Coal is Dirty - Clean Coal Industry News

Cracks in Big Coal’s Empire

Scott Parkin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:48:23 +0000

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-Gandhi

Don Blankenship’s empire is crumbling, rapidly. Mountaintop removal coal mining may well be on it’s way out. The money’s drying up. Appalachia is rising in Washington D.C. And we’re seeing some VERY interesting developments on Wall Street and in Washington.

The New York Times reported yesterday (A1 in the print edition) that some of the biggest Wall Street banks (Citi, Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse) were moving away from the financing of mountaintop removal and other environmental disasters. After years of work NGOs like RAN, Appalachian groups and grassroots activists, have shifted the banking sector away from mountaintop removal.

The four biggest banks in the U.S. –Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo and Chase– have all also stopped funding “the poster child of mountaintop removal” Massey Energy. Massey’s PR aces, on the game as always, have tried to brush off the story about the money drying up, but we all know it’s for real. In the Times article, Massey’s Roger S. Hendriksen, the vice president for investor relations response was ““While some banks no longer provide financing for companies conducting surface mining, there are many who will. We have and will continue to replace their services with alternate bank providers with little difficulty.”

Yeah Roger, we’ll see about that.

The two remaining outliers bankrolling Massey and lots of other mountaintop removal are PNC (a rapidly growing regional bank in Pittsburgh) and UBS (a Swiss banking monster). Just a taste of what they are up to: UBS gave $360 million to Massey in bonds and PNC gave $60 million (both in 2008). PNC claims to be “the greenest bank in the business“ and responded to the NY Times article with a full page ad today touting their community and environmental service.

How can you claim to be the “greenest bank in the business” if you are fund ecological criminals that account for half of mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia? Just sayin’

Coal Miner's Daughter Debbie Jarrell speaks at the Appalachia Rising Press Conference

And our work ain’t about rich bankers, it’s about the people in Appalachian and they are rising. On Monday, a group of Appalachian residents held a press conference in Washington D.C. announcing Appalachia Rising and calling for the abolition of mountaintop removal. The press conference included retired underground coal miners, a Vietnam war veteran, a coal miners’ daughter, and residents of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia’s coalfields.

Appalachia Rising is a mass mobilization with a mass civil disobedience planned on September 27 in Washington D.C.

“I’d rather not travel to Washington DC. I’d rather not break the law in non-violent civil disobedience. Frankly, I’d like to work in the garden in my retirement, but when 300 million gallons of toxic coal sludge from a Massey Energy impoundment flooded Martin County, my home, I found myself in a fight for the life of my land and community, and with those stakes, you don’t have a choice. The time for action is now!” said Mickey McCoy resident and former mayor of Inez, in Martin County, K.Y.

App Rising’s organizing is going REALLY well and we’re expecting a strong turnout. I’ll be there with a whole bunch of friends and we’re going to make powerful statement about Washington allowing mountaintop removal to continue to exist.

Oh Hells Yeah! Anti-MTR Activists Take Action Against Failed Regulatory Agency

Scott Parkin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:41:39 +0000

This morning two anti-MTR activists, associated with Climate Ground Zero, locked down in Charleston at the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection offices.

Activists Block Entrance to DEP Headquarters,
Condemn Failed Enforcement

CHARLESTON, W.V. Protesters associated with Climate Ground Zero blocked the entrance to the headquarters of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today. Joe Hamsher, 23, and Sarah Seeds, 60, are chained to a concrete-filled metal barrel that is blocking the front door of the DEP office complex in Charleston. The activists painted the following statement on the barrel: Department of Easy Permits: Closed.

The human rights activists staged the sit-in in order to bring attention to what they believe is the DEP’s failure to enforce the Clean Water Act by permitting mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia.

“The DEP is taking part in sins of permission,” said Seeds. “Permitting mountaintop removal is permitting the poisoning of this bioregion.”

The protesters specifically sought to shed light on the DEP’s new permitting guidance for implementing water quality standards in the coalfields, which it announced earlier this month. The new permitting guidance, the protesters said, is meant to circumvent the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) much stricter water quality standards, thus paving the way for continued pollution of West Virginia’s waterways by coal operators.

“There is no way to operate a mountaintop removal mine without violating the Clean Water Act. Even Don Blankenship admitted that in Charleston when he debated Robert Kennedy” said West Virginia native Joe Hamsher. “The DEP ought to step up and do their job by enforcing the Clean Water Act. But instead, Randy Huffman, and his boss Joe Manchin, try to find loopholes around it.”

