Coal Watch

The Power of Coal: Why People in Colstrip, MT Can't Drink the Water

2011-12-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

"Wathen Said has tested the arsenic levels around the county and found levels as high as 0.840 mg/L. The legal limit is 0.1 mg/l. and protective steps need to be taken at 0.5 mg/l."

The Power of Coal: Why People in Colstrip, MT Can't Drink the Water (via spot.us)

Bluff collapse at power plant sends dirt, coal ash into lake

2011-11-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Bluff collapse at power plant sends dirt, coal ash into lake

November 1, 2011

Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Cheryl Nenn was recently quoted regarding the recent bluff collapse, which sent coal ash into Lake Michigan.
[excerpted from JSOnline.com]
by Meg Jones & Don Behm.
Oak Creek - A large section of bluff collapsed Monday next to the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant, sending dirt, coal ash and mud cascading into the shoreline next to Lake Michigan and dumping a pickup truck, dredging equipment, soil and other debris into the lake.
There were no injuries, and the incident did not affect power output from the plant.
When the section of bluff collapsed and slid from a terraced area at the top of a hill down to the lake, Oak Creek Acting Fire Chief Tom Rosandich said, it left behind a debris field that stretched 120 yards long and 50 to 80 yards wide at the bottom.
Aerial images show a trailer and storage units holding construction equipment tumbled like Tonka toy trucks and were swept along with the falling bluff in a river of dirt that ended in the water.
"This is definitely a freak accident," U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Brian Dykenssaid.
As a company hired by We Energies began cleanup in Lake Michigan, the utility confirmed that coal ash was part of the debris.
"Based on our land use records it is probable that some of the material that washed into the lake is coal ash," We Energies spokesman Barry McNulty said. "We believe that was something that was used to fill the ravine area in that site during the 1950s. That's a practice that was discontinued several decades ago."
The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of developing stricter regulations of coal ash following a 2008 Tennessee coal ash pond washout that created a devastating environmental disaster.
No one was inside a trailer nor three box-like storage units that were sucked up in the mudslide, which also pushed a pickup truck into Lake Michigan and destroyed a temporary tool storage shed, We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said. Some of the equipment was being used to dredge a storm water retention pond close to the lake.
Noting that about 100 construction workers were in the area at the time of the incident just after 11 a.m. Monday, Manthey said "we're very fortunate that there were no injuries reported." The construction workers are not We Energies employees.
Rosandich said contractors were taking an inventory of what exactly was lost in the mud slide.

Fuel sheen on lake

A fuel sheen covered the surface of Lake Michigan next to the plant Monday afternoon. Clean Harbors, the company hired by We Energies, will deploy 1,500 feet of linear boom on the water to contain the debris and fuel. McNulty said the weather forecast for Tuesday is favorable for cleanup of the lake.
The bluff failure was near a new air quality control system under construction. Following the collapse, authorities were testing the soil for stability as well as testing soil around the air quality control building under construction. Manthey said there was no danger of a further collapse.
Just what caused part of the hill to collapse was unknown. The National Weather Service office in Sullivan reported only 0.23 inch of rain fell at Milwaukee's airport Sunday and the only precipitation prior to that was a trace that fell on Oct. 27, meteorologist Ed Townsend said
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee geology professor Tom Hooyer said that based on aerial images of the site, seepage from a high water table is more likely the cause of the failure than erosion from the lake especially considering Lake Michigan is about 200 feet below the bluff site that failed.
Hooyer questioned whether the retention pond near the site of the collapse had a lining. If not, it's possible seepage from that pond could have loosened the nearby soil, he said.
Manthey said a storm water retention pond uphill from the mud slide is not lined.
Power continued generating at both the original and new coal plants. Because the pollution control equipment was not yet hooked up to the plant, the incident didn't affect operations at either plant, Manthey said.
Oak Creek's water utility was also not affected because the community's water intake pipe is two miles north of the power plant and one mile out into Lake Michigan, Oak Creek utilities engineer Mike Sullivan said. Oak Creek supplies water to residents of its city as well as Franklin and the northern half of Caledonia.
Oak Creek water utility officials were worried that the water pipes it uses to supply water to the We Energies plant might have been severed in the bluff collapse but Sullivan said that did not happen.

Debris flows south

Maureen Wolff lives in Caledonia about a mile from the power plant and can see the plant's smoke stacks from her home. She walked to the lakefront shortly after the incident and was dismayed to see lots of debris and wood floating south toward Racine. Because of the dark color of the debris, Wolff wondered if coal ash ended up in the lake.
"All this is going along the coast line and they're telling people all it is is just a few trailers and possibly some tools. No one is saying what exactly is in it," said Wolff, a Caledonia resident for more than 50 years.
Later Monday afternoon, We Energies confirmed that coal ash was likely in the debris.
A local environmental group leader said coal ash was disposed in multiple locations over the years, when environmental rules were much more lenient.
"We definitely want the environmental agencies and We Energies to study how much of that coal ash, if any, went into Lake Michigan because it does pose such a threat to human health and the environment," said Cheryl Nenn, Riverkeeper with the group Milwaukee Riverkeeper.
Wisconsin has more stringent coal-ash disposal rules than many states, Nenn said, but there are still concerns given the historic practices of ash disposal before the 1970s brought new environmental regulations like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
"The (Tennessee) disaster in 2008 highlighted the need to have consistent regulations nationwide and more regulation as to where these things are stored, how they're monitored, and how closely they're put next to drinking water sources," Nenn said, noting Lake Michigan's role as a source for drinking water for more than 40 million people.
The air quality control system project under construction at Oak Creek is the second most expensive construction project ever undertaken by We Energies, with a price tag of $900 million. Construction began in 2008.
The project is adding scrubbers and other pollution control equipment to reduce the emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
The air controls will serve the original Oak Creek coal plant, which has four boilers that opened from 1959 to 1967. The original coal plant is just south of the new two-plant coal operation that opened earlier this year, at a cost of more than $2.3 billion.
During an investor conference call last week, company Chairman and Chief Executive Gale Klappa said the project was about 90% complete and was on time and on budget, with the new controls expected to undergo testing before completion in 2012.
In a report filed last week with the state Public Service Commission, We Energies said the air emissions control construction project had gone 2.4 million hours without a lost-time injury.
In 2008, We Energies hired the Washington Division of San Francisco-based URS Corp. to perform the engineering, management, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning for the project. Known as Washington Group until it was sold to URS, the contractor did a similar pollution-control project on the We Energies coal-fired power plant in Pleasant Prairie several years ago.
URS Washington also built the new natural gas-fired power plant in Port Washington for We Energies, and a coal-fired power plant near Wausau for Wisconsin Public Service Corp.

Coal ash spills into Lake Michigan after bluff collapse

2011-11-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Coal ash spills into Lake Michigan after bluff collapse

Yellow highlighted area shows portion of a bluff, comprised of coal ash, in We Energy Oak Creek Power Plant that collapsed into Lake Michigan. Google Maps

Resulting dirt-coal ash mudslide extends beyond the length of a football field

By Sarah Whitmire

5 hours, 28 minutes ago Updated: 5 hours, 24 minutes ago

A cascade of coal ash, dirt and mud fell into the shore of Lake Michigan yesterday after a large section of bluff collapsed beside the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It is unknown how much coal ash fell from the pile, but the spill left behind a debris field about 120 yards long, the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reports.
"Based on our land use records it is probable that some of the material that washed into the lake is coal ash," We Energies spokesman Barry McNulty told the Journal Sentinel. "We believe that was something that was used to fill the ravine area in that site during the 1950s. That's a practice that was discontinued several decades ago."
As iWatch News has previously reported , coal ash is the leftover residue from burning coal that is known to contain neurotoxins like lead and mercury and the carcinogens such as arsenic. In a series of investigations , iWatch News has examined the lack of federal oversight of the waste and its affects on communities near coal ash dump sites.
House Republicans championed legislation in mid-October that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to regulate coal ash and give regulatory authority to the states — a move that would shift authority away from the EPA and reduce federal regulations that Republicans say are burdensome.The Obama administration has voiced opposition to the House legislation, calling it “insufficient to address the risks associated with coal ash disposal and management.”
The Lake Michigan spill is similar to a dam break at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in 2008, where 1.1 billion gallons of coal slurry was dumped across hundred of acres — killing nearby wildlife and damaging homes.
The cause of the Wisconsin bluff collapse is still unknown. None of the 100 or so nearby workers were injured in the spill, and clean-up has already begun. U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Brian Dykens called it a “freak accident.”

Tr-Ash Talk: Yet Another Coal Ash Spill

2011-11-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

1 November 2011, 11:25 AM

Raviya Ismail

Tr-Ash Talk: Yet Another Coal Ash Spill

Coal ash spills into Lake Michigan near Milwaukee power plant

Coal ash spill into Lake Michigan

We’re closing in on the 3-year anniversary of the TVA coal ash disaster and there are still no federal regulations in place protecting us from coal ash. And now, another spill: in Oak Creek, Wisconsin a bluff collapsed, sending coal ash and debris from We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant into Lake Michigan.
Writing this off as a “freak accident” or “mudslide” is a dangerous err in judgment. Coal ash has toxic levels of arsenic, hexavalent chromium, mercury, lead and other chemicals. Would you want that in your drinking water? No, and sadly, that is a reality to people who live near these sites in Wisconsin.
We’re still waiting on details from this spill (how many tons of coal ash, how far does it extend, etc.) and there are many questions. Maureen Wolff lives a mile from the power plant and walked to the shoreline shortly after the incident. She saw the dark color of the debris and wondered if it was coal ash.
“All this is going along the coast line and they’re telling people all it is is just a few trailers and possibly some tools. No one is saying what exactly is in it,” she is quoted saying in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The power plant confirmed later that coal ash likely ended up in the lake, which is the drinking water supply for 40 million people. Apparently there were no wells monitoring the coal ash fill, so we don’t know if heavy metals from the coal ash deposit have been polluting the lake even before the spill, and if these contaminants are flowing through groundwater to the lake now. It is inexcusable for We Energies, who knew that coal ash was buried onsite next to an unlined pond, to fail to determine the stability of the fill site and its potential to contaminate Lake Michigan.
How many more spills before Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency take action to finally protect people from this toxic waste stream? Ironically, Wisconsin is sometimes referred to as “the gold standard” for states handling disposal of coal ash. Yet between this spill and the 13 documented cases of contamination from coal ash in Wisconsin, it’s clear that even the “best” state’s standards don’t always protect water quality. This is why we need federal oversight to rein in this toxic waste and protect our drinking water and the nation’s invaluable water resources, like the Great Lakes.
The EPA has yet to release its coal ash proposal, but in the meantime the House of Representatives passed a dangerous bill that will fail to protect people from TVA-like spills or continued contamination in communities across the country.
Wisconsin Representatives Ron Kind, Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore voted for this bill (seemingly to protect the interests of We Energies) despite the inadequate protections. This spill reminds us that serving utility interests doesn’t serve even the basic public interest of protecting water quality. And unfortunately we must wait as the Senate recently introduced the same toothless bill - S.1751). We hope Senator Kohl and other coal state Senators will stand up to polluters, like We Energies, in light of this spill and oppose this bill or any other legislation that fails to protect public health and the environment.
We’ve got advocates coming in at the end of the week to meet with Senate staffers and EPA officials to fight for these much-needed protections. Clearly, we need these safeguards now more than ever.
A statement from Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans:

Wisconsin coal-ash spill renews calls for federal rules

2011-11-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Wisconsin coal-ash spill renews calls for federal rules

November 1, 2011 by Ken Ward Jr. Coal Tattoo

The site of a bluff collapse at the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant in Oak Creek, Wis. is shown Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. A section of cliff the size of a football field gave way Monday at the southeastern Wisconsin power plant, creating a mudslide that sent a pickup truck and other equipment tumbling into Lake Michigan and swept several construction trailers toward the beach. (AP Photo/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Mark Hoffman)

The latest news out of Wisconsin, via the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, is this:

A contractor for We Energies will begin skimming fuel and floating debris either later today or early Wednesday off the surface of Lake Michigan near the site of Monday’s mudslide at the Oak Creek Power Plant.

A boom in the lake forms a semicircle 1,500 feet long and extends about 100 feet from the shoreline, forming the area that will be skimmed first, We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

A second, longer boom will be placed further out in the lake Wednesday to contain fuel and debris that might have been carried farther into the lake.

The contractor beginning Wednesday or later in the week will go onto the water south of the plant to look for debris that may have floated toward Racine County, Manthey said.

A separate contractor was to begin building a dirt berm on top of the hill where the mudslide began to prevent rain from washing additional debris down the slope and into the lake, Manthey said. Rain is forecast Wednesday and Thursday.

So far, details to give us a better idea of the size, scope and consequences of the coal-ash spill have yet to emerge. The Associated Press reported this afternoon:

A We Energies spokeswoman says the debris that washed into Lake Michigan this week during a sudden landslide likely contains toxic coal ash … No one was hurt, but a swath of debris the size of a football field swept toward and into the water. Spokeswoman Cathy Schulze says records of land use in the area suggest there was decades-old coal ash around. She said Tuesday she didn’t immediately have further details on how much coal ash may have spilled.

Despite the lack of details, the Sierra Club was out there before 9 a.m. today with a press release, in which Mary Anne Hitt, director of the group’s Beyond Coal Campaign, called the incident a disaster — not once, but five times:

The EPA has been trying to enact new protections to stop this kind of disaster from happening again, ever since the TVA disaster in 2008, and our do-nothing Congress has been blocking them every step of the way … This disaster in the Great Lakes is a tragic reminder of why the status quo is not good enough. As long as Congress interferes, disasters like this are going to happen, and dozens of communities are at risk … This disaster shows that states are not protecting our health and our environment from cancer-causing coal ash, and as long as the EPA fails to act there will be more coal ash disasters … This disaster is particularly troublesome because We Energies has known for years that its management of coal ash at this facility was a threat to human health.

For those who haven’t heard, the Milwaukee paper’s initial news story is the best discussion I’ve seen so far of what happened:

A large section of bluff collapsed Monday next to the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant, sending dirt, coal ash and mud cascading into the shoreline next to Lake Michigan and dumping a pickup truck, dredging equipment, soil and other debris into the lake.

There were no injuries, and the incident did not affect power output from the plant.

When the section of bluff collapsed and slid from a terraced area at the top of a hill down to the lake, Oak Creek Acting Fire Chief Tom Rosandich said, it left behind a debris field that stretched 120 yards long and 50 to 80 yards wide at the bottom.

Aerial images show a trailer and storage units holding construction equipment tumbled like Tonka toy trucks and were swept along with the falling bluff in a river of dirt that ended in the water.

Here are before-and-after photos from the AP and from We Energies:

The Milwaukee paper explained:

As a company hired by We Energies began cleanup in Lake Michigan, the utility confirmed that coal ash was part of the debris.

“Based on our land use records it is probable that some of the material that washed into the lake is coal ash,” We Energies spokesman Barry McNulty said. “We believe that was something that was used to fill the ravine area in that site during the 1950s. That’s a practice that was discontinued several decades ago.”

The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of developing stricter regulations of coal ash following a 2008 Tennessee coal ash pond washout that created a devastating environmental disaster.

No one was inside a trailer nor three box-like storage units that were sucked up in the mudslide, which also pushed a pickup truck into Lake Michigan and destroyed a temporary tool storage shed, We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said. Some of the equipment was being used to dredge a storm water retention pond close to the lake.

Noting that about 100 construction workers were in the area at the time of the incident just after 11 a.m. Monday, Manthey said “we’re very fortunate that there were no injuries reported.” The construction workers are not We Energies employees.

