Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Some 30 Congressional staff members attended a congressional briefing, held by Appalachian Voices this February to promote understanding of mountaintop removal coal mining.  Representatives were given a detailed, in-depth look at the damage that mountaintop removal coal-mining does to our homes and communities. The presentation was chaired by Wilson Orr and backed up byAppalachian Voices executive director Mary Anne Hitt (see photo to left). The main point was to find co-sponsors for the Clean Water Protection Act to stop mountaintop removal coal-mining. Over 65 have signed onto the legislation.

Also present for the briefing, along with Appalachian Voices volunteers, were Larry Gibson , an outspoken activist and property owner; Judy Bonds, Goldman Prize winner of 2003 for her work organizing Coal River Mountain Watch; Mary Miller and Pauline Canterbury, the Dust Busters of Sylvester, W.Va. who have taken on a coal processing plant where there are major problems with coal dust.

At the same time that members of Congress and their staff were being briefed, teams of volunteers accompanied by Appalachian Voices staff, fanned out across the capitol to meet with congressional staff that were not able to make the briefing so that they, too, could be informed about mountaintop removal and asked to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act.

Click here to download a pdf of the briefing packet given to members of congress.

Click here to read the full text of the Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 2719

Click here to see the entire list of H.R. 2719 co-sponsors