The Appalachian Voice
Water Wars: West Virginia Coalfield Residents Sue Over Contaminated Water
Story by Sarah Vig In Mingo County, W. Va., one of the largest coal-producing counties in the nation, 760 residents are preparing to face off against Big Coal. The group filed a class action suit against Massey Energy and its subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing, on claims of personal injury, wrongful death, property damage and…
Read MoreCourts, Congress and Universities Consider How to Change Mountaintop Removal Policies
Story by Bill Kovarik The fight over mountaintop removal coal mining accelerated this spring, with action in the courts, the regulatory agencies, Congress and universities. For the first time in almost a decade, environmentalists appear to be winning. Courts gave the mining industry one initial victory in mid-February, when the pro-business U.S. 4th District court…
Read MoreKids’ National Park Companion Hopes to Excite New Generation
Story by Alison Singer In 1986, the Eastern National Park & Monument Association (ENPMA) began the popular Passport to Your National Parks program. ENPMA, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), developed imitation passports to encourage parents and children to visit the parks. Each passport includes maps, visitor information, photographs and illustrations. The passport…
Read MoreAppalachian Activists Answer Call to Civil Disobedience
Story by Alison Singer and Sarah Vig Protests erupted across the Appalachians this winter and spring as activists took to the streetsfor clean air and water and an end to dirty coal in all its phases—mining, processing, and burning—in an unprecedented way. On Coal River Mountain, activists and community members have been engaging in a…
Read MoreMountain Aid
Story by David Brewer Music is often moving, but only once in a while does it help keep mountains from being moved. That is the hope behind the inaugural Mountain Aid festival, an ambitious effort to directly affect environmental change. Slated to take place from Friday to Sunday, June 19 to 21, at the Shakori…
Read MoreApril / May 2009 Issue in PDF format
Complete April / May 2009 issue in PDF format (8.8 MB) TO DOWNLOAD: PC Users: right-mouse click on the link above and choose SAVE AS or DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS… Mac Users: control+click on the link above and choose SAVE AS or DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS…
Read MoreLetters to the editor
Pesticide Use Continues to Decline on Tree Farms To the Editor: This letter to the editor is in reference to Sarah Vig’s article “A ‘Greener’ Christmas Tree” that appeared in the Winter edition of Appalachian Voice. First of all, a word of thanks to Sarah for her article, those of us who have Christmas tree…
Read MoreFull Appalachian Voice February 2009 issue in PDF
Download the entire issue in PDF format (10.4 MB) http://www.appvoices.org/pdfs/voice_2009_01_feb.pdf
Read MoreTennessee Crud: Appalachia plays host to yet another environmental disaster
Story by Bill Kovarik At first, when a 55-foot wall of coal fly ash sludge broke loose from an earthen dam early Dec. 22 near Kingston, TN, the nation barely paid attention. Initial reports from the Associated Press said there had been an isolated spill of “inert material not harmful to the environment,” according to…
Read MoreWilliam Blizzard, Writer and Son of Blair Mountain Leader, Dies
Mourners wearing red neckerchiefs laid William Blizzard to rest amid refrains of the old Union hymn, “Solidarity Forever” and the sound of rifle volleys from the Veterans of Foreign Wars echoing over a Charleston, WV cemetery. Blizzard died in December 2008 and was buried in January. A writer and photographer, William Blizzard was the son…
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