Gov. Jim Justice’s Straight Fork Surface Mine again facing possible permit revocation

aerial image of mine

Updated Jan. 20, 2022: On Jan. 13, Virginia Energy sent a letter to A&G Coal Corporation suspending the permit for the Straight Fork Surface Mine after the corporation failed to respond to the Dec. 8, 2021 show cause order. The permit suspension gives the Justice company until Feb. 14 to deal with the ongoing violations. Failure to do so will then trigger permit revocation and a determination of bond forfeiture.

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Community advocates celebrate Senate passage of historic bill on reclaiming coal lands

workers cleaning up mine site

CONTACT: Chelsea Barnes, Legislative Director, chelsea@appvoices.org, 276-207-9636 Trey Pollard, trey@pollardcommunications.com, 202-904-9187 Largest-ever investment in clean-up means billions in economic activity and thousands of jobs in Appalachia and other coal communities Following the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, advocates from coal communities across the country celebrated the legislation’s historic investments in…

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Community groups challenge Trump Administration’s rule for coal mining violations

CONTACT: Aimee Erickson, Citizens Coal Council, Executive Director, aimee@citizenscoalcouncil.org Thomas Young, Sierra Club, thomas.young@sierraclub.org Erin Savage, Appalachian Voices, erin@appvoices.org Washington, DC — A coalition of environmental and community groups today brought a challenge to a Trump Administration rule designed to make it harder for communities impacted by coal mining to hold state regulators and mining…

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A way forward for Appalachia

Our legislative director outlines a list of action items for the Biden administration — suspending utility shutoffs during the pandemic, strengthening oversight of the fossil fuel industry, and moving swiftly to support just economic transition in coal-impacted communities.

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Coal community leaders release historic platform for national economic transition

Built on community-driven solutions by local, tribal and labor leaders, NET Platform pushes for bold investments in national transition program for those hit hardest by changing coal economy CONTACT: Trey Pollard, Just Transition Fund tpollard@justtransitionfund.org 202-904-9187 Cat McCue, Appalachian Voices cat@appvoices.org 434-293-6373 Listen to the 1-hour press tele-conference here. NATIONWIDE – Today, 80 local, regional,…

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Congressional Support for RECLAIM Act Grows

U.S. House of Representatives co-sponsors for the RECLAIM Act grew after a coalition of coal mine reclamation advocates traveled to the nation’s capital to express their support for the bill that would accelerate the spending of money in the in the federal abandoned mine cleanup fund.

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Advocacy groups sue multiple coal facilities for water violations

CONTACTS: Erin Savage, Appalachian Voices Central Appalachian Program Manager, erin@appvoices.org, 206-769-8286 August 7, 2019 Charleston, W.Va. — A coalition of West Virginian advocacy groups including the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Appalachian Voices, and the Sierra Club sued four coal and chemical facilities alleging serious violations of the Clean Water Act…

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