mountaintop removal coal mining

Inaction, Delay in Changing Bush-era Rule to Protect Streams Put Appalachian Communities at Risk and Put Focus on Environmental Protection Agency

November 2, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of the Interior intends to delay issuing a rule that would protect Appalachian streams and communities from mountaintop removal coal mining, giving even more urgency to the need for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action to address this destructive practice.    » read more »

Statement from Sierra Club Director of Environmental Quality Ed Hopkins

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today moved to veto a Clean Water Act permit for the nation’s largest proposed mountaintop removal coal mining site, the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia.

In response the Sierra Club's Director of Environmental Quality, Ed Hopkins, issued the following statement:    » read more »

Transition to Clean Energy Would Bring More Jobs, Economic Sustainability

October 13, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- The Sierra Club today released a groundbreaking new report that reaffirms the economic benefits of ending mountaintop removal coal mining and transitioning to clean energy sources in Appalachia. Conducted by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc., the report comes on the heels of the Obama administration's praiseworthy decision to review 79 permits for new mountaintop removal coal mining permits citing water quality concerns.    » read more »

Questions on Pizarchik related to coal ash disposal, mountain-top mining

October 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Today in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) went on the record in opposition to the nomination of Jospeh Pizarchik to be the US Department Interior’s Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Menendez released the following statement after the Committee’s business meeting, citing questions about Pizarchik’s views on coal ash disposal and mountain-top mining:    » read more »

Petition Seeks Greater Attention to Environmental Justice Considerations in Review of Mining Permits

October 5, 2009 -- Washington, D.C.: Today a coalition of Appalachian residents and community organizations submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) citing the need for the agency to address the environmental justice tragedy of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. The petition urges EPA to incorporate environmental justice considerations into its review of pending applications for mountaintop removal coal mining permits, among other actions.    » read more »

September 30, 2009 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today reasserted its concerns about the potential environmental harm that would be caused by the issuance of dozens of new mountaintop removal coal mining permits in Appalachia.

The EPA, which announced on September 11, 2009 that all 79 of the mountaintop removal coal mining permits currently under agency review would violate the Clean Water Act, today formally announced that it would conduct an enhanced review of all 79 permits.

In response Mary Anne Hitt, Deputy Director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, issued the following statement:    » read more »

June 8, 2009 -- The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a $3 million contribution from Massy Coal to Justice Brent Benjamin’s 2004 campaign created “a serious, objective risk of actual bias that required Justice Benjamin’s recusal.”

Justice Benjamin cast the deciding vote in the reversal of a West Virginia court decision ordering Massey to pay $50 million in damages in a dispute with a local coal company.

Another West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals judge involved in the Massey case, Justice Spike Maynard recused himself last year after photos surfaced showing the judge and Massey CEO Don Blankenship vacationing together in Monaco. Justice Maynard voted with Justice Benjamin to reverse the decision against Massey.    » read more »

May 15, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. Today Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly given the green light to the Army Corps of Engineers to approve as many as 42 new permits for destructive mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.

If true, and if these permits -- more than were even approved during recent years by the Bush Administration -- were to proceed, this could mean certain destruction of hundreds of miles of Appalachian streams and hundreds of acres of America’s oldest mountains.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope:    » read more »

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Violations Point to Widespread Unlawful Stream Destruction; TECO Coal and Appolo Fuels to Pay for Illegal Mining

May 6, 2009 -- Eastern Tennessee & Eastern Kentucky - Sierra Club, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC), Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) and Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN) today announced two settlements over separate legal claims against coal companies that operated mountaintop removal coal mines without permits.

Appolo Fuels, Inc. will pay for having destroyed streams at its Jellico mine site in Claiborne County, Tennessee. TECO Coal and subsidiary Clintwood Elkhorn will pay for its illegal coal mining practices in Pike County, Kentucky.    » read more »

Restores Protections Against Dumping in Streams

April 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced his determination that the mountaintop coal mining “stream buffer zone rule” issued by the Bush Administration is legally defective. Salazar directed the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to file a pleading with the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. requesting that the rule be vacated due to this deficiency and remanded to the Department of the Interior for further action.    » read more »

April 20, 2009 -- Washington, D.C.-The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Environmental Foundation named Maria Gunnoe, a tireless voice in the movement against mountaintop-removal coal mining, as a recipient of the prestigious 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize. The Worldwatch Institute was one of several organizations to nominate Gunnoe for the award, which recognizes individuals for their sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk.    » read more »

Community members applaud decision to protect streams, residents

April 8, 2009 -- Appalachia, Virginia -- In a victory for community members and for clean water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the "nationwide 21" mining permit for A&G Coal’s massive Ison Rock Ridge mountaintop removal coal mine in Southwest Virginia.    » read more »

Decision to Review Certain Permits Will Save or Create Jobs, Protect Communities

March 25, 2009 -- Washington, DC: Tuesday’s announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will review certain permits for mountaintop removal coal mines something the Bush EPA never did is a strong first step in the complex effort to end this most destructive form of coal mining and to support Appalachia’s long-term economic vitality.

Conflicting media reports and multiple press releases Tuesday led some to question the impact of the EPA announcement.    » read more »

March 25, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin today released this statement after meeting with officials from the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency:

“Late this morning, I met with senior White House environmental officials to discuss mountaintop mining and the letters sent yesterday by the EPA about mining permits. We had a very productive meeting during which I shared our concerns about the potential impact of those letters. They explained that they are evaluating a number of permits, but want to look more closely at the two mining permits in question. I told them we are looking for a balance between the environment and the economy, and they assured me that they will work with us to find that balance.    » read more »

Raises Concerns About Mountaintop Removal Impact on Waterways

WASHINGTON (March 24, 2009) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed serious concern today about the potential harmful impacts on waterways from mountaintop removal mining. The EPA sent two letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers focused on two surface coal mining operations in West Virginia and Kentucky. EPA also intends to review other requests for mining permits.

Following is statement by Jon Devine, Senior Attorney for the Water Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council:    » read more »