End Mountaintop Removal Now

06/12/2024

From Appalachian Voices:

This week community groups are coming together for a week of action to address unreclaimed coal mines. These “zombie mines” — mines that are neither producing coal nor being cleaned up — put nearby residents at risk and drag down our local economies. People affected by these zombie mines are meeting their members of Congress in Washington this week, and people around the country are writing to their legislators to urge them to pass legislation to clean up mines.

You can join the effort!

Our communities are deeply tied to our lands — the land gives us clean water, refuge for wildlife and a sense of place. But today, hundreds of thousands of acres of coal mines are not being cleaned up. Zombie mines put people nearby at risk of water pollution, landslides and other dangerous environmental impacts.

Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania and Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia have introduced bills that would make sure coal companies pay for the cost of mine cleanup and ensure that cleanup happens in a timely manner.

Tell your members of Congress to prevent zombie mines by supporting these bills!

Today, hundreds of thousands of acres of coal mines are not being cleaned up. Tell Congress to support zombie mine prevention bills!

05/07/2024

From Appalachian Voices:

Our communities are deeply tied to our lands — the land gives us clean water, refuge for wildlife and a sense of place. But today, hundreds of thousands of acres of coal mines are not being cleaned up. This puts nearby residents at risk, threatens our water and drags down our local economies.

When mines are neither producing coal nor being reclaimed, we call these mines “zombie mines" — and coal companies should be held responsible for cleaning them up.

Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania and Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia have introduced bills that would make sure coal companies pay for the cost of mine cleanup and ensure that cleanup happens in a timely manner.

Tell your members of Congress to prevent zombie mines by supporting these bills!

Today, hundreds of thousands of acres of coal mines are not being cleaned up. Tell Congress to support zombie mine prevention bills!

03/21/2024

From Coal River Mountain Watch:

Dear Friends,

Please comment today by 5PM. WV Dept. of Environmental Protection is holding a public hearing (informal conference) regarding mountaintop removal March 21 at 5:00 PM, online, by phone, or in person at Clear Fork Elementary School, Artie, WV. You can also send comments by email to [email protected] by 5 PM March 21. This is for those who OPPOSE renewal of Alpha Metallurgical Resources subsidiary Republic Energy's Middle Ridge mountaintop removal permit number S301712 on Coal River Mountain.

The conference is scheduled for Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. located at Clear Fork Elementary, 4851 Clear Fork Rd Artie, WV 25008. The conference may also be accessed virtually at https://meet.google.com/oba-ynsm-ecp or by phone at 1-262-427-6454 PIN: 118728018. You can also email comments to [email protected] prior to the hearing.

The purpose of the informal conference is to allow comments from those people having an interest which is or may be adversely affected by the Republic Energy, LLC Article 3 Permit Renewal Application Permit No. S301712, located 2.1 miles Southwest of Clear Creek in the Clear Fork District of Raleigh County.

There are plenty of good reasons to deny renewal of this permit, but WVDEP will renew it anyway. They always do, regardless of which law or scientific study you cite, and regardless of how professional or how passionate you are. But you will have stated your objection. You can keep it simple and tell the WVDEP that the blasting dust they refuse to regulate is deadly for neighboring communities. Tell them that deforestation and burning coal contribute to the climate crisis, whether they believe in science or not. You don't have to be a local resident to testify. If you live on Planet Earth, this permit adversely affects your interests. Photos are at https://www.crmw.net/updates/public-hearing-march-21-5-pm-regarding-renewal-of-mountaintop-removal-permit.php.

And if you're able to chip in to support our work, please do so at https://secure.givelively.org/donate/coal-river-mountain-watch. Every bit helps!

Thank you.

12/13/2023

Chronic violator Lexington Coal Company wants to renew their 1,222-acre Crescent #2 mountaintop removal permit on Cherry Pond Mountain, on the border of Boone and Raleigh Counties, WV. Please join Coal River Mountain Watch in telling the WV Department of Environmental Protection to deny this renewal.

There's an online conference on Dec. 14, 5:30 PM EST, available at https://meet.google.com/sba-msyz-bdy or by calling in at 1-650-667-3352, PIN 248 285 955. You can also email your comments to permit supervisor [email protected]. Comments will be accepted up until the end of the conference. Be sure to state that you oppose the renewal of Lexington Coal Company's permit number S502007. Here are some good reasons you might include:

-LCC presently has 5 cessation orders on this permit for unabated violations, including failure to maintain sediment ditches and timbering outside the bonded area.

