Appalachian Coal Mining Jobs Reach 14-year High

Increase Comes Despite Arguments that Regulations Kill Jobs Some congressional representatives claim that federal oversight of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia threatens domestic coal production and the regions coal mining jobs, but new government data indicates the opposite is true. Data released by the Mine Safety and Health Administration show that the number of jobs…

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Groups Challenge Public’s Exclusion From Secret Negotiations

An agreement negotiated in secret between the Beshear administration and a major polluter in eastern Kentucky does little to protect the public or prevent future violations, claimed several groups representing Kentucky citizens who use water polluted by the company’s coal mining operations.

The citizens’ groups filed a petition in Franklin Circuit Court on Thursday asking that the agreement between Nally & Hamilton Enterprises and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet be vacated on the grounds that there is “no factual evidence in the record, much less substantial evidence, [that] supports a finding that the Agreed Order is a fair resolution of Nally’s thousands of [Clean Water Act] violations, or that it will be an effective deterrent of future violations.”

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Kentucky Coal Company Falsifies More Water Monitoring Data, Advocates Allege

Coalition To Sue Mining Company In Latest Revelation of a Pattern of Violations – – – – – – – – – – – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Contacts: Donna Lisenby, Appalachian Voices, 704-277-6055, donna@appvoices.org Suzanne Struglinski, NRDC, 202-289-2387, sstruglinski@nrdc.org Suzanne Tallichet, KFTC, 606-776-7970, suetallichet@windstream.net Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-622-3065, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu Heath…

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Hundreds of Concerned Citizens in Charlotte Demand EPA Protections from Toxic Coal Ash

For Immediate Release: September 14, 2010 Contact: Rachele Huennekens, Sierra Club (703) 470-2454 Donna Lisenby, Upper Watauga Riverkeeper, (704) 277-6055 Charlotte, NC — Hundreds of concerned citizens gathered in Charlotte on Tuesday, September 14, urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pass strong, federally-enforceable safeguards for coal ash, the hazardous remains left over from coal-fired…

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NC Environmental Groups Detail Environmental, Health Problems from Toxic Coal Ash Waste

Appalachian Voices NC Conservation Network North Carolina Sierra Club FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, September 10, 2010 Contact: Dan Conrad, NC Conservation Network, 919.857-4699 Donna Lisenby, Appalachian Voices, 828.262-1500 Molly Diggins, Sierra Club, 919.833-8467 NC Environmental Groups Detail Environmental, Health Problems from Toxic Coal Ash Waste Report concludes that “Regulation is needed in North Carolina” In…

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A Miner’s Response

Dear Editor, I am writing on behalf of myself and many coal miners throughout Southwest Virginia. I am a reader of your newspaper and an avid outdoorsman and conservationist. Recently, as I read through [Two Miles from Hell: a Miner’s Story in the March 2010 issue], I was appalled at the biased point of view…

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Hold Fossil Fuel Industries Accountable

The last few months have shocked us all with headlines reporting the fossil fuel industry’s negligent disregard for security and safety. Mine disasters devastated a West Virginia community in April, with 29 miners killed in a blast at Upper Big Branch — the biggest mining disaster since the 1970s. In Kentucky’s Coal Dotiki Mine, a…

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New Links Found Between Water, Coal and Cancer

Story by Derek Speranza New research suggests that residents in close proximity to coal plants have to worry about the water as much as they do about the air. Nathaniel Hitt, Ph.D., of Viriginia Tech, recently published a study entitled “Ecological Integrity of Streams Related to Human Cancer Mortality Rates,” which correlates the ecological health…

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Business As Usual At Massey

Story by Jed Grubbs It’s been two months since the deadly April 5 explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine claimed the lives of 29 American Miners in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The incident, which was our nation’s deadliest mining accident in 40 years, was unquestionably made more tragic by the fact that…

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Coal News

Christian Coalition Takes Stand on Mountaintop Removal In March, the National Council of Churches announced that a multi-denominational coalition of 28 Christian groups petitioned the EPA to restore original Clean Water Act protections which would prohibit mountaintop removal mining coal companies from labeling coal waste as “fill.” “As Christians, we are called to be good…

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