Rosandich said contractors were taking an inventory of what exactly was lost in the mud slide.

So how bad is this?
Well, along with this football-field-sized debris field, the Milwaukee paper’s account described a “fuel sheen” in the lake and also reported:

Maureen Wolff lives in Caledonia about a mile from the power plant and can see the plant’s smoke stacks from her home. She walked to the lakefront shortly after the incident and was dismayed to see lots of debris and wood floating south toward Racine. Because of the dark color of the debris, Wolff wondered if coal ash ended up in the lake.

“All this is going along the coast line and they’re telling people all it is is just a few trailers and possibly some tools. No one is saying what exactly is in it,” said Wolff, a Caledonia resident for more than 50 years.

Later Monday afternoon, We Energies confirmed that coal ash was likely in the debris.

A local environmental group leader said coal ash was disposed in multiple locations over the years, when environmental rules were much more lenient.

“We definitely want the environmental agencies and We Energies to study how much of that coal ash, if any, went into Lake Michigan because it does pose such a threat to human health and the environment,” said Cheryl Nenn, Riverkeeper with the group Milwaukee Riverkeeper.

By this afternoon, the Sierra Club had backed off its “disaster” declaration, but was still referring to this “kind of disastrous spill” in a news release picked up by Daily Kos. Discussing the matter with me via Twitter, Mary Anne Hitt said she hadn’t seen any news reports yet that estimated how much coal ash might have been involved.

Not to diminish what’s happened in Wisconsin — and we still really don’t know much about how bad it is — but let’s remember that the TVA Kingston coal-ash spill involved more than 1 billion gallons of coal-ash slurry. Eventually, the Kingston spill flooded more than 300 acres of land, damaging homes and property, and toxic ash poured into the Emory and Clinch rivers, filling large areas of the rivers and resulting in fish kills.
There was also this Sierra Club statement:

This disaster is particularly troublesome because We Energies has known for years that its management of coal ash at this facility was a threat to human health. They have even been providing bottled water to neighbors who wells have been contaminated.

What’s not said there is that the water contamination problem appears to have been linked not to the coal-ash disposal in the specific area of this week’s spill, but at one or more nearby landfills. See page 525 of this Environmental Integrity Project report.

But in today’s news cycle, and with the polarized political environment, and the non-stop media world, it’s a lot easier to get our attention if you label something with a big word. AEP chief Mike Morris himself was just telling investors and analysts the only reason EPA was working on new coal-ash regulations was “a TV event at the TVA.” And it’s obvious that the House Republicans — led by West Virginia’s own David McKinley – are trying very hard to block EPA from taking meaningful action. (See here, here and here).
Still, there are some things that we do know, and that might be learned from the We Energies coal-ash spill, whether it turns into a “TV event” or not.
First, as Earthjustice coal ash expert Lisa Evans pointed out to me this afternoon, this incident is somewhat similar to a coal-ash landslide in January 2005 in Forward Township, Pa., when thousands of tons of land-dumped ash slid down a hillside, damaging nine homes and a restaurant, and despositing large amounts of ash into yards and creeks. Later, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Register wrote a report outlining potential health concerns for residents of the community, especially children.
Second, it’s important to know that “structural fill” like the We Energies site is among the fastest growing use for toxic coal ash from power plants. In 2009, more than 8.8 million tons of coal ash were used in fills and embankments, according to this annual report from the American Coal Ash Association. And as Lisa Evans told me:

EPA’s proposed rules would consider large unconsolidated fill sites to be disposal, so going forward this type of fill would not allowed to be created and then left unmonitored. Also, under a subtitle C rule, utilities would have to identify all of their old disposal and fill sites pursuant to CERCLA. Through identification of these large deposits, regulatory agencies would have a fighting chance at finding those sites that may pose danger, either from leaching or instability. As the law stands now, we don’t know where coal ash has been buried. Thus these large deposits pose continuing threat.

Not for nothing, but the weaker Subtitle D rule favored by some? Here’s what Lisa Evans said:

A subtitle C coal ash rule would make coal ash subject to CERCLA 103 notification requirements, which would require utilities to identify the places where coal ash has been buried. All of them. True, regulators may not actually get to accessing the danger of all of these fills and disposal sites, but a location on a bluff, next to a lake, may be the type of site that would get their attention.

Subtitle D would not require such notification of old dump and fill sites.

Two construction trailers are hung up on the rocks just east of the We Energies power plant after part of a bluff south of the power plant collapsed, sending earth and construction equipment sliding toward Lake Michigan on Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Oak Creek, Wis. (AP Photo/Journal Times, Scott Anderson)

Another coal ash spill—this time in Lake Michigan

2011-11-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Another coal ash spill—this time in Lake Michigan

Another coal ash spill—this time in Lake Michigan

by Mary Anne Hitt

1 Nov 2011 1:26 PM

The We Energy Oak Creek Power Plant.Photo: JonnyfixedgearHow many more coal ash spills need to happen before Americans are protected by coal ash safeguards? The latest happened Monday in Oak Creek, Wis., at the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant.
Thankfully there were no injuries. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:

A large section of bluff collapsed Monday next to the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant, sending dirt, coal ash and mud cascading into the shoreline next to Lake Michigan and dumping a pickup truck, dredging equipment, soil and other debris into the lake.

The ridge was made of coal ash, and a We Energies spokesperson said some coal ash did spill into Lake Michigan. The photos of the site are sad, and they also make me angry.
In 2008's Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash disaster, we witnessed firsthand how a lack of strong national protections leaves the job of handling coal ash with state regulators who lack the will and ability to protect communities from coal ash.
And since the TVA disaster, the industry has been lobbying hard to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from establishing new protections, arguing that states are doing a fine job regulating coal ash. As a result, communities across the nation remain at risk and unprotected.
Just two weeks ago the industry successfully lobbied the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill stripping the EPA of the authority to protect Americans from coal ash.
Monday's collapse on Lake Michigan is particularly troublesome because We Energies has known for years that its management of coal ash at this facility was a threat to human health. Indeed, they have been providing bottled water to neighbors whose wells have been contaminated.
This Great Lakes collapse is a tragic reminder of why the status quo is not good enough. As long as Congress interferes, spills -- some deadly -- are going to happen, and dozens of communities are at risk. Congress needs to back off, and the EPA needs to finalize strong protections.
Monday's Lake Michigan coal ash collapse shows that states are not protecting our health and our environment from cancer-causing coal ash, and as long as EPA fails to act, there will be more coal ash destruction.

Mary Anne Hitt is director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, which is working to eliminate coal's contribution to global warming and repower the nation with clean energy. She previously served as executive director of Appalachian Voices, where she was one of the creators of iLoveMountains.org, an online campaign to end mountaintop removal coal mining that received national recognition for innovation and impact. She was also previously the executive director of the Ecology Center and the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. Mary Anne grew up in the mountains of east Tennessee and now lives in West Virginia.

Salazar plans to bury half-alive Office of Surface Mining

2011-10-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 30, 2011
CONTACT: Aimee Erickson, Citizens Coal Council Ph) 724-470-3982
John Wathen, Friends of Hurricane Creek, Alabama, Ph) 205-233-1680

Salazar plans to bury half-alive Office of Surface Mining!

(Bridgeville, PA) -- Coalfield citizens throughout the United States join with Congressional leaders in rejecting the Obama Administration‟s announcement Wednesday, by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, to merge the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Aimee Erickson

“This scheme is illegal and defies common sense,” said Aimee Erickson, Executive Director of the Citizens Coal Council. While the many devils in the yet-to-be-released details of the Salazar OSM-BLM merger scheme already raise many serious and practical objections, the illegality of the proposed bureaucratic
entanglement makes the proposal a non-starter.

John L. Wathen

Alabama-based Hurricane Creekkeeper John Wathen adds, "Even though Secretary Salazar has already refused to fully enforce the federal law that requires OSM to protect communities, land, water and wildlife against abuses by the coal mining industry, it is shocking that he would now propose to bury this half-alive
independent regulatory agency inside the Bureau of Land Management, whose mission includes promoting coal development.”

"We are concerned that one of the motives for the Obama administration's effort to destroy OSM's independent regulatory status is to capture, and use for deficit reduction, the billions of dollars in coal industry fees OSM administers to clean up some of the thousands of miles of poisoned streams caused by abandoned coal mines,” stated Erickson.

"Secretary Salazar and the White House know that eliminating OSM's independent regulatory role and
taking the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund are blatantly illegal, so they are really sending a signal to the Super Committee to use its deficit reduction authority to weaken OSM's environmental protection and dilute BLM's resource management effectiveness in ways that Congress itself would never allow."

“Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is quite correct in her understanding of federal law in stating that
Congressional approval is required to make any such changes to OSM,” said Ms. Erickson. As Sen. Murkowski elaborated in her press release of Oct. 27: “OSM was specifically established as a separate entity, reporting directly to the Interior Secretary, to protect its independence as a regulatory body. I want to make sure that's protected. The proposed merger of BLM – the entity responsible for leasing – and OSM – the regulatory body, seems to fly in the face of the arguments DOI used to support establishing the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as an independent entity to regulate offshore oil development, separate from BOEMRE, which handles offshore leasing.”

Numerous organizations, from national-level to small grassroots groups, from every region of the United States echo these concerns. “Westerners have seen the poor reclamation performance of BLM in the areas of hardrock mining, coalbed methane, oil and gas development, and uranium; we do not believe that a merger of OSM into BLM will improve OSM‟s efforts in coal reclamation. Secretary Salazar wants to merge an l872 law with a modern law, and the results will be unfortunate,” said Ellen Pfister a Montana rancher and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council Coal Task Force. While Secretary Salazar also states that the move is in the interest of making the most of limited resources,‟ the Citizens Coal Council asserts that any so-called savings claimed by the Obama Administration‟s scheme will be illusory.

Secretary Salazar expressly states in his memorandum to the Directors of the OSM and the BLM that he will seek input from the White House, the Office of Budget and Management, employees and applicable congressional committees. However, as Ms. Erickson pointed out, “it adds insult to injury that the Secretary didn‟t even consult with America‟s coalfield citizens, and we are the ones who will be affected the most.”

Mine on Hurricane Creek

2011-10-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

From the Birmingham Weekly.
Posted on October 6, 2011

Mine on Hurricane Creek

A mine on Hurricane Creek is polluting the waters that flow into the Black Warrior River and its owner should be forced to begin meeting its permit, according to a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit groups Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of Hurricane Creek.

A representative of mine owner Black Warrior Minerals Inc. said the company had no comment on the lawsuit.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper alleges that the Fleetwood Mine on the hedwaters of Hurricane Creek near Tuscaloosa has numerous violations, with orange, polluted water flowing from the strip mine.

The mine has been perpetually in violation of its permitted limits of iron, manganese, total suspended solids and pH over the past five years, the group says. The state agrees.

Black Warrior Minerals discharge into Hurricane Creek

“They’ve had some chronic problems with one or two of their basins,” said Randy Johnson, director of Alabama’s Surface Mining Commission. “One in particular has given them problems.”

The two nonprofit groups counted 1,200 water quality violations at the mine in the past five years. Most of those violations were documented from state records, but 11 were from the Riverkeeper’s own samples near the mine, according to the group.

The lawsuit asks a judge to assess civil penalties against the company. Civil penalties under the Clean Water Act can range up to $37,500 per violation.

The groups say the state has failed to enforce regulations against the company, forcing them to file a federal lawsuit Sept. 13.

“While our state agencies have taken some action, the action has not stopped or deterred the ongoing violations,” said Riverkeeper staff attorney Eva Dillard. “Without significant enforcement action we believe it’s not going to stop.”

Johnson said every time his commission logs a notice of violation at the mine, through its own monthly tests or the mine’s self-reporting, the state issues a fine of at least $500. Most of the violations cited come from the mine’s own tests, which it reports to the state.

Hurricane Creek is special not only because it’s a well-loved recreational resource and a tributary of the Black Warrior River. It is on the state’s impaired waters list, so that it is already more polluted than it is supposed to be by law, Johnson said. Under federal law, the state should have a program to clean it up, not allow it to get dirtier.

Hurricane Creek feeds into the Black Warrior River below Birmingham. The Fleetwood Mine is off an unnamed tributary of Hurricane Creek.

Johnson does not dispute the number of violations found at the mine. In fact, most of the violations are reported by the mine itself. But he points out that Black Warrior Riverkeeper counts differently from the state. For every monthly violation, it counts 30 to 31 violations, one for each day of the month. The state only counts one. Dillard said that’s in accordance with the federal law’s interpretation of the statute.

As of its last report to the state, Johnson said, the mine was in compliance with its permit.

This isn’t the Riverkeeper group’s first battle with a mine in the state. It also has a lawsuit pending in Montgomery Circuit Court to stop the proposed mine at Shepherd Bend from discharging just across the river from Birmingham’s western water intake, arguing that is too much of a hazard to the city’s water supply.

“There’s just a lot of mining going on in our watershed and, the fact on the ground is that many of them are having trouble keeping pollution out of our streams,” said Nelson Brooke who serves with the title of Riverkeeper for the group. “And if we don’t step up and do something they’re going to get the wrong message, and that message is that they can continue to pollute in Alabama with no repercussions.”

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Targets Massey Coal Company

2011-09-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (photo by JLW)

From Huffington Post.
Should a corporation with a track record of frequent legal violations be allowed to operate? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Free Speech For People say no.
With over 35,000 petition signatures, the group, also led by Appalachian Voices and the Rainforest Action Network, is calling on the state of Delaware to revoke the corporate charter of the Appalachian coal mining company Massey Energy.
Speaking Monday in a press conference call, Kennedy described the campaign, urging Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden to decharter Massey Energy, explaining the company's history. He said, "It's our position that when a company abuses its charter, that the attorney general has the responsibility in the state where it's chartered, to revoke that charter."
During the call, Kennedy showed no sympathy for Massey, saying, “This is a company that at every level of its functioning, in every aspect of its culture, is offensive to the public interest.”
He revealed that between 2006 and 2010, "Massey, by its own admissions, violated the Clean Water Act 63,000 times." Kennedy said that during a televised debate last year, former Massey CEO Don Blankenship admitted that Massey could not operate profitably in the marketplace without breaking the law.
Massey Energy, which was bought by competitor Alpha Natural resources for $7.1 billion earlier this year, is also known for its violations of labor and mining safety laws.
A report commissioned by the governor of West Virginia found that Massey was responsible for the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster that left 29 miners dead. The report concluded:

Ultimately, the responsibility for the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine lies with the management of Massey Energy. The company broke faith with its workers by frequently and knowingly violating the law and blatantly disregarding known safety practices while creating a public perception that its operations exceeded industry safety standards.

Calling the corporation a “criminal enterprise,” Kennedy also explained that Massey has led the drive for mountaintop removal, a form of coal mining which has, “over the past decade, cut down 500 of the largest mountains in West Virginia.”
HuffPost blogger Jeff Biggers writes, "Far from simply being an environmental issue, mountaintop removal is killing American residents." A peer-reviewed study published in July linked 60,000 cases of cancer in Appalachia directly to mountaintop removal.
Another study, published in June, "found 'significantly higher' rates of birth defects in babies born near mountaintop removal mining sites than those in non-mining areas," reports HuffPost's Travis Donovan.
During the press conference call, Kennedy said Massey is a company that "cannot function ... without subverting democracy."
Citing Blankenship's political ties, Kennedy explained that the former-CEO has a long record of campaign contributions to congressional and judicial candidates who are pro-business and support the coal industry.
Kennedy added, "The Supreme Court of the United States, which is probably the most corporate friendly Supreme Court that we've had in this nation, at least since the Gilded Age, rebuked West Virginia's Supreme Court for its ties to the coal industry and to Massey in particular."
Click here for more information about the campaign to revoke Massey's charter. Be sure to check out the film "The Last Mountain," making the case against mountaintop removal mining, in theaters across the country.
Listen to the call with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. here.

