Posts Tagged ‘Coal’
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…
Read MoreNew 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…
Read MoreBusiness 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…
Read MoreCoal 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…
Read MoreIson Rock Ridge, Spruce No. 1 Mining Permits On the Line
By Jamie Goodman Coalfields residents and conservation groups continue their ongoing tug-of-war with the coal industry over new mountaintop removal mining permits. In a massive blow for the environment, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) announced approval of a vast 1,230 acre permit for A&G Coal’s Ison Rock Ridge Mine in Wise…
Read MoreWhen Tragedy Struck: Reflections on Upper Big Branch Mine
By Daniel A. Hawkins When the tragic explosion of the Massey owned Upper Big Branch mine rocked the small mining community of Montcoal, W.Va., on April 5, 2010, reverberations of sadness and fear echoed throughout the Appalachian Mountains, touching the hearts of nearly everyone laboring in the coal industry. Words could not possibly describe the…
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 MoreCoal River Mountain – The Line in the Sand for Mountaintop Removal?
Story and photos by Jamie Goodman For those who support alternative energy and oppose mountaintop removal, a line has been drawn in the proverbial sand. That line is at Coal River Mountain, West Virginia. Bulldozers have continued to clear trees and topsoil from Coal River Mountain, a peak that could potentially provide some of the…
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