Press Releases
100 sign letter supporting Va. citizens fighting frack gas compressor station
Residents of Union Hill today sent an open letter to the members of the State Air Pollution Control Board urging them to deny the proposed permit for a natural gas compressor station in this predominantly African-American community in rural Buckingham County, Va. The letter is signed in solidarity by 100 people, including Karenna Gore, director…
Read MoreCitizens herald major setbacks for controversial fracked-gas pipelines
The Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which have triggered growing opposition and controversy across Virginia and beyond this year, were both dealt major legal setbacks today. On the Mountain Valley project, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and the state Department of Environmental Quality filed a lawsuit against Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, based on…
Read MoreCorps suspends stream-crossing permit for entire length of Atlantic Coast Pipeline
The Army Corps of Engineers late yesterday suspended an essential permit for the fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline, meaning its developers cannot do any work on stream or wetland crossings along its entire 600-mile route in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. Known as the Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12), the permit authorized developers to…
Read MoreExpired mining permit poses risks to Coal River Mountain and surrounding communities
Contact: Sumer Shaikh, sumer.shaikh@sierraclub.org Erin Savage, erin@appvoices.org, 206-769-8286 Vernon Haltom, vernon@crmw.net, 304-952-4610 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Today, a coalition of groups filed a federal lawsuit against mining company Republic Energy seeking to halt unlawful coal mining activities in Raleigh County, W.V. Republic Energy is mining one of the only remaining intact ridges on the heavily mined…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices calls on Gov. Northam to respect citizen boards and environmental justice
Today it became public knowledge that Governor Northam will replace two members of the State Air Pollution Control Board and at least one member of the State Water Control Board. The decision comes one week after the Air Pollution Control Board voted to delay a final permitting decision on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s Buckingham Compressor…
Read MoreVirginia company wins bid to negotiate contracts to install six solar projects in Southwest Virginia
Wise, Va. — The Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia is pleased to announce that the team led by NCI, Inc. of Richmond, VA has been awarded the 1.5-megawatt Southwest Virginia Solar Project Portfolio. NCI teamed with Acorn Electrical Specialists (Piney Flats, Tenn.) and RockBridge Energy (Savannah, GA) to complete the Request for Proposal. The portfolio…
Read More20 former coal sites in Appalachia identified for innovative economic development
Norton, VA — A coalition of groups in Central Appalachia today issued a report highlighting 20 innovate projects that would clean up abandoned coal mine lands and give them new life as sustainable agriculture businesses, solar farms or other economic ventures. The report, Many Voices, Many Solutions: Innovative Mine Reclamation in Central Appalachia, provides economic…
Read MoreVa. air board waits to decide on ACP compressor station
Today, Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board voted 6-0 to defer until December a decision on a permit requested by Dominion Energy to operate a 55,000 horsepower natural gas compressor station for its proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Buckingham County. According to statements made by Board Chair Richard Langford during the meeting, the information record…
Read MoreBlue Ridge Energy’s solar policies among the worst in Southeast
A new interactive website launched this week by the Southern Environmental Law Center highlights Blue Ridge Energy electric cooperative as having one of the worst solar energy policies of all electric utilities throughout the Southeast. The website, “Rates of Solar,” lists Blue Ridge among its solar “brakers” because of its high monthly fee for owner-members…
Read More3rd water-crossing permit suspended on Mountain Valley Pipeline
Pittsburgh, PA — At the request of a coalition of clean water advocates, the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers late Friday suspended a third permit that the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) must have to build through waterways for its project. This permit affected waterways in Wetzel and Harrison counties in…
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