Groups Sue Coal Mine news report CBS 42

2011-09-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER and Hurricane CREEKKEEPER team up in a lawsuit against Black Warrior Minerals coal mine to prevent the further degradation of Hurricane Creek in Tuscaloosa Alabama.

Enviros Sue Mining Co. Over Alabama River Pollution

2011-09-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

Enviros Sue Mining Co. Over Alabama River Pollution

Documents

Complaint

Case Information

Case Number

7:11-cv-03307

Judge

Chief Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn

Date Filed

September 13, 2011

By Maria Chutchian

Law360, New York (September 13, 2011, 10:15 PM ET) -- Two Alabama environmental groups on Tuesday sued a coal mining company for allegedly polluting the state's Hurricane Creek and Black Warrior River by regularly violating the Clean Water Act's New Source Performance Standards.

According to the complaint, brought by the nonprofits Friends of Hurricane Creek and Black Warrior Riverkeeper, coal mining company Black Warrior Minerals Inc. has committed more than 1,200 violations of the CWA's standards over the past five years in the operation of its Fleetwood Mine in Tuscaloosa County.

The pollutants from the mine have been infiltrating several areas of the creek, which is located in western Alabama and is a tributary of the Black Warrior River, according to the complaint.

“Fleetwood Mine's numerous violations of the Clean Water Act at Hurricane Creek and its tributaries are unacceptable," Black Warrior Riverkeeper representative Nelson Brooke said in a joint statement released by the two groups. "Orange, polluted water flowing from this strip mine is an unwelcome sight along this beautiful stretch of Hurricane Creek. Coal mines like this one should not be allowed to operate if they cannot meet applicable effluent standards."

According to the complaint, acid or ferruginous mine drainage resulting from coal mining is subject to the CWA's standards.

Black Warrior Minerals regularly exceeded the legal amounts of manganese and iron that are allowed to be discharged from a mining operation of Fleetwood's capacity, the groups contend.

The groups add that the creek and river are interdependent in terms of chemical, physical and biological integrity, and therefore are both harmed by the alleged pollutants.

"Coal mining has been a serious problem in Hurricane Creek for many generations, causing it to be placed on the EPA's impaired streams list," said Friends of Hurricane Creek representative John Wathen in the statement. "Black Warrior Minerals has not only failed to reduce those pollutants but has exceeded effluent standards repeatedly and should be held accountable. The state has failed to do so."

The two groups are asking the court to enjoin Black Warrior Minerals from continuing to operate its mine in violation of the CWA's standards and to impose fines between $32,500 and $37,500 for each CWA violation.

Black Warrior Minerals could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

The groups are represented by Black Warrior Riverkeeper staff attorney Eva Dillard and David Ludder of The Law Offices of David A. Ludder PLLC.

Counsel information for Black Warrior Minerals was not immediately available.

The case is Black Warrior Riverkeeper Inc. et al. v. Black Warrior Minerals, Inc., case number 7:11-cv-03307, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

--Editing by Kat Laskowski.

Coal company faces lawsuit alleging pollution of Black Warrior River

2011-09-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Coal company faces lawsuit alleging pollution of Black Warrior River
Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 5:17 PM Updated: Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 5:31 PM
By Kent Faulk -- The Birmingham News

Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke, who is among the plaintiffs. ( Beverly Taylor/The Birmingham News )

Two environmental groups today filed a federal lawsuit claiming a coal mining company's strip mine in Tuscaloosa County is polluting Hurricane Creek and the Black Warrior River.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham against Black Warrior Minerals by Black Warrior Riverkeeper, staff riverkeeper Nelson Brooke, the Friends of Hurricane Creek and that group's creekkeeper, John Wathen.
Efforts to reach an official with the company for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit claims that Black Warrior Mineral's Fleetwood Mine is violating the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into Hurricane Creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior River, and into unnamed tributaries of Hurricane Creek.
The lawsuit asks that a judge: declare that the company has unlawfully operated the mine in violation of federal environmental standards; bar the company from continuing to operate the mine in violation of the standards; and assess civil penalties against the company for violations.
The two groups catalogued more than 1,200 New Source Performance Standards violations at the Fleetwood Mine over the past five years, according to a joint statement from the two groups on Tuesday. The mine has violated standards for iron, manganese, total suspended solids and pH, the lawsuit claims.
"Fleetwood Mine's numerous violations of the Clean Water Act at Hurricane Creek and its tributaries are unacceptable," Brooke said in the statement. "Orange, polluted water flowing from this strip mine is an unwelcome sight along this beautiful stretch of Hurricane Creek. Coal mines like this one should not be allowed to operate if they cannot meet applicable effluent standards."
Most citizen lawsuits require a 60-day waiting period before a lawsuit can be filed, according to the groups' statement. But David Ludder, counsel for Friends of Hurricane Creek, said that Congress authorizes immediate citizen suits to enforce the standards rather than allowing violations to continue.

Two Waterkeeper Groups Sue Black Warrior Minerals’ Fleetwood Mine in Tuscaloosa

2011-09-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

Two Waterkeeper Groups Sue Black Warrior Minerals’ Fleetwood Mine in Tuscaloosa

Black Warrior Minerals discharge into Hurricane Creek

Tuscaloosa – Nonprofit Waterkeeper organizations Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of Hurricane Creek filed a lawsuit today against Black Warrior Minerals, Inc. in United States District Court. The lawsuit alleges that pollution from Black Warrior Minerals’ Fleetwood Mine in Tuscaloosa County is polluting Hurricane Creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior River.

Hurricane CREEKKEEPER

According to John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper for the Friends of Hurricane Creek, “Coal mining has been a serious problem in Hurricane Creek for many generations causing it to be placed on the EPA's impaired streams list. The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) assessment calls for reductions in heavy metals discharges. Black Warrior Minerals has not only failed to reduce those pollutants but has exceeded permit limits, effluent standards and the TMDL repeatedly and should be held accountable. The state has failed to do so. With no recourse left, we have joined forces with Black Warrior Riverkeeper to step in to enforce the laws." Wathen is also the Chair for the Citizens Coal Council

Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER

Nelson Brooke, staff Riverkeeper at Black Warrior Riverkeeper, added, “Fleetwood Mine's numerous violations of its wastewater discharge permit into Hurricane Creek and its tributaries are unacceptable. Orange, polluted water flowing from this strip mine is an unwelcome sight along this beautiful stretch of Hurricane Creek. Coal mines like this one should not be allowed to operate if they cannot meet weak permit limits.”

Black Warrior Minerals is in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which prohibits their Fleetwood Mine from discharging pollutants to waters of the United States except in compliance with applicable New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) for coal mining and any permit issued pursuant to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”). In their complaint, the two Waterkeeper Alliance member groups catalogued over 1,300 NSPS violations at the Fleetwood Mine over the past five years. The mine has violated standards for iron, manganese, total suspended solids and pH.

Black Warrior Riverkepeer and the Friends of Hurricane Creek are asking the Court to enjoin Black Warrior Minerals from discharging pollutants from Fleetwood Mine in violation of the CWA and to assess appropriate penalties for the violations alleged. Most citizen suits require a sixty day waiting period before suit can be filed. However, in this situation, David Ludder, counsel for Friends of Hurricane Creek explains, “Congress authorizes immediate citizen suits to enforce NSPS rather than allowing those violations to continue.”

Eva Dillard, Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s Staff Attorney, added, “We expect the coal mines that operate in the Black Warrior River watershed to follow the law and comply with all regulatory standards and permits. When they fail to do so, we are willing to take action to ensure that the law is properly applied and enforced.”

###

Nelson Brooke’s July 7, 2011 photo of Fleetwood Mine’s orange discharge polluting Hurricane Creek: http://www.blackwarriorriver.org/images/FleetwoodMine.jpg

State tries to explain deal on fines in coal pollution trial

2011-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody,
We got some great news coverage on the first day of our trial against the 2 largest mountaintop removal coal mining companies in Kentucky. Please facebook, tweet and blog. Help get the word out there about how Waterkeeper Alliance, Kentucky Riverkeeper and Appalachian Voices/Watauga Riverkeeper is fighting the good fight against law breaking coal companies.
Donna

State tries to explain deal on fines in coal pollution trial

FRANKFORT, KY. -- -- Kentucky environmental regulators on Wednesday were forced to explain in Franklin Circuit Court how they came up with fines of $670,000 for two coal companies instead of $720 million as calculated by environmental groups.The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet had originally sought a combined $1.25 million, but agreed to lower that after negotiations with the companies, Jeff Cummins, who oversees enforcement for the cabinet, said in his testimony.
"I looked at a breakdown of the types of penalties and used my experience and judgment and facts as I understood them," he told Judge Phillip Shepherd.
Cummins said he did not believe the companies saved much money by violating what cabinet officials largely described as administrative or paperwork violations.
A coalition of environmentalists who first brought the alleged violations to the attention of the state have insisted that state regulators were soft on the companies, and Wednesday they got their day in court.
After bringing thousands of alleged water pollution violations by the companies to the attention of the energy cabinet last year, they have been allowed to participate in the court case originally brought by the state as an enforcement action. The trial, which may wrap up on Thursday, pits groups such as Appalachian Voices, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Waterkeeper Alliance against the energy cabinet and the two coal companies.
Last December, International Coal Group, now part of Arch Coal, had agreed to pay $350,000 for violations at 64 mining operations in eight eastern Kentucky counties. Frasure Creek Mining had agreed to pay $310,000 in fines covering violations involving 39 operations in six eastern Kentucky counties.
In her opening statement, the environmental groups' attorney, Mary Comer, said the agreement was not fair, reasonable or in the public interest. The groups have argued the penalties were too lenient for what they had found, including the companies repeatedly copying and pasting the same water quality discharge data at coal mines in 2009 and 2010.

The case lifted some of the veils that typically surround legal action against violators of laws like the Clean Water Act, despite objections by the energy cabinet that the environmental groups' court involvement would set a precedent that would lead to "chaos" in the court system.Information about how the state determines environmental penalties "will be used by defendants (against the state) in every court proceeding from here to doomsday," said Mary Stephens, an energy cabinet attorney.
But Shepherd, who once led the cabinet, rejected almost all her objections, saying he needed some of those details to determine if the penalties were appropriate.
"I understand your protection of the cabinet's deliberative process," Shepherd told Stephens. "But the more the court understands the process, it probably helps your case -- and that there was a logical basis."
During testimony, state officials acknowledged that they did not know the number of pollution discharge pipes used by the companies and that they don't always count each violation when assessing fines.
Another issue that came up is whether the cabinet downplayed the severity of the alleged violations, deeming them to be just administrative or paperwork mistakes instead of actual excess releases of pollution.
Shepherd questioned R. Bruce Scott, the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, asserting the "whole integrity of enforcement process" relies on accurate discharge data as reported by the companies. With so much erroneous data, "How will the cabinet ever determine if there is a water pollution violation?" he asked Scott.
State officials suspected there might be actual pollution violations but that the agency needed more evidence before it acted, Scott said.
It has subsequently found that evidence, and last week, he said, the state brought new enforcement cases against the two companies, alleging pollution violations.
"We clearly have (new) violations today we need to take action on, and we have," Scott said in court.
Details about those enforcement actions were not available on Wednesday.

--
Donna Marie Lisenby
Upper Watauga Riverkeeper
a program of Appalachian Voices
191 Howard Street
Boone, NC 28607
828-262-1500

Websites: http://appvoices.org/
http://www.ilovemountains.org
Twitter: RiverFox1
YouTube Channel: RiverFox911
Blogs: http://appvoices.org/frontporchblog/
http://riverkeeper.appvoices.org/category/all_posts/

Member Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc.
Member Alliance for Appalachia

Tell ADEM to Hold Walter Energy Accountable

2011-07-27T07:24:00.001-07:00

Tell ADEM to Hold Walter Energy Accountable

Tuscaloosa's drinking water is threatened by a coal slurry spill into a tributary of Alabama's North River -- which flows into Lake Tuscaloosa.
The spill dumped an unknown quantity of coal slurry - a byproduct of burning coal that typically contains toxic heavy metals - from a mine owned by Florida-based Walter Energy on July 15th.
While Walter Energy claimed that the slurry was non-toxic, tests of the water said otherwise -- showing high levels of arsenic and lead.¹
As this slurry pollutes the North River and flows into Lake Tuscaloosa -- which provides drinking water for thousands, it's essential that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) holds Walter Energy accountable for this mess.
Tell the Alabama Department of Environmental Management: Make Walter Energy fully clean up the North River.
Currently, ADEM says Lake Tuscaloosa is unaffected and remains a safe source of drinking water. But there is no guarantee that it stays that way as the coal slurry continues to flow downstream.
According to Nelson Brooke of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, "It's not really a matter of if this is going to reach the lake, but when."²
It may be months before the environmental impacts and public health threats of this coal slurry spill are fully understood. In the time being, we can't let ADEM drag their feet on holding Walter Energy accountable and making them take immediate steps to clean up the North River.
Tell the Alabama Department of Environmental Management: Make Walter Energy fully clean up the North River.
1. First results in on coal slurry spill into river, CBS 42, July 24, 2011
2. Coal mine spill may impact Tuscaloosa water supply , CBS 42, July 18, 2011

North River has elevated toxins

2011-07-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

North River has elevated toxins

Levels not deemed a danger to drinking water

By Stephanie Taylor, Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 25, 2011 at 11:10 p.m.

Water samples taken in North River where coal slurry spilled last week show elevated levels of lead and arsenic, but officials say the amounts are well below levels that would pose a danger to the area’s drinking water.

Facts

The slurry

-Tests showed amounts that exceeded levels considered toxic to aquatic life if exposed over long periods of time.
-The levels of pollutants caused by the spill are far below amounts that would be considered dangerous to the water supply.

Tests conducted for the Alabama Surface Mining Commission showed that amounts did exceed levels considered toxic to aquatic life if exposed over long periods of time.

The slurry, a waste byproduct from coal mining, overflowed from an abandoned area of an underground coal mine in southern Fayette County where Jim Walter Resources was legally pumping the watery sediment. Pumping equipment malfunctioned, causing the slurry to spill into an unnamed creek and eventually Freeman Creek, a tributary of North River. North River flows into Lake Tuscaloosa, which provides drinking water for the city of Tuscaloosa.

Jimmy Junkin, director of the Waterworks and Sewer Department for the city of Tuscaloosa, said that the levels of pollutants caused by the spill are far below amounts that would be considered dangerous to the water supply.

Although the higher levels of lead and arsenic may not pose a threat to drinking water, they do cause concern for Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke.

“Elevated levels of lead and arsenic is nothing to sweep under the rug,” he said. “These are very serious pollutants. What it is ultimately going to mean for Lake Tuscaloosa and the drinking water supply I have no idea, but what it certainly means is that added pollutants are being put into the lake and that’s not a good thing.”

Randy Johnson, director of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission, said that clean-up of the affected area is under way and that no more slurry has entered the water. Heavy rainfall last week washed a lot of the sediment downstream, he said. The material dilutes as it travels downstream. He expects that additional test results that should be returned today will show decreased levels of the pollutants and sediment.

