2013 — Issue 5 (Oct/Nov)
Solar and Wind Projects Take Off Across Appalachia
First Utility-Scale Solar Projects Proposed in West Virginia By Brian Sewell Solar Thin Films Inc., a New York-based company, recently announced a contract to develop up to 35 megawatts of solar capacity in West Virginia. Through an agreement with property owner Tri-State Solar, the solar developer plans to install three sites in Alderson, Crawley and…
Read MoreNew Research and Lawsuits Keep Mountaintop Removal in the Spotlight
By Brian Sewell While battles over mountaintop removal permits reach their boiling point and lawsuits are filed and settled, new research revealing the environmental costs continues to pile up. In September, a study by Duke University, Kent State University and the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies compared the environmental toll of mountaintop removal to the…
Read MoreRegional Mountain Photography Contest Seeks Entries for 2014
By Kimber Ray The 11th annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is now open for registration. competition invites both amateur and professional photographers to “showcase their interpretation of the unique character, people, places and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians.” Competition categories include: Adventure, Best in Show, Blue Ridge Parkway: People on the Parkway, Culture, Our…
Read MoreN.C. Citizens Speak Up About Power Plant Water Pollution
By Sarah Kellogg Four out of five power plants currently have no limits on the levels of heavy metals they can dump into rivers and lakes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, is preparing to change that, and in the process they are hearing from impacted citizens around the country. Since June, more than 165,000…
Read MoreWorkers Exposed to Toxins at Kingston Ash Spill Cleanup
By Kimber Ray A federal lawsuit alleges that Jacobs Engineering Group knowingly exposed workers to toxic substances during cleanup of the 2008 coal fly ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tenn. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 22, claims Jacobs Engineering deliberately misrepresented the health hazards of fly ash, failed to…
Read MoreProgress on Black Lung Prevention
By Kimber Ray After over three years of delay, a proposal for stricter coal dust standards appears to be moving forward. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has submitted a final draft of its rules to the Office of Management and Budget for review. This development followed a letter sent by Senator Jay Rockefeller…
Read MoreAn Era of Undoing: The State of Appalachia’s Labor Unions
By Brian Sewell “We are union,” the marchers chanted. Blanketing the streets of downtown Charleston, W.Va., with bystanders shouting in support, the vocal crowd stretched for blocks behind a banner that read “Fighting for Fairness at Patriot.” Shortly after Patriot Coal declared bankruptcy in July 2012, the company announced plans to rescind its promise of…
Read MoreThe Spirit of Foxfire is Alive in Appalachia
By Peter Boucher In 1966, a high school teacher in Rabun County, Ga., tried a new teaching approach in order to win the attention of his disobedient, disinterested students. He assigned his English class the task of interviewing Appalachian homesteaders about the essential skills, passed down from generation to generation, that enabled them to survive…
Read MoreHistorical Hidden Treasures of North Carolina
By Rachel Ellen Simon Junaluska Memorial Site, Museum, and Medicine Trail Cherokee warrior Junaluska was among the thousands of Native Americans that were forcibly relocated via the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Unlike most, however, Junaluska was eventually able to return to his former home in North Carolina, where he died in 1868. Near…
Read MoreHistorical Hidden Treasures of Virginia
By Rachel Ellen Simon Hidden Treasures RELATED STORIES North Carolina Virginia Tennessee West Virginia Kentucky Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine Most may know it as the title of a lullaby, but “Baby Mine” is also the name of the first mine to open in the Pocahontas coalfield in 1883. During the mine’s 73 years of operation,…
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