According to the Charleston Gazette in an article published on August 12, the DEP”s new permitting guidance is a direct response to the EPAâ€™s decision in April to more strictly regulate the amount of chlorides, sulfides and heavy metals that coal operators are allowed to dump in West Virginia”s streams and rivers.

Upon announcing the new guidelines, DEP secretary Randy Huffman called on the EPA to give deference to its new policy. “We trust the EPA will give deference to West Virginia’s guidance document, as it was created to satisfy outlines in the Clean Water Act,” Huffman said.

On August 13, however, the EPA responded to the DEP in a public statement that reaffirmed the federal agency’s regulatory authority over the DEP and promised a review of the DEP’s new permitting guidance.

“We look forward to reviewing West Virginia’s new water quality guidance,” wrote the EPA. “In the meantime, the EPA’s guidance stands and we will continue to use it to ensure that mining permits issued in West Virginia and other Appalachian states provide the protection required under federal law.”

Meanwhile, activists with Climate Ground Zero say they will continue to do everything they can to hold accountable the government agencies that permit mountaintop removal mining.

“DEP will be held accountable for its crimes against West Virginia,” said Hamsher.

In addition to putting pressure on the DEP, Climate Ground Zero and its allies will be gathering in Washington D.C. on September 25 through September 27 for Appalachia Rising, a mass mobilization to call for an end to mountaintop removal mining and bring the issue to the national stage.

Wall Street Backs Away From Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Scott Parkin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:30:40 +0000

We’ve waged a long hard campaign against Wall Street the past 4 years to stop them from financing mountaintop removal. Now we’re seeing some results! Hooray for everyone who joined our work to stop MTR financing.

Top 4 US banks curb loans for destructive practice; Cut financing for Massey Energy

SAN FRANCISCO—Within the last two years, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo along with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have successively passed public policies limiting their financial relationships with coal operators that practice mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. These banks were the lead financiers of the practice prior to their policy shifts. Last month, Wells Fargo became the fourth top US bank to adopt a position limiting MTR financing. These policies signal a sector-wide shift away from a mining practice that has become increasingly controversial and a move toward more environmentally conscious fossil fuels financing.

The move comes as a response to more than three years of national pressure spearheaded by the environmental action group Rainforest Action Network (RAN). In 2007, RAN began with a campaign focused on Bank of America, the lead financier of MTR coal mining companies at the time. The group has gone on to work with all of the largest banks in the country to encourage the entire industry to shift its policies. This shift in the banking sector is consistent with a national move away from the mining practice, which recently both scientists and the federal government have confirmed causes irrevocable harm to landscape and water quality.

“Money talks – and it is saying loud and clear that mountaintop removal coal mining is a bad investment. With the move away from mountaintop removal coal mining, our country’s top banks are showing that they know they can do well while doing good for our environment and our public health,” said Rebecca Tarbotton, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network. “We are seeing a sector-wide shift away from an increasingly controversial practice that is devastating Appalachian communities and the mountains and streams they depend on.”

One of the major impacts of these mountaintop mining policies is that the banks are no longer financing Massey Energy, the leading MTR coal company in the country that was involved in the April 5 Upper Big Branch mine explosion where 29 miners tragically died. In particular, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships (underwriting bonds or providing loans) with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the notorious company.

As examples: Based on Bloomberg data, Bank of America, which was one of the ‘syndication agents’ on a $175 million revolver loan to Massey in March 2008, is no longer on the deal or any others with the company. JPMorgan, similarly, underwrote $180 million in debt securities in 2008 to Massey and was also the lead manager on a $233 million share deal (joint with UBS) that same year. JPMorgan no longer has any financial ties to the company.

“When the top four banks in the country back away from Massey Energy and other leading mountaintop mining operators, it sends a clear signal that these companies have a high risk profile and that other banks should beware,” continued Tarbotton. “Bottom-line, as access to capital becomes more constrained it will be harder for mining companies to finance the blowing up of America’s mountains.”

Bank of America was the first bank to issue a public policy limiting its MTR financing back in December 2008. They were followed by Citi in August 2009, Credit Suisse in September 2009, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan in May of this year and Wells Fargo just last month. While each banks’ policies differ, they all demonstrate concern about the environmental and investment risks associated with mountaintop mining, and all of the banks have made clear moves away from companies who primarily focus on this form of extraction.