Scott Sanderford, Lakes Division manager for the city of Tuscaloosa, said that city officials are more concerned about sediment in the water than the effect on the drinking supply.

“We are cautiously monitoring the situation. We’re not concerned that it will affect the drinking water because of sheer capacity of Lake Tuscaloosa and our treatment process there is no harm to the public’s drinking water supply,” he said.

Sanderford said that the amount of naturally occurring lead and arsenic in the area sometimes exceeds the level that Jim Walter is permitted to discharge. Officials are monitoring the sediment created by the spill. Long-term sedimentation caused by development and erosion around the lakes is an ongoing concern for the city.

Alabama Department of Environmental Management spokesman Scott Hughes said that the agency is conducting an investigation and working with the Surface Mining Commission to monitor and provide oversight for the company’s clean-up.

Brooke said that he collected a water sample near Old Jasper Road and Woodson Bridge that the Black Warrior Riverkeeper organization is having tested.

“This has been downplayed,” he said. “What happened here was a coal slurry spill. We expected to find heavy metals and other pollutants. We haven’t gotten our sampling back yet, but we expect that our results will show similar pollutants.”

Reach Stephanie Taylor at

stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosa

news.com or 205-722-0210.

Mayor Bloomberg gives $50 million to fight coal-fired power plants

2011-07-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

From the Washington Post "National"

By Juliet Eilperin, Thursday, July 21, 6:05 AM

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will donate $50 million to the Sierra Club to support its nationwide campaign to eliminate coal-fired power plants.
Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune described the gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which will be spread out over four years, as “a game-changer, from our perspective.” The group will devote the money to its “Beyond Coal” campaign, which has helped block the construction of 153 new coal-fired power plants across the country since 2002.

(Jin Lee/Bloomberg) - New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will donate $50 million to the Sierra Club to support its nationwide campaign to eliminate coal-fired power plants.

Brune said in a phone interview that the group will use the money “to identify the oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plants, retire them and replace them with clean energy.” Some of the utilities the expanded campaign will focus on are in the Washington area, including the GenOn plant in Alexandria.
As mayor of New York, Bloomberg has pushed for environmentally friendly policies such as investing in renewable energy and making the city’s taxi fleet more efficient. But this is his largest financial contribution to an environmental effort, and the donation will significantly swell the Sierra Club’s $80 million annual budget.
The announcement, which Bloomberg and Brune will make together Thursday morning at the GenOn site, also underscores the extent to which environmentalists are focused on efforts beyond the Beltway, given the opposition in Congress to climate legislation. After the federal government failed to pass legislation imposing nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions, several environmental groups have shifted more resources to the state and local levels.
“We’re putting our faith in local communities to protect public heath and promote clean energy,” Brune said. “Congress has failed to do the job on that. We’re confident local communities can do the job where Congress hasn’t.”
Coal industry officials, however, questioned whether the campaign to phase out coal plants was realistic given the fact that they now supply close to half of the nation’s electricity.
“If their program were successful, where does the Sierra Club suggest we get our energy?” asked Lisa Camooso Miller, spokeswoman for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a trade group. “Coal is American. It’s affordable. It adds to our quality of life.”
In some cases, the Sierra Club has joined with unusual allies in working to prevent new power plants, like in southwestern Arkansas, where the advocacy group and the Hempstead County Hunting Club are suing to block the construction of Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s $1.7 billion John W. Turk plant.
With Bloomberg’s donation, the Sierra Club plans to expand its “Beyond Coal” staff from about 100 people to nearly 200 full-time employees, which it will deploy in 46 states. Most of the staff will engage in grass-roots organizing, but some will work on lawsuits or social networking.
The group has just launched an extensive billboard advertising campaign in Washington’s Metro system, with pictures of young children who are described as “filters” for power plant pollution. Ads are running on a smaller scale in Chicago and New York and in some U.S. airports.
Brune said the group had chosen to focus its most recent advertising campaign in Washington because when it comes to the future of electricity production, “What happens in the larger D.C. area is quite important.”

LETTER: Clean Water Act under attack

2011-07-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

LETTER: Clean Water Act under attack

Dear Editor: The Clean Water Act is under attack right now. On July 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 2018, the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011. To be clear, it should be called the Dirty Water Bill of 2011. This bill seeks to undermine protections our streams, rivers, and lakes have been afforded over the last forty years. Why? Because powerful interests who make money by polluting have been lobbying Congress. Polluters don’t like the Environmental Protection Agency utilizing its federal oversight role and asking state agencies such as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to do a more thorough job. Polluting interests in Alabama believe EPA is meddling in “state affairs” and it just so happens that ADEM agrees with them. Unfortunately, it seems the majority of our congressmen agree too.

This bill strips EPA’s oversight capabilities and allows ADEM to be an even weaker enforcer of the Clean Water Act than it already is. Our sources of clean water for drinking, bathing, cooking, recreation, swimming, and fishing are at risk. The Dirty Water Bill now heads to the U.S. Senate. If you care about clean water and healthy future generations, now is the time to contact your Senators.

Nelson Brooke, Riverkeeper
Black Warrior Riverkeeper
Birmingham

Slurry mix spills, flows into Freeman Creek

2011-07-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

Slurry mix spills, flows into Freeman Creek

Malfunctioning pumping equipment sent slurry, a waste by-product from coal mining, into Freeman Creek over the weekend.
Buy Photo Submitted photo

By Patrick Rupinski
Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 18, 2011 at 10:51 p.m.

Dr. David Hinton enjoys the beauty of Freeman Creek when he works on his farm in the northeast corner of Tuscaloosa County.

But on Friday afternoon, he noticed something wasn’t right.

“I was off Friday afternoon and was spending some time on a tractor,” he said. “When I looked at the creek, it looked like there was an oil spill.”

Hinton went down to the creek to examine the water, and discovered that despite its appearance, it did not have a oily feel. Still, the normally clear creek was murky and full of discolored sediment, he said.

The sediment was slurry, a waste by-product from coal mining.

The slurry came from just over the county line in southern Fayette County, where Brookwood-based Jim Walter Resources was legally pumping the watery sediment into an abandoned area of an underground coal mine. When the pumping equipment malfunctioned, the slurry spilled into an unnamed creek and flowed into Freeman Creek, a tributary of North River.

Some of the slurry flowed into the river, but none has been detected in Lake Tuscaloosa, said Scott Hughes, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

Lake Tuscaloosa, which was created by damming North River, provides drinking water for the city of Tuscaloosa. The water gets treated when it is pulled from the river and before it is distributed to customers. Hughes said ADEM notified the Tuscaloosa Water Department so it could monitor water at its intake, but he said no problems were reported and the water remains unaffected and safe to drink.

Hughes said Jim Walter Resources has a permit to pump the slurry into the underground cavern. The cavern is part of the Chevron Mining property purchased last year by Jim Walter Resources.

He said the pumping of the slurry into vacated mining areas is an approved method for disposing of the waste by-product, which is about 75 percent water and 25 percent fine rock particles left behind by coal processing.

ADEM’s report indicated a clog might have occurred during the pumping, causing the slurry to back up. Sensors on the equipment normally would have automatically shut down the system but they failed, he said.

Michael Monahan, director of corporate communications for Tampa, Fla.-based Walter Energy, which owns Jim Walter Resources, said the problem was discovered before noon Friday and the pump was immediately shut down. ADEM and the Alabama Surface Mining Commission were notified and work began to contain and clean up the spill.

Jim Walter is paying for the containment and cleanup. That effort included building berms to contain the slurry and using hay bales to absorb it.

Monahan said about a dozen vacuum trucks have been sent to the area to clean up the spill.

The pumping started over the weekend.

Hinton, a Tuscaloosa physician, said he returned to his farm on Sunday. “When we got there, there were four tanker trucks that were pumping (the slurry) at Freeman Creek,” he said.

A worker told him the crews started vacuuming there about 9 a.m. Saturday.

Hughes said there has been some discoloration of the water in North River.

“It’s visual, but we have not seen any fish kill,” he said. “We will continue to monitor for that.” The state agency also will continue to monitor water and soil that might have been affected by the spill to make sure there are no environmental problems, he said.

Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, Nelson Brook of Black Warrior Riverkeeper was headed to the area to independently survey the situation.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a nonprofit environmental organization that works to restore and protect the Black Warrior River and its tributaries.

You're invited to the SMCRA Legal Workshop!

2011-06-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

You're invited to the SMCRA Legal Workshop!

Where:

Omni Willam Penn
530 William Penn Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Driving Directions

When:
Friday July 29, 2011 at 8:00 AM EDT
-to-
Sunday July 31, 2011 at 1:00 PM EDT
Add to my calendar

Please Forward

Dear Friend,

You're invited to the Citizens Coal Council's Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) Legal Workshop and Training in Pittsburgh, PA from July 29-31st, 2011!

SMCRA was enacted in 1977 when Congress recognized that coal mining causes landslides, flooding, water pollution, property damage, and destroys fish and wildlife habitats. Nearly 34 years later, destruction is STILL occurring on a daily basis!

Cuts in federal and state funds have resulted in cuts in enforcement of the law, and involvement by activists, attorneys, and concerned organizations is URGENTLY NEEDED.

Education is power! Workshop attendees will be armed with the knowledge they need to demand enforcement of this important law. This is the FIRST EVER workshop of its kind conducted on the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA)!

YOU WILL:

Learn how to effectively use SMCRA to protect citizens and the environment.
Be taught by the foremost expert attorneys and organizers on SMCRA law and organizing techniques.
Be part of a supportive network of coalfield activists.
Have fun!

If you care about what's happening to the land, water, and people of the coalfields, and you want to do something about it, this workshop is for you! Come learn, engage yourself in your community, network, share, and make a difference! Together we can bring about positive change.

We hope you will consider attending this important legal and organizing training event.

Space is limited, so register today!

The SMCRA Legal Workshop Agenda

Please review the online registration instuctions before registering online.

Register Now!

I can't make it

If you have any questions about the event or how to register, contact information is below.

Thank you for your attention and response and I look forward to seeing you at the training workshop.

Sincerely,

Aimee Erickson

Executive Director

Citizens Coal Council

aimee@citizenscoalcouncil.org

412-257-2223

Black Warrior River placed on endangered list

2011-05-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

Black Warrior River placed on endangered list

Staff file photo

Buy photo

The Black Warrior River has been placed on a list of the most endangered rivers in the country by the conservation group American Rivers.

By Lydia Seabol Avant Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:15 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | A conservation group this week placed the Black Warrior River on a list of the most endangered rivers in the United States.

The list, published annually by the group American Rivers, doesn’t signify the most polluted rivers in the U.S., but instead identifies rivers that are at a turning point, said Eva Dillard, staff attorney for the Black Warrior Riverkeeper organization.

“It’s not that this river is lost, but it’s at a critical tipping point, and we all have an opportunity to impact what happens,” Dillard said.

The Black Warrior River and its tributaries are a major drinking water source for Birmingham, Jasper, Cullman and Tuscaloosa. The Black Warrior is a safe body of water that meets all clean water guidelines set by the state, said Scott Hughes, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

But some of its tributaries, including at least four in Tuscaloosa County and several others in Jefferson County, are included on what ADEM calls its 303D list, meaning the tributaries are impaired in some way.

“We conduct a tremendous amount of water quality monitoring, and part of that monitoring is utilized for the 303D list,” Hughes said.

Most of the reasons the tributaries are on the list are run-off-related impairments, such as chemicals picked up by rain water, Hughes said.

In Tuscaloosa County, North River, which was dammed to create Lake Tuscaloosa, Big Yellow Creek, Pegues Creek and Daniel Creek are included on ADEM’s impaired list. Hurricane Creek, another tributary of the Black Warrior in Tuscaloosa County, has also been on that list recently, said John Wathen of the Friends of Hurricane Creek organization. The tributaries are vital to the health of the Black Warrior River, Wathen said.

“I’ve always been concerned with the water quality issue,” Wathen said. “Tributaries and the river affect each other in many ways.”

Part of the reason Hurricane Creek has been considered impaired is because of coal mining waste that has decreased the quality of water in Hurricane Creek, as well as in Pegues Creek, Wathen said. Old, abandoned mines in the area also have had a negative effect.

“The whole north end of Hurricane Creek has either been strip-mined or undermined,” Wathen said.

About 95 active coal mines operate in the Black Warrior River watershed under a general permit called Nationwide Permit 21 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Dillard said that the permit does not take local wetlands and stream conditions into account, nor has the possible impact of the mines been studied.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper, a nonprofit advocacy organization, would like to see that change. In recent years the Corps of Engineers has suspended the use of Nationwide Permit 21 in many Appalachian states, but not in Alabama. The permit will come under review in 2012, Dillard said.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has wisely closed this dangerous mining loophole across the Appalachian coal mining region, except for Alabama,” said Gerrit Jobsis, southeast director for the American Rivers’ organization. “It’s time to give Alabama’s people, clean water and wildlife the protection they deserve.”

Reach Lydia Seabol Avant at 205-722-0222 or lydia.seabolavant@tuscaloosanews.com.

(Many of our Alabama Rivers are in peril. The main reason for the pollution issues in this state are Alabama Dep. of Environmental Management. ADEM issues permits that can not be enforced due to bogus surveys and lack of give a damn in the enforcement branch, John L. Wathen)

Alabama Miners Shut Down Coal Production, Rally for Labor in Birmingham April 5th, 2011

2011-04-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Glynn Wilson,

Locust Fork News Journal

April 5th, 2011

Daryl Dewberry’s army of mine workers from District 20, covering most of the Southeast, packed the house with their signature camouflage T-shirts at the “We Are One” rally at Boutwell Auditorium, moved across the street from Linn Park due to the threat of afternoon thunderstorms.
“These colors don’t run,” Dewberry said to resounding cheers and applause. “A wrong to one is a wrong to all. We stand with you …. We’re ready to fight and we’ll fight with you.”
The mine workers were joined by the Communication Workers of America Local 3902, which hosted the rally, along with the AFL-CIO, the plumbers and pipefitters of UA Local 91, and all the other unions in the state, including the American Federation of Teachers and the Alabama Education Association.

It was a special day to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dewberry acknowledged, who was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, there on a trip to march with the striking public sanitation workers.
Dewberry quoted from King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail.
“Moreover, I am cognizant of the (interrelatedness) of all communities and states. I cannot sit by … in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere,” he wrote. “We are caught in an inescapable network of brutality tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly affects us all indirectly. Never again can with live with the narrow … outside agitator idea. Anyone who lives within the United States can never be considered an outsider.”

Consol Energy to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle Clean Water Act Violations

2011-03-15T04:40:00.001-07:00

Subject: Compliance and Enforcement News Release (HQ): Consol Energy to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle Clean Water Act Violations

CONTACT:
Stacy Kika kika.stacy@epa.gov
202-564-0906
202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2011

Consol Energy to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle Clean Water Act Violations

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Justice, and state of West Virginia announced today that Consol Energy Inc., the largest producer of coal from underground mines in the United States, has agreed to pay a $5.5 million civil penalty for Clean Water Act violations at six of its mines in West Virginia. In addition to the penalty, Consol will spend an estimated $200 million in pollution controls that will reduce discharges of harmful mining wastewater into Appalachian streams and rivers.
“Complying with the Clean Water Act is a critical responsibility of those who operate mining operations near our nation’s treasured rivers, lakes and streams,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The state-of the-art technology required by today’s settlement is an important step forward in protecting local waterways and the health of communities in Appalachia.”

