Posts Tagged ‘Mountaintop Removal’
Higher Fines for Big Coal in Kentucky Clean Water Act Case
By Erin Savage The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet recently reached a settlement of $507,000, with Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc., a mountaintop removal coal mining company in eastern Kentucky. The fine tops previous record-setting fines issued in Appalachian Voices’ on-going case against Frasure Creek and ICG coal companies, $310,000 and $350,000, respectively. Appalachian Voices,…
Read MoreCongressional Hearing on Stream Buffer Zone Neglects Residents
By Jamie Goodman On Sept. 26, a Congressional hearing took place in Charleston, W.Va. to discuss proposed revisions to the controversial stream buffer zone rule designed to further protect waterways in Appalachia. Conducted by Representatives Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) from the Subcommitte on Energy and Mineral Resources in Charleston, W.Va., the…
Read MoreAppalachian Treasures Tour Pennsylvania and Ohio: It’s A Wrap.
Fresh off the road from a fantastic Appalachian Treasures Tour in Pennsylvania and Ohio, I wanted to take a moment to wrap up the tour with a recap of events. First of all I wanted to give my profound thanks from the entire Appalachian Voices team and to Adam Hall who joined us on this…
Read MoreExcel Mining Addresses Pike County Residents’ Flaming Well With A Solution Other Than Just Drilling More Contaminated Wells
In the end of July, Appalachian Voices was contacted by Ted Withrow of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, who reported a family in rural Pike County, Kentucky, with possible methane contamination of their drinking water well, as indicated by flames shooting more than a foot out of the top of the well. The fire had been…
Read MoreAn Intentional Government Oversight
Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is working hard to protect your right to dirty water. Or maybe it’s the right of coal companies to blow up mountains anywhere, anytime, and poison your water without paying the consequences. Whatever they want to call it, the fallacy of “regulation kills jobs in Appalachia”…
Read MoreBig Coal’s Watergate Hearing Wrap Up
The hearing against the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, and ICG and Frasure Creek coal companies wrapped up last Friday. Appalachian Voices, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper, and Waterkeeper Alliance intervened in the settlement between the Cabinet and the coal companies, arguing the settlement was not fair, reasonable or in the public interest. Appalachian…
Read MoreBlair Mountain Community Center and Museum Opens
A note from Chuck Keeney, Secretary of the Friends of Blair Mountain: Since the “March on Blair Mountain: Appalachia is Rising” event, some coal industry executives have claimed that if our preservation efforts succeed and Blair Mountain is spared from mountaintop removal, the “fabric of the community” will be destroyed. We at Friends of Blair…
Read MoreFirst Day Wrap-up of Kentucky Coal Trials
The first day of the hearing against the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and ICG and Frasure mining companies concluded Wednesday evening. Appalachian Voices, Kentucky Riverkeeper, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Waterkeeper Alliance intend to show that the penalties assessed by the Cabinet for the two coal companies are not sufficient to address the severity…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices’ First Clean Water Act Trial Beginning This Wednesday in Kentucky
After much preparation and anticipation, our first day in court will begin in just two short days. Appalachian Voices, along with its partners, Kentucky Riverkeeper, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and Waterkeeper Alliance will appear in court in Franklin County, Kentucky this Wednesday to begin the first portion of litigation against ICG, Inc. (now owned by…
Read MoreDelivering 30,000 Bottles of Water to KY Families with Contaminated Wells
On Thursday, Appalachian Voices and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth helped Keeper Springs Natural Spring Water delivered 30,000 bottles of water to thirteen Kentucky families in Pike County whose well water is contaminated with methane. Earlier this year a well became contaminated with so much methane gas that it caught on fire. Residents say their well…
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