With the nation’s leading banks moving away from MTR, coal operators are looking toward new banks for financing. Currently, PNC and UBS are the lead financiers of the practice. PNC finances mining companies responsible for almost half of all mountaintop removal coal mined in the US.

Mountaintop removal coal makes up 7 percent of the nation’s total coal use, but many argue the practice, which requires blowing the tops off of mountains and dumping the debris into nearby streams and valleys, has an outsized impact on Appalachia’s environmental and public health. Since 1992, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been filled at a rate of 120 miles per year with toxic surface mining waste. The estimated scale of deforestation from existing Appalachian surface mining operations is equivalent in size to the state of Delaware.

In the coming months, RAN will continue to monitor the impacts of these bank policies on curbing mountaintop removal mining.

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Massey Energy Files Civil Lawsuit against Environmental Activists

Scott Parkin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:38:24 +0000

Massey’s working pretty hard to silence critics of their MTR policy. The “Dragline 14″ to dramatic action last year to stop destruction in Twilight, WV.

Please contribute to their legal defense fund.

Massey Energy Files ’SLAPP’ Lawsuit against Environmental Activists

Company Responsible for Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster Actively Seeking to Silence Local Critics

CONTACTS:

Larry Hildes, (360) 715-9788

Rock Creek, W. Va. — Massey Energy has filed a politically motivated civil suit, also known as a Strategic Lawsuit against Public Participation (SLAPP) suit, against fourteen activists arrested last year in relation to a protest on a mountaintop removal mining site. The suit seems to be part of a larger strategy on the part of the mining company to intimidate and silence critics of the company’s safety record and controversial mining practices, particularly mountaintop removal coal mining.

Since the spring of 2008, Massey has filed at least four SLAPP suits against activists in West Virginia working to end mountaintop removal, none of which have yet been resolved. Commonly used to exhaust critics by burdening them with the cost of a massive legal defense, SLAPP suits have been banned by at least 26 states and one territory has protections against SLAPP suits. West Virginia does not have a ban, but its courts have adopted some protections against them (1.).

“We think that Massey should have higher priorities than suing environmental activists who object to an extremely disastrous mining policy,” said Larry Hildes, an attorney representing the 14 activists. “With a record like theirs, they need to be focusing on measures to help local communities impacted by their mining and working to prevent future disasters in their mines.”

Massey Energy is already publicly notorious due to their history of safety violations and damage to local communities. In April 2010, Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., suffered a preventable disaster that took the lives of 29 miners and was widely covered by the press. Thousands more safety violations have been reported in Massey mines throughout West Virginia and Kentucky since the Upper Big Branch disaster. Massey also continues to be one of the leading proponents of controversial mountaintop removal mining practices. Above ground, over 500 mountains, 2,000 miles of rivers and streams and over a million acres of forest have been decimated by mountaintop mining operations. Finally, Appalachian communities near Massey mountaintop removal operations are harmed through coal dust, regular blasting, dirty water and coal waste.

“Not only is Massey destroying Appalachia’s mountains and water, and criminally neglecting the safety of their own workers, but they are also using their vast legal and financial resources to sue environmentalists instead of cleaning up their mess,” said Charles Suggs, a resident of Rock Creek, W.Va., and one of the climbers on the dragline. “This SLAPP suit is intended to intimidate and silence their critics so that Massey won’t have to actually make right the damage they’ve done.”

On June 18, 2009, in Twilight, W.Va., the 14 activists named in the lawsuit risked their safety to stop massive, 20-story earth-destroying piece of mining equipment known as a 'dragline.’ Their action was intended to protect the families whose lives are harmed every day by this destructive mining practice. Massey now seeks $350,000 in damages for loss of coal production on that day. All fourteen activists had their criminal charges resolved in a W. Va. court in September, 2009.

1. Harris v. Adkins, 432 S.E.2d 549 (1993)

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BREAKING:RAN Activists Send Message to Massey CEO Don Blankenship at the National Press Club: “Your coal is not Clean, Safe or F

Scott Parkin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:49:15 +0000

RAN activists just disrupted Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s talk at the National Press Club sending him a strong message:“Your coal is not Clean, Safe or Forever.” They were eventually escorted out by security.

Pictures. Video.

