Posts Tagged ‘West Virginia Highlands Conservancy’
Federal court clears path for legal challenges to coal-hauling in Monongahela National Forest
A federal judge in Delaware ruled Tuesday in favor of two motions filed by conservation groups, allowing key legal and administrative actions to move forward to protect portions of the Monongahela National Forest from mining activities by South Fork Coal Company
Read MoreSouth Fork Coal Company: ‘a trail of pollution, debt and disregard’
Since late 2023, Appalachian Voices has worked closely with the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance and other partners to defend the Cherry River from South Fork Coal’s negligence, and to resist this coal company’s encroachment into the Monongahela National Forest.
Read MoreCoal company with 80+ clean water violations files for bankruptcy
South Fork Coal Company and its parent entities Xinergy and White Forest Resources, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. The move follows the company’s well-documented pattern of water pollution and mine clean-up violations, which have drawn mounting public scrutiny and legal actions.
Read MoreFederal regulators shut down illegal WV coal haul road — Interior quietly reopens it at company’s request
In a whirlwind of conflicting decisions, the U.S. Department of the Interior has quietly allowed South Fork Coal Company to resume hauling coal through the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia — just weeks after Biden administration regulators shut down the unlawful haul road.
Read MoreFederal regulators poised to crack down on coal mine operated by Jim Justice’s family
On Dec. 10, 2024, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement sent a damning letter to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over the state’s failure to rein in operations on a wildly non-compliant coal strip mine in Wyoming County, West Virginia.
Read MoreEnvironmental groups sue South Fork Coal over damages near Cranberry Wilderness
The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Appalachian Voices sued South Fork Coal Company today for ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act at five coal mines in Greenbrier County, West Virginia.
Read MoreLexington Coal held in contempt for third time for continuing to violate federal court order to stop polluting West Virginia streams
Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia held Lexington Coal Company in contempt for the third time for the company’s ongoing refusal to address the environmental damage caused by its coal mining operations in Appalachia.
Read MoreA week of action to stop zombie coal mines
This week, Appalachian Voices and 12 partner organizations are on Capitol Hill to tell Congress to protect our communities by making coal companies clean up their functionally abandoned coal mines, known as zombie mines.
Read MoreFederal court stays Mountain Valley Pipeline’s biological opinion again
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued a stay of the biological opinion and incidental take statement under the Endangered Species Act for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Read MoreLawsuit launched to protect endangered West Virginia species from coal hauling
Conservation groups intend to sue the U.S. Forest Service over the agency’s failure to protect several endangered species from the harmful effects of coal hauling in the Monongahela National Forest. The suit would also protect the species’ critical habitats.
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