-On November 15, 2023, WVDEP issued LCC 9 civil penalty delinquent letters for $40,389 in unpaid fines on this permit. Each letter states, "You are advised that under CSR 38-2-3.32 the Director is prohibited from issuing any permit or permit revision to this company, any company owned or controlled by this company, or any company or person owning or controlling this company, as long as this or any other civil penalty remains delinquent." This year, WVDEP has issued 242 delinquency letters to LCC. None have been paid.

-Last year, LCC ran up a serious pattern of violations on this permit, entered into a consent agreement with WVDEP, violated the agreement, and had the permit suspended. WVDEP lifted the suspension once they corrected their violations. LCC now has another pattern of violations.

-LCC has proven that they don't have the capacity or intention to comply with the terms of this permit or the laws of WV.

05/06/2023

This month, the Energy & Natural Resources Committee will consider bills from Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito that would attempt to green-light the Mountain Valley Pipeline and roll back opportunities for community involvement during the environmental review process.

Last year, similar legislation was supported by members of this committee, but they opposed the provisions that would give MVP special exemptions from environmental laws and judicial review. We need to keep up the pressure to make our senators know this is an unacceptable giveaway to a harmful project.

As Congress continues to debate possible reforms to the permitting laws for energy projects, Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito have once again introduced their polluter giveaway bills called the “Building American Energy Security Act of 2023” and the “Revitalizing the Economy by S...

04/07/2021

As part of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has opened a new “Notice of Scoping” for Mountain Valley Pipeline’s latest request to bore under streams and wetlands in steep slopes and unsuitable geology.

FERC needs to hear from you! Tell the agency that it must do a full Environmental Impact Statement for the dirty fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline that thoroughly assesses the project's impact on the climate, endangered species, public lands, environmental justice communities and waters in Appalachia.

It’s not too late to help stop the fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline— an unnecessary, climate-disrupting project that would cut a 303-mile swath over some of the steepest slopes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, across treasured public lands and wildlife habitat, and through countless family farms...

03/25/2021

Around noon today, Acre was extracted from their tree sit in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Today is day 932, and with Acre’s extraction, is the final day of the Yellow Finch blockade.

Wren — who was extracted yesterday — was charged with 1 misdemeanor (interfering with property rights). Acre was charged with 2 misdemeanors (obstruction and interfering with property rights). They are both currently being held without bond.

Nearby, at the end of Cove Hollow Rd, dozens of people gathered to rally in support of the blockade and against MVP.

As Wren stated, “With Acre’s and my arrest, this one instance of resistance, this one physical place that is an enactment of our dreams of another world will fall. But these tree sits were one place out of many that have existed and that will exist, and the flames of resistance cannot be extinguished this easily. The fight continues, and the struggle for a better world always will.”

Anne Lusby-Denham, a member of the Southwest Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, Mountain Valley Watch, and Roanoke Mothers Out Front, added, “I am a community activist and minister’s wife from Roanoke and am very concerned about the State Police extraction team’s removal of the Yellow Finch tree sitters. I do not think it is appropriate for police to be involved in helping the Mountain Valley Pipeline rather than the citizens of Virginia. It was a reckless and dangerous undertaking done for a corporation that is damaging our land, our water, and our communities.

“Neither Governor Northam or agencies such as DEQ are protecting us at all from the damages, and our tree sitters have risked their lives. Our government agencies seem to have no shame, no moral compass, and I am losing respect for all of them!”

The fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline is not over. Donate to support Wren, Acre, and ongoing resistance: bit.ly/SupportMVPResistance

And join us: [email protected]

12/02/2020

From Coal River Mountain Watch:

"Contura Energy, the $2-billion coal company that re-merged with Alpha Natural Resources, wants to blow up another 1.7 square miles of Coal River Mountain. This new permit would be adjacent to their existing 10.2 square miles of mountaintop removal and coal waste sludge dams and would further threaten the health of nearby neighborhoods.

In response to Coal River Mountain Watch's objection to this permit, Contura states that they are "required to comply with WVDEP's air quality rules related to controlling fugitive particulate matter." However, we have aerial footage from a blast at an existing site Nov. 13, 2020, showing their massive dust cloud filling the valley below, obscuring the homes in the neighborhood, and traveling more than two miles downwind. This new permit is right above another nearby neighborhood and comes within 300 feet of some homes.

Please sign this petition to tell WVDEP to deny permit S301419."

Contura Energy subsidiary Republic Energy has applied for another mountaintop removal permit on Coal River Mountain: 1,085 acres (1.7 square miles) adjacent to their existing 6,555 acres (10.2 square miles) of mountaintop removal and toxic waste sludge dams. This process involves blasting the mounta...