Washington, D.C. (7/22/10)— Today activists with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) attended Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s National Press Club speaking event. RAN was there to call attention to Massey’s repeated mine safety violations, including the April 5 Upper Big Branch mine explosion in which 29 miners tragically died, as well as the company’s lead role in mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Blankenship has gained quite a reputation for his company’s mine safety violations as well as his indifference to environmental protection and climate change.

“Massey is the BP of the coal industry: reckless, arrogant and an obstacle to the clean energy future that the president and the country is calling for,” said Amanda Starbuck of the Rainforest Action Network. “The bottom line is that clean, safe and forever are three words that Massey Energy can never credibly say.”

Massey mines more MTR coal than any other company in Appalachia, mining 20% of all MTR coal in 2009. Blankenship spoke at the National Press Club on the topic of increasing the surface mining of coal. It seems Blankenship is trying to protect his company’s future at a time when the tide is clearly turning away from the controversial mountaintop removal coal mining practice. In the last year, leading scientists, congressional representatives, Appalachians, environmentalists and even the late coal state Senator Robert Byrd have all called into question the coal mining practice. In addition, in April the EPA came out with strict new guidelines on MTR, which make it harder for companies like Massey to receive mining permits.

Currently, mountaintop removal coal makes up 7 percent of the nation’s total coal use but has an outsized impact on Appalachia’s environmental and public health. Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal mine sites use some of the most environmentally devastating types of mining to blow up Appalachian mountains and bury streams in toxic mine waste in order to reach coal seams that lie deep beneath the mountains’ surface. Since 1992, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been filled at a rate of 120 miles per year with toxic surface mining waste. The estimated scale of deforestation from existing Appalachian surface mining operations is equivalent in size to the state of Delaware.

A paper released in January by a dozen leading scientists in the journal Science concluded that mountaintop coal mining is so destructive that the government should stop giving out new permits for the practice all together. “The science is so overwhelming that the only conclusion that one can reach is that mountaintop mining needs to be stopped,” said Margaret Palmer, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences and the study’s lead author, when the paper was released.

Coal mining costs Appalachians five times more in early deaths than the industry provides to the region in jobs, taxes and other economic benefits, according to a groundbreaking new study released this month by a West Virginia University researcher. Several peer-reviewed studies have also found that residents of coal-producing counties are more likely to suffer from chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases and more likely to be hospitalized for certain health problems, like lung cancer, that are connected to coal pollution.

Massey Energy has a long history of environmental and social irresponsibility. It has been cited for repeated mine safety violations in recent years, racking up hundreds of penalties at the infamous Upper Big Branch mine alone as well as playing a role in one of the largest slurry spills ever to take place in the United States, the 2000 Martin County sludge spill in Kentucky.

For more information about coal and public health, visit: http://www.publichealthreports.org/

For more information about mountaintop removal and Rainforest Action Network, visit: http://ran.org/content/mountaintop-removal-american-tragedy

Massey CEO Don Blankenship Leaving US Chamber of Commerce Board

Scott Parkin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:09:50 +0000

I have a theory that the powers that be are throwing Massey CEO and homicidal maniac Don Blankenship under the proverbial bus and not even looking for skid marks.

Here’s more evidence proving my point.

He’s leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board. The Chamber is saying his rotation has merely ended. Maybe, maybe not. But they must be breathing a huge sigh of relief to have someone so devoid of reality no longer representing them.

Not that the Chamber is a benovolant organization looking out for the best interests of the people and the planet. Who knows, maybe they'll add Tony Hayward to the board in this place.

Breaking:Activists Stop Strip Mining Machine on Coal River Mountain

Scott Parkin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:31:42 +0000

“It was usually around July you could go up there and sit and it was like the annual bear gathering up there… The whole area was full of laurels. The bears had tunnels through them, it was so thick…What’s going on today you know with the Brushy Fork of course, that whole area has just about been stripped out now, and that’s all been taken away.” Ed Wiley on Coal River Mountain.

MARFORK, W.Va. – Protestors associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice have locked to and shut down a highwall miner on Coal River Mountain today. Colin Flood, 22, and Katie Huszcza, 21, are locked to the mining equipment on Massey Energy’s Bee Tree Surface Mine, near to the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment. Their banner states “Save Coal River Mountain” alongside images of ginseng, a morel, a deer and a bear.

