Petition Focuses on Va. Regulatory Failures

Appalachian Voices recently joined the Sierra Club, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Appalachian Mountain Advocates to file a formal petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging that a Virginia agency had failed to comply with requirements of the Clean Water Act since 2011.

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EPA Proposal for Toxic Coal Pollutant Won’t Protect Clean Water

Resources EPA Draft Selenium Standards Selenium in Kentucky Fact Sheet Read more about selenium on our blog Contact: Eric Chance, Water Quality Specialist, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org Erin Savage, Water Quality Specialist, 828-262-1500, erin@appvoices.org Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a draft of new national water quality…

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Penn Virginia Faces Legal Challenge for Toxic Water Pollution

Resources View the Complaint Here Complaint’s Exhibit A Complaint’s Exhibit B Community Groups Protest Coal Mining Pollution and “Bully Tactics” Contacts: Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, eric@appvoices.org, 828-262-1500 Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, oliver.bernstein@sierraclub.org, 512-289-8618 Glen Besa, Virginia Sierra Club, glen.besa@sierraclub.org, 804 225-9113 Matt Hepler, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, mhepler24@gmail.com, 540 871-1564 Roanoke, Va. – Today, a…

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Groups Challenge EPA Decision to Gut Clean Water Protections in Kentucky

Resources View the Complaint Here EPA Approval Letter Selenium Fact Sheet New Guidelines for Coal Mining Pollutant Fail to Protect Waterways and Wildlife Contacts: Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices 828-262-1500 eric@appvoices.org Sean Sarah, Sierra Club 330 338-3740 sean.sarah@sierraclub.org Doug Doerrfeld, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth 606-784-9226 dartherdoer@gmail.com| Judy Petersen, Kentucky Waterways Alliance 502 589-8008 Judy@kwalliance.org Louisville, KY…

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Matt Hepler: Charting a Path to Clean Water

By Molly Moore After studying geologic features and data, Matt Hepler maps out a handful of locations in the coal-bearing mountains of southwest Virginia. With a cooler full of empty water bottles, a scientific probe and a pair of waders — just in case — he heads out to monitor water quality in areas impacted…

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Lenny Kohm: Creating a Better Appalachia

By Molly Moore At Appalachian Voices, the nonprofit organization that publishes The Appalachian Voice, it’s impossible to think of regional visionaries and leaders without considering one of our own — Senior Campaign Advisor Lenny Kohm. His journey into environmental work began on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and Canada…

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EPA decision on toxic mining waste leaves Kentuckians, other Appalachians at risk

Resources EPA Approval Letter Selenium Fact Sheet Read more on our blog Contact: Erin Savage, Water Quality Specialist, 828-262-1500, erin@appvoices.org Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org Washington DC – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today approved Kentucky’s changes to how the state measures selenium, a toxic pollutant discharged from many mountaintop removal coal mines. Even…

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Appalachia’s Contested History

By Bill Kovarik It has been 50 years since Harry Caudill wrote “Night Comes to the Cumberlands,” a landmark history that rejected stereotypes of Appalachian people as backward hillbillies and described the ruthless exploitation they suffered. The book spoke with eloquence to the American conscience and set off a firestorm of controversy. Within a year,…

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Traditions of Resistance:

Lessons from the struggle for justice in Appalachia By Molly Moore In 1964, a 61-year-old Kentucky woman, Ollie “Widow” Combs, sat in front of a bulldozer to halt the strip-mining of the steep land above her home. She spent that Thanksgiving in jail, and a photograph of Combs being hauled away landed on major papers…

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