Video Shows Rare View of Mountaintop Removal Mining

CONTACT: Cat McCue, Communications Director, (434) 293-6373; cat@appvoices.org A short video released today by Appalachian Voices with stunningly detailed drone footage provides a rare view of mountaintop removal coal mining and the increasing proximity of this destructive form of mining to people living in Appalachia. The video also includes interviews with local citizens who want…

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Reflections from the second SOAR Summit

20150510_182914Last week’s SOAR Summit provided a positive forum for people working to strengthen local economies in Appalachia. But, even with so many who care deeply about the region gathering in one place, there was disappointingly little time or space created for discussion amongst the people who are doing the lion’s share of the groundwork in Appalachian communities.

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Appalachian communities at growing risk from mountaintop removal

Appalachian Voices is committed to creating a forum for citizens’ stories and sharing the most up-to-date data available about the ongoing risks the practice poses to Appalachia. Today, we’re sharing a new web tool we developed to reveal how mining continues to encroach on communities and send a resounding message that ending mountaintop removal is a must if we hope to foster economic and environmental health in Appalachia.

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New map tracks growing threat of mountaintop removal

Contacts: Matt Wasson, Program Director, 828-262-1500, matt@appvoices.org Erin Savage, Central Appalachian Campaign Coordinator, 828-262-1500, erin@appvoices.org Cat McCue, Communications Director, 434-293-6373, cat@appvoices.org A new interactive map released today shows that mountaintop removal coal mining has been expanding closer to communities in Central Appalachia in recent years, posing increasing threats to human health and the environment even…

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State Legislative Updates

While lawmakers in Washington, D.C., might get most of the spotlight, the legislators in state capitols across the region are busy making — and blocking — laws that affect Appalachia’s land, air, water and people. Here’s the latest updates from state legislatures around the region

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Going to court for clean water

fc-mtrAfter we revealed thousands of water pollution violations at Frasure Creek Mining’s mountaintop removal coal mines in eastern Kentucky, state regulators (finally) took administrative action. Appalachian Voices and our partners are seeking to intervene in that process to ensure environmental protections are enforced, and we have filed our own lawsuit in federal court.

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Groups Sue Kentucky Mining Company

Contacts: Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-782-0998, tfwithrow@windstream.net Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu Pete Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org Adam Beitman, Sierra Club, 202-675-2385, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org Pikeville, Ky. – A coalition of citizens groups today filed a federal lawsuit against Frasure Creek Mining, LLC, for submitting to the…

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Groups Seek to Ensure Ky. Enforces Clean Water Law

Contacts: Eric Chance, Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500, eric@appvoices.org Ted Withrow, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-782-0998 (c), tfwithrow@windstream.net Pat Banks, Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-200-7442, kyriverkeeper@eku.edu Pete Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org Adam Beitman, Sierra Club, 202-675-2385, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org Frankfort – A coalition of citizens groups today filed a motion to intervene in a state enforcement action against Frasure Creek…

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Déjà vu in Kentucky clean water cases

15813913282_fd4c121114_zFriday, Appalachian Voices and our partners filed a motion to intervene in a case between the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and Frasure Creek Mining to ensure clean water laws are being enforced in Kentucky. To anyone following our lawsuits in Kentucky, these recent developments will sound familiar.

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