The human rights activists locked down in order to bring attention to the many local resources that will be lost if blasting on Coal River Mountain continues. This destruction led the four protesters, including 22-year-old Jimmy Tobias and 20-year-old Sophie Kern, both of whom acted as direct support, to take part in the action. “These mountains are home to some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world and contain a variety of precious flora and fauna including edible and medicinal plants that can save lives, a wide array of extremely nutritious mushrooms, old growth forest and an abundance of deer and trout,” Huszcza said. “Coal River Mountain is priceless.”

Local resident Ed Wiley laments the loss of wildlife caused by the construction of the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment, built in what was once some of the densest, oldest forest on the mountain.

“You could look off through the woods there and see a big Mamma bear with three or four cubs,” he says “But now they go on in there and remove the timber, and then start removing the overburden, and Momma bears with their cubs don’t come out of their dens until about the end of May, so they’re getting buried alive.”

“When the timber is gone, when the topsoil is gone, when the air and water are destroyed, the less than 4 percent of our nation’s energy needs that mountaintop removal provides will be small consolation,” said Flood, one of the four protestors, “The coal companies and land companies are blasting this land, ruining its rivers and poisoning its people for the sake of flat screen TVs, pick-up trucks and profit margins.”

The activists are spotlighting dangers associated with the massive Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment, which is permitted to contain 8.2 billion gallons of toxic coal waste and estimates put the current level at seven billion gallons. Brushy Fork’s foundation is built on a honeycomb of abandoned underground mines. If the foundation were to collapse, as in Martin Co., Ky., the slurry would engulf communities as far as 14 miles away, according to Marfork Coal Co.’s emergency warning plan regarding the impoundment.

“The Brushy Fork sludge dam places the downstream communities in imminent danger. The threat of being inundated by a wall of toxic sludge is always present. Blasting next to this dam increases this risk at the same that it destroys the opportunity for renewable wind energy,” said Vernon Haltom, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch, in reference to the Coal River Wind Project.

“The protesters expect a long fight before blasting on Coal River Mountain stops and they remain committed to that fight,” said Tobias, one of the members of the support team. “This is a fight for the heart of Appalachia and the soul of America,” he said. “Land and freedom have always gone hand in hand. When you strip bare the land, you strip bare freedom. We won’t stop until the land is safe in the hands of those in the community who care for it.”

“It [the destruction of wilderness] makes mountaintop removal an act of treason,” Flood said.

Climate Ground Zero’s action campaign, begun in February of last year, has kept up a sustained series of direct actions since that time, continuing decades-long resistance to strip mining in Appalachia.

Activists Sit Down so EPA Will Stand up to King Coal

Scott Parkin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:08:56 +0000

Cross posted from the RAN Understory

By Nell Greenberg

On July 8, activists with the Rainforest Action Network have staged a super creative and gutsy sit-in at the EPA headquarters to demand stronger protection for Appalachia’s drinking water and an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining once and for all.

With the nation’s eyes on the BP disaster, the EPA, without publicly announcing the action, recently gave the green light for a major new mountaintop removal coal mining permit in Logan County, West Virginia. The permit would allow the destruction of nearly three miles of currently clean streams and 760 acres of forest, in a county where at least 13 percent of the land has already been permitted for surface coal mining. This was despite EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s promise last April to enforce new rules to end the reckless practice of mountaintop removal mining.

We have no intention of letting the EPA conduct business-as-usual when it comes to blowing up America’s mountains and poisoning precious drinking water for coal.

Activist Stands Atop EPA Headquarters' Main Entrance

That’s why at about 9:00 am today five people entered the headquarters of the EPA in Washington DC. Once inside, the activists sat down in the center of the lobby, locked themselves together with metal ‘lock boxes,’ and began to play West Virginia’s adopted state song, John Denver’s ‘Take me Home, Country Roads,’ mixed with intermittent sounds of Appalachia’s mountains being blown apart by MTR explosives. It’s well worth listening to the audio track, which has been playing for about 2 ½ hours now on loop inside the EPA lobby, and profoundly illustrates the difference between EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s rhetoric in Washington and the reality in Appalachia.

“We’re sitting down inside the EPA to demand the EPA stand up to protect Appalachia’s precious drinking water, historic mountains and public health from the devastation of mountaintop removal,” said RAN’s Scott Parkin, who is inside the EPA right now. “At issue here is not whether mountaintop removal mining is bad for the environment or human health, because we know it is and the EPA has said it is. At issue is whether President Obama’s EPA will do something about it. So far, it seems it is easier to poison Appalachia’s drinking water than to defy King Coal.”

