Press Releases
New maps reveal yearly footprint of surface coal mining in Central Appalachia
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — In a peer-reviewed study published today in PLOS ONE, researchers from SkyTruth, Duke University, and Appalachian Voices released the first-ever maps of the year-by-year footprint of surface coal mining, including mountaintop mining, in Central Appalachia. Among the key findings: Surface mining, including mountaintop mining, has been responsible for clearing 2,900 km2 (~720,000…
Read MoreHouse renews funding to clean up old coal mines
The House of Representatives yesterday evening passed two measures that would continue the critical work of communities in Central Appalachia to cleanup and repurpose old coal mines for new economic development initiatives. The two amendments to the Interior appropriations bill were joined and passed by a single voice vote. One identifies six states to receive…
Read MoreClean water advocates ask court, Corps to halt Atlantic Coast Pipeline
RICHMOND, VA – The coalition of clean water advocates that forced a halt of stream crossing construction activities for the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia today formally requested the same for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The coalition took two actions. First, it filed a petition for review with the Fourth Circuit. Second, it formally…
Read MoreMountain Valley Pipeline impacts halt construction; rollbacks for Atlantic Coast Pipeline revealed
Northam administration must act following string of regulatory failures BREAKING: Developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline announced today that they are suspending construction activities of the project in Virginia. Citizens have repeatedly called on the state to order a halt of construction due to dozens of documented violations of the state’s water quality standards. Today’s…
Read MoreCourt order suspends Mountain Valley Pipeline construction in W.Va.
RICHMOND, VA — Today, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of a crucial permit that the fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) needs to build across waterways in West Virginia. Under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for the pipeline’s stream crossings that allows…
Read MoreCitizens boycott N.C. coal ash meeting
Greensboro, N.C. — Members of a statewide coalition who have been advocating for years for proper cleanup and disposal of massive coal ash ponds around the state today announced they are boycotting a public meeting in Greensboro scheduled for tonight by the Department of Environmental Quality, and another scheduled in Roxboro tomorrow night. The citizens,…
Read MoreCorps of Engineers suspends part of permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline in W.Va.
CHARLESTON WV — The Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has indefinitely suspended portions of a permit required for construction of the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). MVP’s own documents show that they can not complete crossings for the Gauley, Greenbrier, Elk, and Meadow rivers in the time allotted under the permit. The Corps’s decision…
Read MoreEnvironmental coalition asks federal court to halt construction on Mountain Valley Pipeline
RICHMOND, VA — Today, lawyers for a coalition of environmental advocates including Appalachian Voices filed a motion for stay, asking the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to put an immediate stop to the construction across waterways of the fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Because MVP’s own documents show it cannot meet…
Read MoreNew TVA rate structure likely to harm low-income families
TVA’s Board of Directors voted to implement a rate change that will disproportionately burden low-income residential ratepayers and will discourage investments in energy efficiency and renewables.
Read More“Water Justice Summit” will engage Appalachians to protect clean water as a human right
PRESS ADVISORY For June 1 and 2, 2018 On June 1 and 2, individuals from across Appalachia and the Southeast will gather in Blacksburg, Va., for the Water Justice Summit. The event is being organized by and for individuals fighting mountaintop removal coal mining, fracked-gas pipelines, and other industrial threats to streams, rivers and drinking…
Read More