Posts Tagged ‘West Virginia’
Farming and Fracking
How uncertain property rights affect agriculture in West Virginia By Dave Walker This year will be Steve Vortigern and his wife Sunshine’s tenth year of farming in Preston County, W.Va. On 41 acres, they grow more than 40 different varieties of organic vegetables and raise grass-fed beef for local customers at Round Right Farm. In…
Read MoreFracked-gas Pipelines Would Threaten Homes and Dreams
A Tale of Two Families By Cat McCue At the top of Sinking Creek Mountain in western Virginia, where Craig, Giles and Montgomery counties meet, sits a 50-acre parcel of land with views in all directions. To Judy and Steve Hodges, who built their dream home here in 2003, it’s heaven. “We’re from the ‘70s.…
Read MoreFracking Wastewater Leads to Ban in West Virginia County
In Fayette County, W.Va., residents speaking up against natural gas drilling wastewater spurred a county-wide ban on the use, storage or disposal of any oil or gas waste.
Read MoreRe-route of fracked gas pipeline threatens new areas of Va., West Va.
Contact: Ben Luckett, Staff Attorney, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, 304-645-0125 Hannah Wiegard, Appalachian Voices, hannah@appvoices.org, 804-536-5598 Drew Gallagher, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, drew@chesapeakeclimate.org Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org Dominion Energy announced plans today to re-route the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline through Highland, Bath and Augusta counties. The new route comes in response…
Read MoreGroups in two states challenge WB XPress
Contact: Ben Luckett, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, 304-645-0125, bluckett@appalmad.org Kate Rooth, Appalachian Voices, 804-536-5598, kate@appvoices.org Anne Havemann, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 240-396-1984, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter, Sierra Club, 434-296-8673, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org On behalf of conservation groups in Virginia and West Virginia, Appalachian Mountain Advocates today filed a formal protest and motion to intervene in the Federal…
Read MoreDo bankrupt coal company executives really deserve bonuses?
Witnessing the one-sidedness of coal bankruptcies in Appalachia and their aftershocks goes to show who has a voice and whose voices the system values. Take Alpha Natural Resources, which recently received approval to pay its executives millions in bonuses despite not having made a profit since 2011.
Read MoreBleak outlook for coal in 2016
After the dismal year coal had in 2015, more hard times for the industry are ahead. Nowhere is the struggle more real than in Central Appalachia. A new white paper from Downstream Strategies tells the story of Appalachian coal over the past few decades in five simple charts.
Read MoreWest Virginia Communities Still at Risk Despite Idled Mines
From The Appalachian Voice: West Virginia communities are still dealing with problems related to mountaintop removal coal mining. Toxic coal slurry impoundments, increased blasting and diminished water quality are among the challenges facing such communities at risk.
Read MorePrayers not pipelines
Jill Averitt lives in Central Virginia with her extended family on a patch of land where collectively they are raising seven children, lots of vegetables–and in the past year, a ruckus over Dominion’s plans to run a massive fracked gas pipeline right through that land. She created the “Prayers Not Pipelines” project as a powerful way to connect with her neighbors, and to protect her home and community.
Read MoreBudget holds promise for Central Appalachia
Today the U.S. Congress passed a spending bill that covers expenditures for agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Department of Labor, and the Appalachian Regional Commission. The spending bill is a big deal for Appalachian Voices and our work. And honestly, it looks pretty darn good.
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