“In this settlement, Consol takes responsibility for its past failures to abide by the terms of its Clean Water Act permits,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “As a result of this enforcement action, Consol will install a state-of-the-art system to treat wastewater from multiple mines that will set the standard for the responsible management of discharges from underground mining operations in Appalachia. This settlement will ensure protection of human health and the environment for the benefit of the people who live in Appalachia.”

Consol has agreed to build and operate an advanced water treatment plant using reverse osmosis technology near Manington, W.Va. to remove high levels of chloride from mining wastewater. When completed, the plant will be the largest such water treatment plant in Appalachia and capable of treating 3,500 gallons of mine water per minute, substantially reducing chloride and other salts in mining waters discharged to streams. This treatment will eliminate more than 96 million pounds of total dissolved solids, including more than 11 million pounds of chloride. High levels of chloride and dissolved solids can harm aquatic life, clog irrigation devices and carry toxic chemicals that impact drinking water.
The U.S. government’s complaint filed concurrently with the settlement alleges that six Consol mines violated pollution discharge limits in their Clean Water Act permits hundreds of times over the last four years. The complaint alleges chronic exceedances of chloride discharge limits at the Blacksville No. 2, Loveridge, Robinson Run and Four States mines in the Monongahela watershed and the Shoemaker and Windsor mines discharging into tributaries of the Ohio River.
The complaint also alleges that discharges of high amounts of chloride and total dissolved solids from Consol’s facilities at Blacksville No. 2 and Loveridge contributed to severe impairment of aquatic life and conditions allowing golden algae to thrive in Dunkard Creek. In September of 2009, a species of golden algae bloomed in Dunkard Creek killing thousands of fish, mussels and amphibians.
The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.
More information on the settlement: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/cwa/consol.html

Dump neighbors concerned about Ala. coal ash bill

2011-03-06T04:53:00.000-08:00

Dump neighbors concerned about Ala. coal ash bill

BOB JOHNSON
Ventura County Star
Posted March 4, 2011 at 11:09 a.m.

Photo by JLW, Flight by SouthWings

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Perry County resident Esther Calhoun says her rural area has been ruined by tons of coal ash that have been dumped in a sprawling landfill near Uniontown.
Calhoun was in Montgomery this week to argue that a proposed bill to regulate coal ash disposal in Alabama does not go far enough and should be amended to label the substance as a toxic waste. Such a change would mean ash would have to be taken to a toxic waste landfill rather than a dump licensed for household garbage, like the one in Perry County.
Calhoun was one of several Perry County residents who complained to members of a House committee that coal ash gets on cars, houses and on the ground in the area near the dump, which accepted coal ash from a massive environmental accident in Tennessee.
Calhoun said the pollution destroys the reason most people would want to live in an isolated area like rural Perry County.
"How would you like it if coal ash was right next to your home? I live in the country because I enjoy the country air. It's more healthy. Now you don't know what you are getting in the air," Calhoun said.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Greg Canfield, R-Vestavia Hills, is supported by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. It was approved Wednesday by the House Commerce and Small Business Committee on a voice vote and now goes to the full House for debate.

Photo by JLW, Flight by SouthWings

ADEM attorney Vernon Barnett said Alabama is currently the only state that does not regulate dry ash as a solid waste. He said without the bill coal ash could be dumped in any field without restrictions.
Canfield said his bill will not get rid of the landfill near Uniontown, but it will set up rules and regulations for dumping coal ash. He said the state can't label coal ash as a hazardous waste until the Environmental Protection Agency takes that step.

The coal ash was brought into Perry County by train from Kingston, Tenn., where at least 5 million cubic yards of the material spilled from a Tennessee Valley Authority holding pond in December 2008.
Consumer advocate Barbara Evans said coal ash is toxic and should only be dumped in places like the large toxic waste landfill at Emelle in Sumter County near the Mississippi line.
"We want you to regulate coal ash for what it is. It's a hazardous waste," Evans told legislators at Wednesday's committee meeting.
Evans later said she's concerned the bill will open the door for more ash to be deposited in Alabama dumps.
Uniontown resident Mary Schaeffer said she's concerned that millions were spent to clean up the coal ash in Tennessee, and then it was dumped in Perry County "across a two-lane road from homes." Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, said she believes the bill "is a good first step" and hopes it will lead to coal ash eventually being labeled a hazardous waste.

Photo by JLW, Flight by SouthWings

Coal meeting canceled after student-led protest

2011-02-23T07:40:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2011 | Michael Tabb News Editor

A National Coal Council meeting in downtown St. Louis was canceled following a protest from Washington University Green Action.
Directly after council members had finished taking roll call on Tuesday, students from Green Action and Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment entered the meeting at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. The students unfurled a banner proclaiming, “Coal is never clean” and sang, “Clean coal is a dirty lie.”
“Clean coal doesn’t exist, and we’re opposed to the lie that there’s any way to use coal safely without hurting communities,” said Green Action member Harry Alper, a senior.
The group was escorted from the hotel by two officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Hilton’s head of security had not yet arrived at the event.
According to Officer Mana, the situation was “no big deal,” and students were polite and peaceful as they left the building.
Following the disturbance, the council chose to cancel the meeting, but members stayed to enjoy the private lunch they had already ordered.
The National Coal Council is a federal advisory committee to the U.S. secretary of energy. The meeting, which was open to the public, was intended to review an ongoing study on the use of Carbon Capture and Sequestration technologies.
The CEOs of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy and Arch Coal are both on the council and are members of the University’s board of trustees.
Sophomore Claire Christensen of Green Action urged students in an e-mail to join the rally.
“[T]here is NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL and the coal industry should not be operating AT ALL,” Christensen wrote. “As students of Washington University, we need to ‘clarify’ our position to our Board of Trustees members and let them know we condemn their actions.”
Because of an error on the Federal Register, Green Action arrived to the Hilton more than an hour early and arrived back at campus later than expected.
“I missed the first half of my class on the civil rights movement, but my professor knows I’m there to learn from that movement and apply it to the climate justice movement,” Alper said. “There are other people who have to make much bigger sacrifices than being late for a class.”
After being escorted out, Green Action members continued their protest outside of the Hilton, where they engaged with passersby and various news outlets.
Members of the council declined to comment.

An Open Letter to the University of Alabama System: Stop the Shepherd Bend Mine

2011-02-21T06:39:00.000-08:00

An Open Letter to the University of Alabama System: Stop the Shepherd Bend Mine

Black Warrior Riverkeeper has emailed an open letter to Dr. Robert E. Witt, President of the University of Alabama, asking UA to make a public decision as to whether they will lease their land and mineral rights to Shepherd Bend, LLC for coal mining directly across the river from the Birmingham Water Works Board’s Mulberry Fork Intake facility, which supplies tap water daily to 200,000 customers.

Dear President Witt:
Black Warrior Riverkeeper and other concerned citizens have been asking the University of Alabama (University) and the UA System Board of Trustees (Trustees) not to lease land or mineral rights to Shepherd Bend, LLC for a surface coal mine that will discharge polluted water to the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River 800 feet upstream of a primary drinking water intake for the Birmingham Water Works Board (“BWWB”). In previous correspondence, we have supplied extensive scientific information which indicates that the Shepherd Bend Mine will likely result in mining-related pollutants flowing into the intake and on to the BWWB’s treatment facilities. Every single day, over 200,000 of Alabama’s citizens rely on this intake for clean, safe, and affordable drinking water.
To date, neither the University nor the Trustees have taken a stand on this important issue of public interest, responding only that there is currently no proposal before you to lease the property. Given the fact that Shepherd Bend, LLC has the necessary regulatory permits to begin coal mining, we think it is time for the University and the Trustees to take a public stand as to whether you will lease land and mineral rights for this strip mine.
With an emphasis on education and service as well as a mission of improving the quality of life for all Alabamians, it is entirely appropriate for the University and the Trustees to play a leadership role on the Shepherd Bend Mine issue. You have a unique opportunity to demonstrate the importance of prudent long-term stewardship over short term gain. We ask that the University and the Trustees publicly answer this one question:
Will you lease land and mineral rights at Shepherd Bend to Shepherd Bend, LLC for their coal mining operation? YES or NO?
A copy of the letter in PDF.
Background information about the Shepherd Bend Mine proposal.

Coal is dirty, dangerous, deadly and unsustainable !

2011-02-21T06:26:00.000-08:00

Coal is dirty, dangerous, deadly and unsustainable !
By Michael William Mullen

Mike Mullen, Choctawhatchee RIVERKEEPER

The recent Alabama Voices column by our new Public Service Commission member Twinkle Cavanaugh seeks to stir up folks about the costs of energy bills that are stalled in Congress and potential U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations to address emissions responsible for climate change.
If she were doing her job, she would be researching all aspects, including hidden costs associated with production of electricity from coal. However, she appears to be much too busy writing op-ed pieces that seek to maintain the status quo to do serious research that might benefit the citizens of Alabama.
If one takes a comprehensive look at all of the costs of producing electricity from coal, not just the price of electricity, he or she will very quickly understand that coal is destructive, dangerous and deadly. The facts, when examined with an open mind, bring one to realize that electricity produced from coal is simply a fool's bargain.
To understand the true cost of electricity from coal, one has to add up all the external costs. These costs include the health costs -- black lung disease suffered by miners, increased asthma rates and associated costs and deaths suffered by the public who breathe the coal plant emissions, impacts upon water quality and associated costs for providing clean water, the costs associated with wear and tear on roads, costs associated with acid rain, sludge spill costs, the accumulation of the nerve poison mercury released from coal burning in fish and fish consumers, including human beings, the miners killed in accidents and many other costs not listed here, including horrific environmental impacts.

West Jefferson Power Plant, Alabama

New information just released by the EPA shows that a form of chromium, hexavalent chromium, a form known to cause cancer, is present in coal ash and in surface and groundwater around coal ash disposal sites.
A number of years ago a Canadian study showed that the true cost of electricity produced by coal was about 25 cents per kilowatt hour, or at that time about the same as electricity from solar photovoltaic panels.
Solar energy is abundantly available in the Southeast. Even in Germany, with its colder climate, solar for both electricity and hot water is having a major positive impact on their economy. If Commissioner Cavanaugh were truly interested in serving Alabamians and the economy of Alabama, she would be working to set goals for solar and other ecologically sustainable sources of renewable energy. Instead she seems content to put out the orthodoxy of the status quo as she serves Alabama Power Co. and Alabama Gas Co.

We recently installed a solar water heater that will pay for itself in around eight years and thereafter provide hot water at no out-of-pocket cost for another 17 or 18 years. If we lived in Florida, we would have received a check for $1,000 as an incentive for installing renewable energy because the utilities have a renewable energy goal that they must meet. There are no similar incentives for clean energy in Alabama.
If Cavanaugh and the Alabama PSC were as concerned about the well-being of Alabamians as they are profits of the power company, they would create goals for clean, renewable energy and conservation. If they wanted to reach those goals, they would create incentives for clean, renewable energy and conservation.
By doing so, they would protect public health, take out an insurance policy against climate change and ultimately help to grow Alabama's economy.

Michael William Mullen, executive director,
Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper
Banks Alabama.

No Ash Is Good Ash

2011-02-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

Friends,
Check out this truly fantastic news for citizens everywhere dealing with coal ash.
I would like to point out that only one Alabama representative voted NO.
Thank you Terri Sewell, [D] AL-7

This law would have been devastating to the momentum to regulate toxic coal ash. We have a prime example here in Alabama of how a seemingly innocent community with absolutely no ties to the coal fields can be condemned to a life of toxic coal ash in their communities and invading their lives, harming their health and peace of mind.
The vote yesterday / last night was a monumental success for us all!

From:
Lisa Evans
Senior Administrative Counsel
Earthjustice

The House voted on the McKinley Amendment (217) last night at about 2:00 am -- and the amendment passed, but WE GOT THE VOTES WE NEEDED to keep the fight alive in the Senate and to demonstrate to EPA that there is support in the House for the coal ash rulemaking. YOUR HARD WORK brought us many many votes that otherwise would have been lost! It was critical that we make a strong show of opposition and, with YOUR help, we did!

The vote was 239 to 183. Your calls/emails/letters amazingly brought to our side 19 republicans (about 3 times as many as any other environmental rider) including reps from OH, VA, IL and TN! This was a fantastic feat!

Please check the voting list below and PLEASE thank your representative with a call or email if he/she voted with us. We will certainly be asking more of these reps this summer, and they will remember that you thanked them. Also, next week we will be sending out an organizational letter thanking all who opposed the amendment. Special thanks to Reps Waxman and Moran who spoke from the floor in opposition at about 1 am.

Again-- you all were key to this great vote. We will need your help in the senate next week to defeat this amendment, but for now, have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,
Lisa Evans
Senior Administrative Counsel
Earthjustice
21 Ocean Ave.
Marblehead, MA 01945
T: (781) 631-4119
F: (212) 918-1556
www.earthjustice.org

