Front Porch Blog
Updates from Appalachia
Study Confirms Air Pollution from Mountaintop Removal
For generations, coal-mining communities in Appalachia have raised questions about local health problems, wondering whether or not they may be linked to pollution from nearby coal mines. A recent study conducted by a group of West Virginia University researchers has confirmed that suspicion, reporting that potentially dangerous air pollution levels are more likely in areas surrounding mountaintop removal coal mines than in mine-free communities.
Citizens Deliver Coal Ash Petition to Duke Energy
Tuesday afternoon, more than 150 concerned citizens gathered at Duke Energy’s headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., to demand that the company take action to clean up its toxic coal ash. The event was the result of an amazing collaboration between a variety of environmental and social justice groups from the states affected by the Dan River spill — North Carolina and Virginia — as well as national interest groups.
AV Takes Part in Google’s New Maps Gallery
Appalachian Voices was among a handful of entities invited by Google to provide maps for the Maps Gallery, which launched today. Our offerings include a map that shows how families in the Southeast pay a higher percentage of their income for electricity compared to the national average, one that shows average poverty rate by electric utility territory, and six maps that highlight the connection between mountaintop removal coal mining and poverty and health issues. In conjunction with the Maps Gallery launch, we also released a new report explaining in detail the data we pulled from to create the maps.
West Virginia Patriot Slurry Spill MCHM Test Results
Preliminary water testing results from the February West Virginia coal slurry spill that blackened six miles of Fields Creek reveal that pollutants included MCHM, the coal-washing chemical that contaminated the drinking water of 300,0000 West Virginians in January. This finding is significant because state environmental officials appeared to be uncertain whether MCHM was involved — it seems that once more, polluting companies withheld important information from the public.
NCDENR Defends NCDENR, Not the Environment
North Carolina environmental officials held a press briefing last week to discuss the massive Feb. 2 Dan River coal ash spill. After offering misleading statements in defense of the agency, officials abruptly walked out amid unanswered questions on their continued delays in holding polluters fully accountable.