In addition to activists inside the EPA headquarters, one brave climber is standing atop the EPA’s front door blocking the door with two banners reading: ‘Blowing up mountains for coal contaminates Appalachia’s water, Stop MTR’ and ‘EPA – Easier to Poison Appalachia’s Water than Defy King Coal.’

For decades, Appalachian residents have been decrying the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining—the practice of blowing up whole mountains (and dumping the toxic debris into nearby streams and valleys) to reach seams of coal. Environmentalists, leading scientists, congressional representatives and even late coal state Senator Byrd have all called for the end to this mining practice.

So what will it take for the EPA to follow its own science and end this devastating practice once and for all? It is time President Obama’s EPA stop cowing to King Coal and start protecting public and environmental health.

We’ll keep you posted as the action continues. For now, you can support the brave activists inside the EPA by taking action and emailing the EPA to tell them how you feel about mountaintop mining.

Follow today’s action on twitter @dirtyenergy

EPA’s New Guidelines Promising Strict Enforcement of Mountaintop Removal…. Not So Strict

Scott Parkin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:59:29 +0000

I’m pissed off and ready for a fight. King Coal drives all over Appalachia’s land and people like Keith Richards on a five day bender, and the EPA gives them the keys to the liquor cabinet.

How long before the compromisers at the EPA and in the Obama administration figure out that there is no kinder gentler version of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Scores are mobilizing for a big rally and action in Washington D.C. on Sept. 27. People in the coalfields are working everyday to stop this crime. It’s time to mix it up and stop this madness. Get involved.

Much-Lauded Strict Mountaintop Mining Guidelines Not So Strict

EPA’s First Decision Under New Mountaintop Mining Guidelines is to Approve Coal Permit; Permit Would Create Three New Valley Fills

SAN FRANCISCO– Just last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the Army Corps of Engineers a green light for the Pine Creek mine permit, a mountaintop removal (MTR) mining site in Logan County, W.Va. This is the first permit decision the EPA has issued under the new mountaintop mining guidelines, which came out last April and were anticipated to provide tougher oversight of mountaintop removal coal mining.

The new MTR guidelines were understood to provide greater protection for headwater streams by curbing the practice of dumping waste in neighboring valleys to create what is known as valley fills. The Pine Creek permit is the first test of these guidelines, and green lights three new valley fills (each over 40 acres large). It was anticipated that these guidelines, by requiring mining operators to control levels of toxins in nearby streams, would significantly reduce the dumping of mining waste in valleys, which the EPA said was scientifically proven to contaminate drinking water and wreck ecosystems.

“This is a devastating first decision under guidelines that had offered so much hope for Appalachian residents who thought the EPA was standing up for their health and water quality in the face of a horrific mining practice,” said Amanda Starbuck of the Rainforest Action Network. “The grand words being spoken by Administrator Jackson in Washington are simply not being reflected in the EPA’s actions on-the-ground. This continues the inconsistent and contradictory decisions that have plagued the EPA’s process on mountaintop removal coal mining all along.”

In announcing the new guidelines in April, Administrator Jackson told reporters: “We expect this guidance to change behaviors, to change actions, because if we keep doing what we have been doing, we’re going to see continued degradation of water quality… Minimizing the number of valley fills is a very, very key factor. You’re talking about no or very few valley fills that are going to be able to meet standards like this.”

The Pine Creek Surface Mine permit will allow Coal-Mac, a subsidiary of coal giant Arch Coal, to mine through more than 2 miles of streams that are already suffering dangerous levels of pollution from surface mining (see editors note for more details). Extensive mountaintop removal mining and the subsequent environmental and water quality damage have already ravaged Logan County W.Va., which is the location of the infamous Spruce mine.

In response to the possibility of more blasting in Logan County, West Virginia resident Vivian Stockman of the Ohio Valley Environment Coalition said: “In approving the Pine Creek permit, the EPA has failed our community. Any more mountaintop removal mining in Logan County is going to further degrade the watershed, increase pollution-related health impacts and increase the likelihood of more flooding.”

“Moving forward, it is clear that the EPA cannot end mountaintop removal coal mining pollution without abolishing mountaintop removal all together,” continued Starbuck.