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2011-136&sort=vote

Good Votes
No      NY-5    Ackerman, Gary [D]
No      PA-4    Altmire, Jason [D]
No      NJ-1    Andrews, Robert [D]
No      CA-43   Baca, Joe [D]
No      WI-2    Baldwin, Tammy [D]
No      NH-2    Bass, Charles [R]
No      CA-33   Bass, Karen [D]
No      CA-31   Becerra, Xavier [D]
No      NV-1    Berkley, Shelley [D]
No      CA-28   Berman, Howard [D]
No      GA-2    Bishop, Sanford [D]
No      NY-1    Bishop, Timothy [D]
No      OR-3    Blumenauer, Earl [D]
No      PA-1    Brady, Robert [D]
No      IA-1    Braley, Bruce [D]
No      FL-3    Brown, Corrine [D]
No      NC-1    Butterfield, George [D]
No      CA-23   Capps, Lois [D]
No      MA-8    Capuano, Michael [D]
No      MO-3    Carnahan, Russ [D]
No      DE-0    Carney, John [D]
No      LA-6    Cassidy, Bill [R]
No      FL-11   Castor, Kathy [D]
No      CA-32   Chu, Judy [D]
No      RI-1    Cicilline, David [D]
No      MI-13   Clarke, Hansen [D]
No      NY-11   Clarke, Yvette [D]
No      MO-1    Clay, William [D]
No      MO-5    Cleaver, Emanuel [D]
No      SC-6    Clyburn, James [D]
No      TN-9    Cohen, Steve [D]
No      VA-11   Connolly, Gerald [D]
No      MI-14   Conyers, John [D]
No      TN-5    Cooper, Jim [D]
No      CT-2    Courtney, Joe [D]
No      NY-7    Crowley, Joseph [D]
No      MD-7    Cummings, Elijah [D]
No      IL-7    Davis, Danny [D]
No      CA-53   Davis, Susan [D]
No      OR-4    DeFazio, Peter [D]
No      CO-1    DeGette, Diana [D]
No      CT-3    DeLauro, Rosa [D]
No      FL-19   Deutch, Ted [D]
No      WA-6    Dicks, Norman [D]
No      MI-15   Dingell, John [D]
No      TX-25   Doggett, Lloyd [D]
No      PA-14   Doyle, Michael [D]
No      MD-4    Edwards, Donna [D]
No      MN-5    Ellison, Keith [D]
No      NY-17   Engel, Eliot [D]
No      CA-14   Eshoo, Anna [D]
No      CA-17   Farr, Sam [D]
No      PA-2    Fattah, Chaka [D]
No      CA-51   Filner, Bob [D]
No      PA-8    Fitzpatrick, Michael [R]
No      TN-3    Fleischmann, Chuck [R]
No      VA-4    Forbes, J. [R]
No      NE-1    Fortenberry, Jeffrey [R]
No      MA-4    Frank, Barney [D]
No      OH-11   Fudge, Marcia [D]
No      CA-10   Garamendi, John [D]
No      TX-20   Gonzalez, Charles [D]
No      TX-9    Green, Al [D]
No      TX-29   Green, Raymond [D]
No      AZ-7    Grijalva, Raul [D]
No      IL-4    Gutierrez, Luis [D]
No      HI-1    Hanabusa, Colleen [D]
No      FL-23   Hastings, Alcee [D]
No      NY-19   Hayworth, Nan [R]
No      NM-1    Heinrich, Martin [D]
No      NY-27   Higgins, Brian [D]
No      CT-4    Himes, James [D]
No      NY-22   Hinchey, Maurice [D]
No      HI-2    Hirono, Mazie [D]
No      NJ-12   Holt, Rush [D]
No      CA-15   Honda, Michael [D]
No      MD-5    Hoyer, Steny [D]
No      WA-1    Inslee, Jay [D]
No      NY-2    Israel, Steve [D]
No      IL-2    Jackson, Jesse [D]
No      TX-18   Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D]
No      TX-30   Johnson, Eddie [D]
No      GA-4    Johnson, Henry [D]
No      IL-15   Johnson, Timothy [R]
No      OH-9    Kaptur, Marcy [D]
No      MA-10   Keating, William [D]
No      MI-5    Kildee, Dale [D]
No      NC-8    Kissell, Larry [D]
No      OH-10   Kucinich, Dennis [D]
No      NJ-7    Lance, Leonard [R]
No      RI-2    Langevin, James [D]
No      WA-2    Larsen, Rick [D]
No      CT-1    Larson, John [D]
No      OH-14   LaTourette, Steven [R]
No      CA-9    Lee, Barbara [D]
No      MI-12   Levin, Sander [D]
No      GA-5    Lewis, John [D]
No      IL-3    Lipinski, Daniel [D]
No      NJ-2    LoBiondo, Frank [R]
No      IA-2    Loebsack, David [D]
No      CA-16   Lofgren, Zoe [D]
No      NY-18   Lowey, Nita [D]
No      NM-3    Lujan, Ben [D]
No      MA-9    Lynch, Stephen [D]
No      NY-14   Maloney, Carolyn [D]
No      MA-7    Markey, Edward [D]
No      CA-5    Matsui, Doris [D]
No      WA-7    McDermott, James [D]
No      MA-3    McGovern, James [D]
No      NC-7    McIntyre, Mike [D]
No      CA-11   McNerney, Jerry [D]
No      NY-6    Meeks, Gregory [D]
No      ME-2    Michaud, Michael [D]
No      CA-7    Miller, George [D]
No      NC-13   Miller, R. [D]
No      WI-4    Moore, Gwen [D]
No      VA-8    Moran, James [D]
No      CT-5    Murphy, Christopher [D]
No      NY-8    Nadler, Jerrold [D]
No      CA-38   Napolitano, Grace [D]
No      MA-2    Neal, Richard [D]
No      MA-1    Olver, John [D]
No      NJ-6    Pallone, Frank [D]
No      NJ-8    Pascrell, William [D]
No      AZ-4    Pastor, Edward [D]
No      MN-3    Paulsen, Erik [R]
No      NJ-10   Payne, Donald [D]
No      CA-8    Pelosi, Nancy [D]
No      CO-7    Perlmutter, Ed [D]
No      ME-1    Pingree, Chellie [D]
No      CO-2    Polis, Jared [D]
No      NC-4    Price, David [D]
No      IL-5    Quigley, Mike [D]
No      NY-15   Rangel, Charles [D]
No      WA-8    Reichert, Dave [R]
No      TX-16   Reyes, Silvestre [D]
No      CA-37   Richardson, Laura [D]
No      LA-2    Richmond, Cedric [D]
No      VA-2    Rigell, E. [R]
No      NJ-9    Rothman, Steven [D]
No      CA-34   Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D]
No      MD-2    Ruppersberger, C.A. [D]
No      IL-1    Rush, Bobby [D]
No      OH-17   Ryan, Timothy [D]
No      CA-39   Sanchez, Linda [D]
No      CA-47   Sanchez, Loretta [D]
No      MD-3    Sarbanes, John [D]
No      IL-9    Schakowsky, Janice [D]
No      CA-29   Schiff, Adam [D]
No      OR-5    Schrader, Kurt [D]
No      PA-13   Schwartz, Allyson [D]
No      GA-13   Scott, David [D]
No      VA-3    Scott, Robert [D]
No      NY-16   Serrano, José [D]
No      AL-7    Sewell, Terri [D]
No      CA-27   Sherman, Brad [D]
No      NC-11   Shuler, Heath [D]
No      NY-28   Slaughter, Louise [D]
No      WA-9    Smith, Adam [D]
No      NJ-4    Smith, Christopher [R]
No      CA-12   Speier, Jackie [D]
No      OH-13   Sutton, Betty [D]
No      MS-2    Thompson, Bennie [D]
No      CA-1    Thompson, C. [D]
No      MA-6    Tierney, John [D]
No      NY-21   Tonko, Paul [D]
No      NY-10   Towns, Edolphus [D]
No      MA-5    Tsongas, Niki [D]
No      OH-3    Turner, Michael [R]
No      MD-8    Van Hollen, Christopher [D]
No      NY-12   Velazquez, Nydia [D]
No      IN-1    Visclosky, Peter [D]
No      FL-20   Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D]
No      CA-35   Waters, Maxine [D]
No      NC-12   Watt, Melvin [D]
No      CA-30   Waxman, Henry [D]
No      NY-9    Weiner, Anthony [D]
No      VT-0    Welch, Peter [D]
No      VA-1    Wittman, Rob [R]
No      VA-10   Wolf, Frank [R]
No      CA-6    Woolsey, Lynn [D]
No      OR-1    Wu, David [D]
No      KY-3    Yarmuth, John [D]

Bad Votes
Aye     FL-24   Adams, Sandy [R]
Aye     AL-4    Aderholt, Robert [R]
Aye     MO-2    Akin, W. [R]
Aye     LA-5    Alexander, Rodney [R]
Aye     MI-3    Amash, Justin [R]
Aye     OH-7    Austria, Steve [R]
Aye     MN-6    Bachmann, Michele [R]
Aye     AL-6    Bachus, Spencer [R]
Aye     PA-11   Barletta, Lou [R]
Aye     GA-12   Barrow, John [D]
Aye     MD-6    Bartlett, Roscoe [R]
Aye     TX-6    Barton, Joe [R]
Aye     MI-1    Benishek, Dan [R]
Aye     ND-0    Berg, Rick [R]
Aye     IL-13   Biggert, Judy [R]
Aye     CA-50   Bilbray, Brian [R]
Aye     FL-9    Bilirakis, Gus [R]
Aye     UT-1    Bishop, Rob [R]
Aye     TN-6    Black, Diane [R]
Aye     TN-7    Blackburn, Marsha [R]
Aye     AL-1    Bonner, Jo [R]
Aye     CA-45   Bono Mack, Mary [R]
Aye     OK-2    Boren, Dan [D]
Aye     IA-3    Boswell, Leonard [D]
Aye     LA-7    Boustany, Charles [R]
Aye     TX-8    Brady, Kevin [R]
Aye     AL-5    Brooks, Mo [R]
Aye     GA-10   Broun, Paul [R]
Aye     FL-13   Buchanan, Vern [R]
Aye     IN-8    Bucshon, Larry [R]
Aye     NY-25   Buerkle, Ann Marie [R]
Aye     TX-26   Burgess, Michael [R]
Aye     IN-5    Burton, Dan [R]
Aye     CA-44   Calvert, Ken [R]
Aye     MI-4    Camp, David [R]
Aye     CA-48   Campbell, John [R]
Aye     TX-23   Canseco, Francisco [R]
Aye     VA-7    Cantor, Eric [R]
Aye     WV-2    Capito, Shelley [R]
Aye     CA-18   Cardoza, Dennis [D]
Aye     IN-7    Carson, André [D]
Aye     TX-31   Carter, John [R]
Aye     OH-1    Chabot, Steven [R]
Aye     UT-3    Chaffetz, Jason [R]
Aye     KY-6    Chandler, Ben [D]
Aye     NC-6    Coble, Howard [R]
Aye     CO-6    Coffman, Mike [R]
Aye     OK-4    Cole, Tom [R]
Aye     TX-11   Conaway, K. [R]
Aye     CA-20   Costa, Jim [D]
Aye     IL-12   Costello, Jerry [D]
Aye     MN-8    Cravaack, Chip [R]
Aye     AR-1    Crawford, Eric [R]
Aye     FL-4    Crenshaw, Ander [R]
Aye     PA-12   Critz, Mark [D]
Aye     TX-28   Cuellar, Henry [D]
Aye     TX-7    Culberson, John [R]
Aye     KY-4    Davis, Geoff [R]
Aye     CA-19   Denham, Jeff [R]
Aye     PA-15   Dent, Charles [R]
Aye     TN-4    DesJarlais, Scott [R]
Aye     FL-21   Diaz-Balart, Mario [R]
Aye     IL-10   Dold, Bob [R]
Aye     IN-2    Donnelly, Joe [D]
Aye     CA-26   Dreier, David [R]
Aye     WI-7    Duffy, Sean [R]
Aye     SC-3    Duncan, Jeff [R]
Aye     TN-2    Duncan, John [R]
Aye     NC-2    Ellmers, Renee [R]
Aye     MO-8    Emerson, Jo Ann [R]
Aye     TX-27   Farenthold, Blake [R]
Aye     TN-8    Fincher, Stephen [R]
Aye     AZ-6    Flake, Jeff [R]
Aye     LA-4    Fleming, John [R]
Aye     TX-17   Flores, Bill [R]
Aye     NC-5    Foxx, Virginia [R]
Aye     AZ-2    Franks, Trent [R]
Aye     NJ-11   Frelinghuysen, Rodney [R]
Aye     CA-24   Gallegly, Elton [R]
Aye     CO-4    Gardner, Cory [R]
Aye     NJ-5    Garrett, Scott [R]
Aye     PA-6    Gerlach, Jim [R]
Aye     OH-18   Gibbs, Bob [R]
Aye     NY-20   Gibson, Chris [R]
Aye     GA-11   Gingrey, John [R]
Aye     TX-1    Gohmert, Louis [R]
Aye     VA-6    Goodlatte, Robert [R]
Aye     AZ-1    Gosar, Paul [R]
Aye     SC-4    Gowdy, Trey [R]
Aye     TX-12   Granger, Kay [R]
Aye     MO-6    Graves, Samuel [R]
Aye     GA-9    Graves, Tom [R]
Aye     AR-2    Griffin, Tim [R]
Aye     VA-9    Griffith, H. [R]
Aye     NY-13   Grimm, Michael [R]
Aye     NH-1    Guinta, Frank [R]
Aye     KY-2    Guthrie, Brett [R]
Aye     TX-4    Hall, Ralph [R]
Aye     NY-24   Hanna, Richard [R]
Aye     MS-3    Harper, Gregg [R]
Aye     MD-1    Harris, Andy [R]
Aye     MO-4    Hartzler, Vicky [R]
Aye     WA-4    Hastings, Doc [R]
Aye     NV-3    Heck, Joe [R]
Aye     NV-2    Heller, Dean [R]
Aye     TX-5    Hensarling, Jeb [R]
Aye     CA-2    Herger, Walter [R]
Aye     WA-3    Herrera Beutler, Jaime [R]
Aye     PA-17   Holden, Tim [D]
Aye     KS-1    Huelskamp, Tim [R]
Aye     MI-2    Huizenga, Bill [R]
Aye     IL-14   Hultgren, Randy [R]
Aye     CA-52   Hunter, Duncan [R]
Aye     VA-5    Hurt, Robert [R]
Aye     CA-49   Issa, Darrell [R]
Aye     KS-2    Jenkins, Lynn [R]
Aye     OH-6    Johnson, Bill [R]
Aye     TX-3    Johnson, Samuel [R]
Aye     NC-3    Jones, Walter [R]
Aye     OH-4    Jordan, Jim [R]
Aye     PA-3    Kelly, Mike [R]
Aye     WI-3    Kind, Ronald [D]
Aye     NY-3    King, Peter [R]
Aye     IA-5    King, Steve [R]
Aye     GA-1    Kingston, Jack [R]
Aye     IL-11   Kinzinger, Adam [R]
Aye     MN-2    Kline, John [R]
Aye     ID-1    Labrador, Raúl [R]
Aye     CO-5    Lamborn, Doug [R]
Aye     LA-3    Landry, Jeff [R]
Aye     OK-5    Lankford, James [R]
Aye     IA-4    Latham, Thomas [R]
Aye     OH-5    Latta, Robert [R]
Aye     CA-41   Lewis, Jerry [R]
Aye     MO-7    Long, Billy [R]
Aye     OK-3    Lucas, Frank [R]
Aye     MO-9    Luetkemeyer, Blaine [R]
Aye     WY-0    Lummis, Cynthia [R]
Aye     CA-3    Lungren, Daniel [R]
Aye     FL-14   Mack, Connie [R]
Aye     IL-16   Manzullo, Donald [R]
Aye     TX-24   Marchant, Kenny [R]
Aye     PA-10   Marino, Thomas [R]
Aye     UT-2    Matheson, Jim [D]
Aye     CA-22   McCarthy, Kevin [R]
Aye     TX-10   McCaul, Michael [R]
Aye     CA-4    McClintock, Tom [R]
Aye     MI-11   McCotter, Thaddeus [R]
Aye     NC-10   McHenry, Patrick [R]
Aye     CA-25   McKeon, Howard [R]
Aye     WV-1    McKinley, David [R]
Aye     WA-5    McMorris Rodgers, Cathy [R]
Aye     PA-7    Meehan, Patrick [R]
Aye     FL-7    Mica, John [R]
Aye     MI-10   Miller, Candice [R]
Aye     CA-42   Miller, Gary [R]
Aye     FL-1    Miller, Jeff [R]
Aye     SC-5    Mulvaney, Mick [R]
Aye     PA-18   Murphy, Tim [R]
Aye     NC-9    Myrick, Sue [R]
Aye     TX-19   Neugebauer, Randy [R]
Aye     SD-0    Noem, Kristi [R]
Aye     FL-5    Nugent, Richard [R]
Aye     CA-21   Nunes, Devin [R]
Aye     MS-1    Nunnelee, Alan [R]
Aye     TX-22   Olson, Pete [R]
Aye     NY-23   Owens, William [D]
Aye     MS-4    Palazzo, Steven [R]
Aye     NM-2    Pearce, Steven [R]
Aye     IN-6    Pence, Mike [R]
Aye     MN-7    Peterson, Collin [D]
Aye     WI-6    Petri, Thomas [R]
Aye     PA-16   Pitts, Joseph [R]
Aye     PA-19   Platts, Todd [R]
Aye     TX-2    Poe, Ted [R]
Aye     KS-4    Pompeo, Mike [R]
Aye     FL-15   Posey, Bill [R]
Aye     GA-6    Price, Tom [R]
Aye     WV-3    Rahall, Nick [D]
Aye     NY-29   Reed, Tom [R]
Aye     MT-0    Rehberg, Dennis [R]
Aye     OH-16   Renacci, Jim [R]
Aye     WI-8    Ribble, Reid [R]
Aye     FL-25   Rivera, David [R]
Aye     AL-2    Roby, Martha [R]
Aye     TN-1    Roe, Phil [R]
Aye     KY-5    Rogers, Harold [R]
Aye     AL-3    Rogers, Michael [R]
Aye     MI-8    Rogers, Michael [R]
Aye     CA-46   Rohrabacher, Dana [R]
Aye     IN-4    Rokita, Todd [R]
Aye     FL-16   Rooney, Thomas [R]
Aye     IL-6    Roskam, Peter [R]
Aye     FL-18   Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana [R]
Aye     FL-12   Ross, Dennis [R]
Aye     AR-4    Ross, Mike [D]
Aye     CA-40   Royce, Edward [R]
Aye     NJ-3    Runyan, Jon [R]
Aye     WI-1    Ryan, Paul [R]
Aye     LA-1    Scalise, Steve [R]
Aye     IL-17   Schilling, Robert [R]
Aye     OH-2    Schmidt, Jean [R]
Aye     IL-18   Schock, Aaron [R]
Aye     AZ-5    Schweikert, David [R]
Aye     GA-8    Scott, Austin [R]
Aye     SC-1    Scott, Tim [R]
Aye     WI-5    Sensenbrenner, F. [R]
Aye     TX-32   Sessions, Peter [R]
Aye     IL-19   Shimkus, John [R]
Aye     PA-9    Shuster, William [R]
Aye     ID-2    Simpson, Michael [R]
Aye     NE-3    Smith, Adrian [R]
Aye     TX-21   Smith, Lamar [R]
Aye     FL-2    Southerland, Steve [R]
Aye     FL-6    Stearns, Clifford [R]
Aye     OH-15   Stivers, Steve [R]
Aye     IN-3    Stutzman, Marlin [R]
Aye     OK-1    Sullivan, John [R]
Aye     NE-2    Terry, Lee [R]
Aye     PA-5    Thompson, Glenn [R]
Aye     TX-13   Thornberry, William [R]
Aye     OH-12   Tiberi, Patrick [R]
Aye     CO-3    Tipton, Scott [R]
Aye     MI-6    Upton, Frederick [R]
Aye     MI-7    Walberg, Timothy [R]
Aye     OR-2    Walden, Greg [R]
Aye     IL-8    Walsh, Joe [R]
Aye     MN-1    Walz, Timothy [D]
Aye     FL-8    Webster, Daniel [R]
Aye     FL-22   West, Allen [R]
Aye     GA-3    Westmoreland, Lynn [R]
Aye     KY-1    Whitfield, Edward [R]
Aye     SC-2    Wilson, Addison [R]
Aye     AR-3    Womack, Steve [R]
Aye     GA-7    Woodall, Rob [R]
Aye     KS-3    Yoder, Kevin [R]
Aye     FL-10   Young, C. W. [R]
Aye     AK-0    Young, Donald [R]
Aye     IN-9    Young, Todd [R]

