following an investigation into the causes of the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion that killed 29 miners.
Read MoreFormer Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship guilty
After a six-week-long trial that included 27 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, followed by a week and a half of dramatic deliberations, Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has been found guilty of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws.
Read MoreStudent leaders support the POWER+ Plan
Yesterday, a group of student leaders in eastern Kentucky took a commendable step in support of Central Appalachia’s youth and economic future. By a unanimous vote, the Appalachian Renaissance Initiative Student Senate passed a resolution of support for the Obama administration’s POWER+ Plan.
Read MoreSizing up APCo’s plan, through customers’ eyes
Appalachian Power Company customers gathered in Roanoke recently to learn more about their electricity provider’s long-term resource plans and get involved in these critical decisions. Here’s a look at how APCo’s plan stands to impede Virginia from harnessing its full renewable energy potential.
Read More