Army Corps Issues EPA Backed Pine Creek Permit

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signaled its approval of Arch Coal subsidiary Coal-Mac’s Pine Creek surface mine in Logan County, WV.  Yesterday, the agency announced that the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) had issued its final Clean Water Act permit for the mountaintop removal mine.

In other words...

They are still blowing up our mountains, and we still need a law.

Hodge’s Creek Fish Kill Update

Back on July 17, asphalt sealant killed off 1.5 miles of Hodge’s Creek in Boone, NC.  Turns out the sealant is made from coal tar, making this yet another consequence of using deadly coal by-products.

Coal tar, which would be listed as a ‘hazardous waste,’ were it not for a special federal exemption, contains benzo[a]pyrene.  Benzo[a]pyrene is dangerous chemical that made EPA’s list of 12 priority “persistent bioaccumulative toxins.” Still, coal tar is being applied to asphalt across the country, and concerns are growing that toxins from the product are being tracked into homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings.

Fun at the Watauga Riverkeeper Festival!

The word on everyone’s mind after the first ever Watauga Riverkeeper Festival: Success! 

Kids and adults alike came out in droves to celebrate the beautiful mountain rivers of Appalachia at the Valle Crucis Community Park on Saturday.  The Watauga Riverkeeper and Appalachian Voices worked together to create a family-friendly event with plenty for kids (and adults) to do.

Blankenship PR Blimp Crashes and Burns in DC

Appalachian Voices staff was on hand at the National Press Club last week to watch Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship predict further mining tragedies, dismiss coalfield citizens, and brag about blowing up Appalachia to export coal to India. Needless to say that the press walked away unimpressed. Sunday’s Washington Post put the quick kibosh on Don Blankenship’s high flying public relations circus with Dana Milbank’s headline screaming” Massey Energy’s Blankenship: No shame, but plenty of blame.”

Milbank laments for Blankenship:

Poor CEO Blankenship. That mean federal government is not allowing him to pursue his happiness, just because his employees are dead.

Massey Energy is the #1 perpetrator of mountaintop removal. Don Blankenship is the man leading the charge. If you care about ending mountaintop removal, and protecting Appalachia from greedy, reckless CEOs, read the whole piece here and then call your Congressman (202-224-3121) and ask them to stop mountaintop removal.  They can support the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) in the House, or the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) in the Senate. 

Appalachian Voices’ JW Randolph on “Truthout”

Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate JW Randolph was quoted on Friday in an article by the news organization Truthout.  The piece, entitled Protesters Crash Massey Energy Lunch, but Don’t Sway Conversation, was about Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s recent July 22 luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.  There, Blankenship argued that expanding surface mining is essential not only for the US economy but also global health.

Randolph’s presence at the event offered a refreshingly sane perspective on surface mining in Appalachia and a not so refreshing jar of murky tap water from a home in the heavily strip mined Mingo County in West Virginia.

News from the Appalachian Voices Concert Tour!

By Colette Henderson

Five days ago, we kicked off the Dear Companion tour in Lexington, KY in full force.  We packed the house and many stopped by the Appalachian Voices table to pick up materials and ask questions.  The amazing part of doing this work in areas like Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia is the stories you can come across.  One of the ushers at the Lexington show stopped by and commented on how she had protested strip mining in Eastern Kentucky back in the 60’s. Others talked of family and friends in the region who have come and gone due to the the distressing effect mining has on the area.  A young woman nabbed an I Love Mountains bumper sticker before rushing into the show calling over her shoulder, “I’m from Eastern Kentucky, I"m so glad they are doing this work..”

Salon Interviews Senate Candidate Ken Hechler

Don’t miss yesterday’s enlightening Salon interview with US Senate candidate Ken Hechler of West Virginia.

Click here: Meet the World’s Oldest Senate Candidate

Carte Goodwin 101

Last Friday, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin appointed his former chief counsel, Carte Goodwin, to fill the vacated Senate seat of the late Robert C. Byrd.  Goodwin, at the age of 36, has become the youngest member of the US Senate, replacing the chamber’s oldest and longest serving member.  Goodwin will hold the seat until November, at which point Manchin hopes to fill it. 

Speaking of Byrd, Governor Manchin said, “I think today we’ve honored him by choosing a worthy replacement.” Both President Obama and US Representative Nick Rahall [D-WV3] praised the appointment. 

Before he had even taken the oath of office, Goodwin was already blasting the climate bill.  Our nation’s newest Senator proclaimed:

From what I’ve seen of the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House of Representatives and other proposals pending in the Senate, they simply are not right for West Virginia.

And went on to say:

I will not support any piece of legislation that threatens any West Virginia job, any West Virginia family, or jeopardizes the long-term economic security of this state.

Wendell Berry Objects to His Alma Mater’s “Wildcat Coal Lodge”

Internationally renowned author and farmer, Kentuckian Wendell Berry, has taken back personal papers he donated to the University of Kentucky. The prolific writer made the decision after his Alma Mater, where he also taught for 19 years, named a basketball dormitory the “Wildcat Coal Lodge.”

“The University’s president and board have solemnized an alliance with the coal industry, in return for a large monetary ‘gift,’ granting to the benefactors, in effect, a co-sponsorship of the University’s basketball team,” Berry explained.

Crawdads: A Southern Staple

The Watauga Riverkeeper Festival is THIS SATURDAY! Come out on July 24, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.! Enjoy a day of outdoor recreation and a celebration of the river with live music, games, food and if the river is running—a float down the wild and wonderful Watauga River. This week’s river critter:

The Crawdad: A Southern Staple

We all know that people down south love their “crawfish boils”, where crayfish (more colloquially called crawfish or crawdads) are seasoned to delicious tastes and eaten en masse. 

But crawdads aren’t just an important staple of a southern diet; even more importantly they are a staple of rivers and their ecology. The largest diversity of crawdads in the world is exhibited right here in the southeastern United States, with over 330 species populating the waters.