Didn't Vote
Not Voting      AZ-8    Giffords, Gabrielle [D]
Not Voting      CA-36   Harman, Jane [D]
Not Voting      TX-15   Hinojosa, Rubén [D]
Not Voting      NY-4    McCarthy, Carolyn [D]
Not Voting      MN-4    McCollum, Betty [D]
Not Voting      TX-14   Paul, Ronald [R]
Not Voting      MI-9    Peters, Gary [D]
Not Voting      AZ-3    Quayle, Ben [R]
Not Voting      NJ-13   Sires, Albio [D]
Not Voting      CA-13   Stark, Fortney [D]
Not Voting      FL-17   Wilson, Frederica [D]

Lisa Evans
Senior Administrative Counsel
Earthjustice
21 Ocean Ave.
Marblehead, MA 01945
T: (781) 631-4119
F: (212) 918-1556
www.earthjustice.org

Yes, Virginia, This Dirty Coal Bill Is a Bad Bar Room Romance

2011-02-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, Virginia, This Dirty Coal Bill Is a Bad Bar Room Romance

From Huff Po

Jeff Biggers

Author, "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland"

Posted: February 2, 2011 10:51 PM

Taking their cue from the widely disgraced West Virginia politicos and Big Coal lobbyists, some legislators in Virginia are courting a bad regulatory romance bill that could cost the state dearly -- the morning after.

And the nation is watching: In the face of countless studies that link water quality to devastating cancer rates, health care crises and environmental destruction in the coalfields, a handful of Virginia politicians appear more intent on providing loopholes to circumvent growing national concern over clean water laws than to protect their own citizens -- and their own state budget.

If the coal industry gets its way, the state of Virginia just might have to abandon its tourist slogan -- Virginia is for Lovers -- and its long-time promotion of its mountain ranges.
Under the proposed SB 1025 and HB 2123 bills, Big Coal lobbyists are making an unprecedented attempt to eliminate a Jeffersonian commitment to citizens' participation and basic regulatory oversight of clean water laws for strip-mining in their beloved mountains, by ultimately shifting control of water quality to a political appointee. In effect, according to concerned residents in the coalfields, coal lobbyists have concocted a bill that places a stranglehold on state officials by restricting the state's ability to adequately review stream monitoring or toxicity testing in permitting and enforcement actions.

"If the coal industry doesn't want state officials testing the water, what are they afraid the tests will reveal?" asked Tom Cormons, Virginia Director for Appalachian Voices. "The industry is trying to tie state officials' hands to prevent them from doing their job."
The end result could be breathtakingly costly, both in human and financial terms, for the state. According to most estimates, Virginia already subsidizes the coal industry with $45 million in taxpayer funds. Studies in similar coal states like Kentucky and West Virginia have long demonstrated how the state already shoulders huge external and legacy costs from environmental and health impacts from strip-mining.
As Justin Maxson of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development wrote in a letter to the Washington Post last spring:

In fact, coal mining jobs amount to only about 2 percent of employment in the central Appalachian region; the percentage is only slightly higher if you consider related employment. It does not account for anything approaching most of the employment. In Wise County, where The Post's story was set, there were 2,537 coal miners, or about 11 percent of total county employment, in 2004. That's fewer workers than hold jobs in retail trade (3,118).

This begs the question, especially for anyone making backroom bar room deals: If other industries, such as the liquor industry, must follow the laws and be held accountable for their actions, why shouldn't the declining coal industry have to follow basic laws? As one industry analysis has noted, the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that Virginia has 735 million tons of estimated recoverable reserves of coal and 296 million tons of recoverable coal reserves at actively producing mines (EIA, 2010a). At 2008 production rates, that is enough coal to last for approximately 12 years without opening any new mines.
The response from Big Coal lobbyists winking in the corner?
Quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this week, Donald L. Ratliff, a lobbyist for Abingdon-based Alpha Natural Resources, "said he has spoken to McDonnell about EPA rules, and the administration agreed to step in as needed."
Speaking on behalf of a company with an estimated $15 billion value (after their recent move to purchase Massey Energy), Ratliff added: "We can't meet the standards that they've put on us right now. It's just too stringent."
Read that again: Assuring that the second largest coal company in the United States follows basic clean water laws is "too stringent"?
Before going through with this bad deal, Virginian legislators might want to chat with coal miners in Mingo County, West Virginia, who were trapped in an underground mine flood for 24 hours, after an Alpha subsidiary "did not regularly monitor and properly maintain the mine's system of diversion ditches," according to a MSHA report.
For more information on this landmark decision in Virginia, see the Wise Energy for Virginia updates.

W.Va. mining activists criticize Tomblin's rally

2011-01-24T04:40:00.000-08:00

January 19, 2011

W.Va. mining activists criticize Tomblin's rally

By The Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Mountaintop removal mining activists said Wednesday that acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is behaving like a lobbyist for organizing a rally in which he and other
politicians plan to criticize the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Tomblin has invited the public to join him, other politicians and industry officials for a rally that he said is designed to show the agency how coal is beneficial to the lives of West Virginians and others across the country.
It's set for 2 p.m. Thursday at the state Capitol in Charleston.
The rally is in response to the EPA's veto last week of a crucial permit for Arch Coal Inc.'s planned Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County. The agency said the permit would cause irreparable environmental damage and threaten the health of nearby communities.
The 2,300-acre mine would have been the state's largest mountaintop removal operation. Environmental groups have fought for years to stop it.
Several longtime activists accused Tomblin during a Wednesday conference call on the ruling of shilling for the industry and ignoring the concerns of communities near the large strip mines.
"What acting Governor Tomblin is doing Thursday is not in keeping with the needs of the people of West Virginia," said Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch. "He is acting as a coal lobbyist and not as a governor should."
Tomblin's spokeswoman, Jacqueline Proctor, defended the event.

"The core of what the governor is trying to express is the fact that the EPA revoked a permit that had been issued several years ago - and we take umbrage with that," she said.
Activists say millions of dollars in industry donations to state political campaigns - from the Legislature to state Supreme Court - have caused most of the state's politicians to ignore "people who live with the misery of mountaintop removal."
"EPA is doing its job. EPA is applying science," added retired miner Chuck Nelson, an activist with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. "Everyone is taking the money. That's why don't want to focus on the health issues."
One of the lawyers who has been fighting the Spruce mine since 1998 said he hopes the ruling signals a change. Both the EPA and the corps have historically been "little more than rubber stamps" when it comes to permitting coal mines, said Joe Lovett, executive director for the Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environment.
In this case, however, EPA had been critical of the corps' Clean Water Act permit form the start, he said.
Lovett said his group and others will continue to fight mountaintop removal mines that are permanently changing the landscape of southern West Virginia and parts of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
"The Spruce mine - though it is important for us because it was where we started - isn't a unique mine," he said. "It is an important decision, but we hope it's the first of many."

Environmental Groups Take Rosa Coal Mine Fight to Court of Appeals

2011-01-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

P R E S S * R E L E A S E
Southern Environmental Law Center
January 20, 2011

*****************************************************
Environmental Groups Take Rosa Coal Mine Fight to Court of Appeals *****************************************************
Contact:
Gil Rogers, Senior Attorney, 404-521-9900
Cat McCue, Senior Communications Manager, 434-977-4090

Representing:
Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Nelson Brooke, 205-458-0095
Friends of the Locust Fork River, Sam Howell, 205-706-4376

Montgomery, AL – Two Alabama river groups are appealing an administrative law judge’s approval of a permit for a massive strip, auger and underground coal mine in Blount County. The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Friends of Locust Fork River, filed the necessary papers this week with the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals; only a few coal mine permits have ever been appealed to this level in Alabama.

The groups say the water pollution control permit for the Rosa Mine issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in October 2009 violates federal and state laws on multiple counts, and would fail utterly to protect water quality. The permit issued to MCoal is for a 3,255-acre coal mine that would allow more than 60 pollution discharge points into numerous feeder streams of the Locust Fork, a tributary of the Black Warrior River that is already on ADEM’s list of the most polluted streams in the state.

“The permit that ADEM issued for this huge industrial operation is woefully deficient – there are virtually no meaningful protections for the Locust Fork,” said SELC senior attorney Gil Rogers. “We are committed to protecting these resources and the communities that depend on them, and are not giving up the fight.”

The groups first appealed the permit in late 2009 after a hearing before the Environmental Management Commission last year, which ruled that the coal mine permit would not harm the Locust Fork. The Montgomery County Circuit Court affirmed that ruling in December.

The groups say ADEM violated federal and state laws in several ways when it issued a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit for the strip mine. For example, the agency failed to conduct a site-specific environmental analysis and instead issued a “rubber-stamp” permit it gives other coal mines. The Rosa Mine permit is virtually identical to the one ADEM issued for the proposed Shepherd Bend Mine in Walker County, which is roughly half the size. (SELC and Black Warrior Riverkeeper are also challenging that permit; a hearing is scheduled in late February.) In addition, the agency:
·         Failed to require a pollution abatement and prevention plan from the company;
·         Allowed pollution to be discharged to an already impaired stream;
·         Granted a blanket exemption for all pollution limits when it rains; and
·         Failed to require limits on chlorides, aluminum and other contaminants that are common problems with coal mine discharges.

“The Locust Fork near the Rosa Mine is an absolutely beautiful stretch of river where thousands of people from across the country go each year to enjoy its scenery, fishing, paddling opportunities, swimming, hiking, wildlife watching, photography, and more,” said Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper. “This permit should not have been issued and we will continue to advocate its revocation.”

“Heaven forbid there should ever be a major pollution event on the Locust Fork River, but, as we know from the TVA coal ash spill and the BP oil spill, catastrophes do occur,” said Sam Howell, president of the Friends of the Locust Fork River. “That is why our groups are taking these extraordinary steps to ensure that ADEM fully and rigorously evaluates the environmental impacts of this proposed coal mine so close to so many communities.”

****************************
The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional conservation organization using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC's team of 40 legal experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.

WEB: www.SouthernEnvironment.org
FACEBOOK: http://www.fanofselc.org
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/selc_org

"Impacts of Coal" Rally Thursday, Jan 20

2011-01-19T05:32:00.001-08:00

"Impacts of Coal" Rally
Thursday, Jan 20
1:30pm
Meet at Laidley Field Parking Area (1549 Piedmont Road at Elizabeth St,
Charleston)

West Virginia's Acting Governor Tomblin is hosting a "Rally for Coal" at the
state capitol on Thursday to show his opposition to the EPA's veto of the
Spruce No 1 mountaintop removal mine. The governor has announced that the
purpose of his rally is to "show the EPA how coal impacts our lives, and the
lives of our fellow countrymen." So let's go and remind the governor of
coal's impact - slurry injections, blasting, poisoned water, destruction of
our communities, cancer and death. The EPA finally did its job and now it
is under attack by our own state government. The governor does not speak for
us. He speaks for the coal industry. We must show our support for the EPA's
decision and make our voices heard.

Please show up, bring your friends, bring a camera and bring signs, photos
and any other visuals that illustrate the devastation that coal has wrought
in our region. We will gather at the bus shelter at Laidley Field and leave
at 1:30 to walk together to the capitol, near the acting governor's rally.

IMPORTANT:
* This is a non-violent event; we intend to demonstrate in a peaceful and
respectful manner.
* Please do not engage with pro-coal demonstrators, regardless of how they
react to us.
* Do not bring anything that could be construed as a weapon, including signs
with wooden poles
* Take responsibility for the safety of the people standing next to you

From Coal River Mountain Watch

EPA Halts Disposal of Mining Waste to Appalachian Waters at Proposed Spruce Mine

2011-01-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

Breaking news: EPA vetoes Spruce Mine permit

January 13, 2011 by Ken Ward Jr.
Word is just coming down that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has vetoed the largest single mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia history.

The move is part of an Obama administration crackdown aimed at reducing the effects of mountaintop removal coal-mining on the environment and on coalfield communities in Appalachian — impacts that scientists are increasingly finding to be pervasive and irreversible.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2011

EPA Halts Disposal of Mining Waste to Appalachian Waters at Proposed Spruce Mine

Agency cites irreversible damage to clean water, environment in the region

WASHINGTON – After extensive scientific study, a major public hearing in West Virginia and review of more than 50,000 public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it will use its authority under the Clean Water Act to halt the proposed disposal of mining waste in streams at the Mingo-Logan Coal Company’s Spruce No. 1 coal mine. EPA is acting under the law and using the best science to protect water quality, wildlife and Appalachian communities, who rely on clean waters for drinking, fishing and swimming. EPA has used this Clean Water Act authority in just 12 circumstances since 1972 and reserves this authority for only unacceptable cases. This permit was first proposed in the 1990s and has been held up in the courts ever since.

“The proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine would use destructive and unsustainable mining practices that jeopardize the health of Appalachian communities and clean water on which they depend,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Peter S. Silva. “Coal and coal mining are part of our nation’s energy future and EPA has worked with companies to design mining operations that adequately protect our nation’s waters. We have a responsibility under the law to protect water quality and safeguard the people who rely on clean water.”