Since 1992, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been filled at a rate of 120 miles per year by surface mining practices. A recent EPA study found elevated levels of highly toxic selenium in streams downstream from valley fills. These impairments are linked to contamination of surface water supplies and resulting health concerns, as well as widespread impacts to stream life in downstream rivers and streams. Further, the estimated scale of deforestation from existing Appalachian surface mining operations is equivalent in size to the state of Delaware.

A paper released in January 2009 by a dozen leading scientists in the journal Science, concluded that mountaintop coal mining is so destructive that the government should stop giving out new permits all together. “The science is so overwhelming that the only conclusion that one can reach is that mountaintop mining needs to be stopped,” said Margaret Palmer, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences and the study’s lead author.

The Pine Creek permit is currently awaiting approval from the Army Corps of Engineers.

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Notes to Editor
For more information on the EPA’s decision about the Pine Creek mine permit:

http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/guidance/pdf/CoalMac_ECP_letter_06-21-1…

http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=…

For more information on the Pine Creek permit:

http://ran.org/content/stop-blasting-pine-creek-west-virginia

For background on EPA guidelines and conductivity levels:
The new EPA guidelines were designed to gauge the health of nearby streams based on their levels of conductivity, which is an indicator of water’s purity. The runoff from Appalachian mines contains toxins like magnesium, sulfate, bicarbonate, and potassium — all ions that raise conductivity levels. The higher the conductivity, the tougher it is for aquatic life to survive.

EPA is warning that water pollution from these mining operations dangerously increases the electrical conductivity of streams. Under the guidelines, the EPA believes any mining proposals with predicted conductivity levels of 300 or below is generally okay. Anything above 500 is considered by EPA “to be associated with impacts that may rise to the level of exceedances of narrative state water quality standards.”

There is a plan for monitoring water quality that involves 2 thresholds. Should bi-monthly testing show conductivity levels of about 300 then the “adaptive management plan” kicks in. The second threshold is when levels exceed 500 at which point “chemical improvements to the watershed” will be made. Should water quality be in exceedence of 500 a subsequent valley fill would not be allowed to be constructed. The EPA acknowledges that conductivity levels at the left fork of Pine Creek are already approaching 500 S/cm.

Appalachia Rising: Mobilize to End Mountaintop Removal!

Scott Parkin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:51:09 +0000

Today, a coalition of coalfield residents and organizations held a press conference in Charleston, WV announcing a mass mobilization, called “Appalachia Rising” in Washington D.C. to “mobilize to end mountaintop removal.”

Below is their vision statement.

Appalachia Rising:

Mobilize to End Mountaintop Removal!

September 25 – 27, 2010, Washington DC

Appalachia Rising is a mass mobilization in Washington DC on September 27, 2010 calling for the abolition of mountaintop removal and surface mining. It is a culmination of the national movement against surface mining and a foundation upon which to build a pan-Appalachian movement for prosperity and justice. Coalfield citizens and organizers envision a vibrant mobilization of thousands – coalfield residents, students & youth, Christians & people of all faiths, families, celebrities, underground miners, activists, artists, and all who yearn for justice – to converge on Washington DC for a day of non-violent action and dignified civil disobedience targeting the politicians and agencies who could abolish surface mining with the stroke of a pen.

Appalachia Rising declares that we are not a national sacrifice zone. We will not stand idly by as we see our past and future blasted to rubble, our communities and mountains eliminated, and our neighbors poisoned as coal executives and their shareholders grow rich. Appalachians are not, and never will be, collateral damage. We are proud of our coal mining fathers, hard-working neighbors, and Appalachian past, present and future!

Appalachia is endowed with abundant resources too long plundered by outside interests. We call for the abolition of surface mining, a just transition for coalfield communities, and renewed investment in a prosperous and just economy in Appalachia.

We invite all who share our vision to join with us on September 27, 2010 in our nation’s capitol for an end to mountaintop removal, surface mining, and a renewed vision of Appalachia.

Bo Webb, Naoma, Coal River Valley, WV

Judy Bonds, Rock Creek, Coal River Valley, WV

Junior Walk, Whitesville, Coal River Valley, WV

Andrew Munn, Rock Creek, Coal River Valley, WV

Danny Chiotos, Charleston, WV

Jessie Dodson, Richmond, VA

Vernon Haltom, Princeton, WV

Chuck Nelson, Sylvester, WV

Lorelei Scarbro, Rock Creek, WV

Joe Gorman, Morgantown, WV