EPA’s final determination on the Spruce Mine comes after discussions with the company spanning more than a year failed to produce an agreement that would lead to a significant decrease in impacts to the environment and Appalachian communities. The action prevents the mine from disposing of the waste into streams unless the company identifies an alternative mining design that would avoid irreversible damage to water quality and meets the requirements of the law. Despite EPA’s willingness to consider alternatives, Mingo Logan did not offer any new proposed mining configurations in response to EPA’s Recommended Determination.

EPA believes that companies can design their operations to make them more sustainable and compliant with the law. Last year, EPA worked closely with a mining company in West Virginia to eliminate nearly 50 percent of their water impacts and reduce contamination while at the same time increasing their coal production. These are the kinds of success stories that can be achieved through collaboration and willingness to reduce the impact on mining pollution on our waters. Those changes helped permanently protect local waters, maximize coal recovery and reduce costs for the operators.

isa.jalil@epa.gov
EPA’s decision to stop mining waste discharges to high quality streams at the Spruce No. 1 mine was based on several major environmental and water quality concerns. The proposed mine project would have:

·         Disposed of 110 million cubic yards of coal mine waste into streams.
·         Buried more than six miles of high-quality streams in Logan County, West Virginia with millions of tons of mining waste from the dynamiting of more than 2,200 acres of mountains and forestlands.
·         Buried more than 35,000 feet of high-quality streams under mining waste, which will eliminate all fish, small invertebrates, salamanders, and other wildlife that live in them.
·         Polluted downstream waters as a result of burying these streams, which will lead to unhealthy levels of salinity and toxic levels of selenium that turn fresh water into salty water. The resulting waste that then fills valleys and streams can significantly compromise water quality, often causing permanent damage to ecosystems and streams.
·         Caused downstream watershed degradation that will kill wildlife, impact birdlife, reduce habitat value, and increase susceptibility to toxic algal blooms.
·         Inadequately mitigated for the mine’s environmental impacts by not replacing streams being buried, and attempting to use stormwater ditches as compensation for natural stream losses.

Additionally, during the permitting process there was a failure to consider cumulative watershed degradation resulting from past, present, and future mining in the area.

Finally, EPA’s decision prohibits five proposed valley fills in two streams, Pigeonroost Branch, and Oldhouse Branch, and their tributaries. Mining activities at the Spruce site are underway in Seng Camp Creek as a result of a prior agreement reached in the active litigation with the Mingo Logan Coal Company. EPA’s Final Determination does not affect current mining in Seng Camp Creek.

Background on Clean Water Act Section 404(c)

Clean Water Act Section 404(c) authorizes EPA to restrict or prohibit placing dredged or fill material in streams, lakes, rivers, wetlands and other waters if the agency determines that the activities would result in “unacceptable adverse effects” to the environment, water quality, or water supplies. This authority applies to proposed projects as well as projects previously permitted under the Clean Water Act although EPA is not considering such action for other previously permitted projects.

With today’s action, EPA has exercised its Section 404(c) authority only 13 times in its history of the CWA. EPA recognizes the importance of ensuring that its Section 404(c) actions are taken only where environmental impacts are truly unacceptable and will use this authority only where warranted by science and the law.

For a copy of the Final Determination:

http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/dredgdis/ 404c_index.cfm
Note: If a link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL into a browser.

Electric cars... At what price?

2011-01-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

When I hear people talking about clean running electric cars I tremble if fear for the mountains where I live. The recent, or should I say the most recent disaster was in the Gulf of Mexico and caused the world to look first, then question the need for such dangerous extraction of oil. The knee jerk reaction of most people was "we need to switch to electric cars". Deep water drilling is, without a doubt dangerous but highly productive so it has been somewhat ignored because we Americans must have at least a car apiece.

I have been following and reporting on the Gulf Crisis since it started and have listened to the cries of the people. I have tried to stay in the middle and just report but I can no longer sit still without explaining where your electricity comes from to charge these oil saving electric cars.

Seen below here is a photograph that covered an area so large I had to shoot 11 separate photos to get it all in then stitch them together to show the expanse of an Alabama coal mine.

On the left is the Black Warrior River where it is about 1/4 mile wide. That tiny speck in the very right side in the river is a tug boat with at least 8, 35X195 foot coal barges.

Following the horizon to the right you come to the loader sticking up painted white. Those are huge conveyor belts that run miles underground where the coal is extracted.

Behind that is a large scale power substation needed to power this behemoth.

Follow around to the right some more and you come to a black looking mountain. Much taller than the tree line next to it. That is not a mountain or even coal for sale. That is the waste pile called GOB. (Geological Over Burden). That is the shale and dirtiest of the impurities taken out of the coal. Many such piles exist like this one around Alabama, and in fact all of coal country.

Follow it on around and you come to a new pit for more waste. All together, this photo covers about 3 miles of Alabama horizon. All of what you see here has been undermined, even the river!

My brothers and sister, please be careful of what you pray for.

Photo by JLW, click to enlarge

Electric cars... Yes, if they are SOLAR powered electric cars.
Remember, it takes mountains of coal to make electricity!

John L. Wathen,
Chairman, Citizens Coal Council

Julia 'Judy' Bonds, 58, dies; outspoken foe of mountaintop strip mining

2011-01-05T09:11:00.000-08:00

Julia 'Judy' Bonds, 58, dies; outspoken foe of mountaintop strip mining
By Emma Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 4, 2011; 11:28 PM

Judy, front and center in a DC blizzard, STOP MTR (JLW)

Julia "Judy" Bonds, the spitfire daughter of a West Virginia coal miner who worked as a Pizza Hut waitress before she became, in midlife, a leading voice of the grass-roots resistance to mountaintop strip mining, died Jan. 3 of cancer at a hospital in Charleston, W.Va. She was 58.

Ms. Bonds was one of the most visible and outspoken activists against what is sometimes called "mountaintop removal," a mining practice peculiar to Appalachia in which peaks are sheared off with explosives to expose the coal seams below.

A coalfields native who scraped by working in restaurants and convenience stores, Ms. Bonds was equivocal about the risks of mining until the 1990s, when the A.T. Massey Coal Co. arrived in Marfork hollow, one of the narrow, green valleys that wind through the Appalachian Mountains in southern West Virginia.

Ms. Bonds lived most of her life in that hollow, as did generations of her family before her. In childhood, she had come to know its fishing spots and swimming holes; later, as a young single mother, she had raised her daughter in Marfork.

"There is nothing like being in the hollows," she once told the Los Angeles Times. "You feel snuggled. You feel safe. It seems like God has his arms around you."

But when Massey Energy Co., as it is now known, began blasting, the air became filled with dust and cacophony, and families began moving out. Ms. Bonds refused to go. Marfork was home.

Then her 6-year-old grandson - who, like other children in the hollow, had developed a case of asthma that couldn't be ignored - asked her a question: "What's wrong with these fish?"

He was standing in the local creek, holding fistfuls of dead fish, with more floating belly-up around his ankles.

"I knew something was very, very wrong," Ms. Bonds told Sierra magazine. "So I began to open my eyes and pay attention."

She discovered that Marfork was one of many West Virginia hollows dealing with the effects of mountaintop mining, which was developed in the 1970s but whose use began accelerating about two decades ago.

And she learned that Massey had planned a dam farther up Marfork hollow - an impoundment that would hold millions of gallons of coal sludge. Her family would be in danger if the dam failed, and such dams had failed before - including in 1972 at Buffalo Creek, W.Va., where 125 people were killed in the toxic flood.

When she heard her grandson concocting escape plans in the event of a dam break, Ms. Bonds - the last holdout in Marfork - knew that it was time to move and time to call attention to the threats of mountaintop mining to clean air, clean water and the Appalachian way of life.

She became a volunteer with and then executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch, a local grass-roots group. She taught herself how to challenge the mining companies' federal and state permit applications.

Embracing her hillbilly identity, she shrugged off the argument that rural people needed the coal industry's jobs.

"If coal is so good for us hillbillies," she said at a 2008 Appalachian Studies Association conference, "then why are we so poor?"

photo by JLW

Massey - the subject of scrutiny after an explosion at its underground Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 West Virginia miners in April - was a frequent target of Ms. Bonds's. She confronted coal industry executives, organized marches, lobbied at the West Virginia statehouse and in Washington and traveled the country talking to young people.

Her message was consistent: The health and safety of Appalachia's poor were being sacrificed for the profits of energy companies.

"We're a colony here, and the coal companies rule," the writer Michael Shnayerson quotes her as saying in his 2008 book, "Coal River." "We can complain all we want, but those complaints are just swept aside in the name of progress and jobs. It's like we're selling our children's feet to buy shoes."

She stood her ground despite insults and threats from neighbors and coal workers, who felt their livelihoods were threatened by her forthrightness and her rage. At a protest against Massey last year, a woman clad in an orange-striped miner's shirt slapped Ms. Bonds while other Massey supporters cheered in approval.

"Judy always insisted that the story of coal and mountaintop removal was a human story, a human rights story," said Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign and a longtime ally of Ms. Bonds's. "She personified that story at great personal risk."

Ms. Bonds was earning $12,000 a year at her job as an activist when, in 2003, she was awarded the prestigious $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize. After paying for her grandson's braces, helping her daughter buy a car and paying off the family's mortgage, Ms. Bonds donated nearly $50,000 to Coal River Mountain Watch - an amount equal to the organization's annual budget.

Once little known outside the coalfields, mountaintop removal has in recent years become the subject of environmental and public health controversy with a national profile.

A plotline in one of the most celebrated novels of 2010, Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom," tells the story of a hardscrabble West Virginia community uprooted by a mountaintop removal project. Last October, more than 100 people were arrested at the White House during a protest against mountaintop removal.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, between 1985 and 2001, debris scraped from hundreds of thousands of acres choked more than 700 miles of streams. Under President Obama, the EPA has sought to restrict new permits for the practice and tighten safeguards for natural resources

Such recognition of the problems related to mountaintop removal is "due in no small part," Hitt said, "to the leadership and the sacrifice of Judy Bonds."

Julia Belle Thompson was born Aug. 27, 1952, at the family home in the Birch Hollow part of what is now called Marfork. When Ms. Bonds was growing up, the place was better known as Packsville, said Ms. Bond's daughter, Lisa Henderson.

Ms. Bonds was one of eight children, two of whom died at birth. Her father retired from working in underground coal mines at 65 and died several months later of pneumoconiosis, better known as black lung disease.

Besides her daughter, of Rock Creek, W. Va., survivors include a brother, three sisters and a grandson.

"See that? That's the ironweed," Ms. Bonds once said, pointing out a purple-flowered plant to a visiting reporter. "They say they're a symbol for Appalachian women. They're pretty. And their roots run deep. It's hard to move them."

We love you Judy (JLW

**********************

Thousands Pay Tribute to Judy Bonds:

2011-01-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

Thousands Pay Tribute to Judy Bonds: She Has Been to the Mountaintop--and We Must Fight Harder to Save It

She was a tireless, funny, and inspiring orator, and a savvy and brilliant community organizer. She was fearless in the face of threats. As the godmother of the anti-mountaintop removal movement, she gave birth to a new generation of clean energy and human rights activists across the nation. In a year of mining disasters and climate change set backs, she challenged activists to redouble their efforts.

As one of the great visionaries to emerge out of the coalfields, Julia "Judy" Bonds reminded the nation that her beloved Appalachians had been to the mountaintop--and in her passing last night, thousands of anti-mountaintop removal mining and New Power activists from around the country are reminding the Obama administration and the country's environmental justice movement of Bonds' powerful legacy and parting words to "don't let up, fight harder and finish off" the outlaw ranks of Big Coal and end the egregious crime of mountaintop removal.

In a special email message last night, Coal River Mountain Watch director Vernon Haltom announced the passing of Bonds, the Goldman Prize winner and Executive Director of Coal River Mountain Watch. Bonds, 58, had battled advanced stage cancer over the past several months. "One of Judy's last acts was to go on a speaking trip, even though she was not feeling well, shortly before her diagnosis," Haltom wrote. "I believe, as others do, that Judy's years in Marfork holler, where she remained in her ancestral home as long as she could, subjected her to Massey Energy's airborne toxic dust and led to the cancer that wasted no time in taking its toll. Judy will be missed by all in this movement, as an icon, a leader, an inspiration, and a friend."

Here's a clip from a special tribute to Judy by On Coal River filmmakers Adams Wood and Francine Cavanaugh:

Judy Bonds from On Coal River on Vimeo.

A little more than a decade ago, sitting on the coal dust-swept front porch with her grandson--the ninth generation of their family to reside in Marfork Hollow in West Virginia--Bonds was outraged to hear her 7-year-old grandson describe an escape route should a nearby massive coal waste dam break and flood their valley. "I knew in my heart there was really no escape," Bonds told an interviewer in 2003. "How do you tell a child that his life is a sacrifice for corporate greed? You can't tell him that, you don't tell him that, but of course he understands that now."

Forced by an encroaching strip mine to move from her family's ancestral land, Bonds spent the next decade as a full-time crusader (and coal miner's daughter) to bring her grandson's message of central Appalachia's role as a national sacrifice zone from the devastating impact of mountaintop removal strip mining to millions of Americans across the country.

For fellow activist Bo Webb, who went to jail and organized side-by-side with Bonds for years in the Coal River Valley, Judy was one of the better angels of our nature: "Judy was one of God's most loyal and dedicated Angels in the battle of good vs. evil. I will miss her, we will all miss her. After much suffering, she now stands before God, without doubt holding a very special place in His heart. May God bless and comfort those that love and adore Judy. May God bless and comfort her wonderful family, and may God give us the unity and conviction to fight on in her honor and His name."

"Judy Bonds was our Hillbilly Moses," added Bob Kincaid, president of the Coal River Mountain Watch board. "She knew better than anyone that we WILL make it to the Promised Land: out of the poisonous bondage of coal companies. She will not cross over with us on that great day, but her spirit will join us, and inform the freedom that sings from our hearts. Mother Jones, meet Judy. Judy, Mother."

In a special Living on Earth radio interview with Jeff Young in 2003, Bonds recalled her grandson holding a handul of dead fish contaminated by coal waste. "And I looked around him and there were dead fish laying all over the stream. And that was a slap in the face."

From the United Nation to the halls of Congress, and at universities and conferences from Maine to California, Bonds testified to the ravages of strip mining on her community's waterways, economy and culture. Her riveting speeches galvanized activists from the hollers to the urban neighborhoods, and among national environmental organizations.

"Judy was a strong, powerful voice that always sang wisdom, inspiration, passion and determination to my soul," wrote Chris Hill, the National Field Organizer for the Hip Hop Caucus in Washington, DC. "She was a voice that will forever speak volumes to the reasons why I fight for justice from the mountains to the inner cities."

"Judy often remarked how she proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with outside groups like Rainforest Action Network," added Scott Parkin, Senior Campaigner for RAN's Coal Campaign. "During an E.P.A. action last March, I saw her beaming with a big smile and much excitement as we worked together to make mountaintop removal a national issue and take the fight to end it out of the hills and hollers of Appalachia into offices of the power-holders in Washington D.C."

"She inspired thousands in the movement to end mountaintop removal and was a driving force in making it what it has become," Haltom wrote in his email message to national activists. "I can't count the number of times someone told me they got involved because they heard Judy speak, either at their university, at a rally, or in a documentary. Judy endured much personal suffering for her leadership. While people of lesser courage would candy-coat their words or simply shut up and sit down, Judy called it as she saw it. She endured physical assault, verbal abuse, and death threats because she stood up for justice for her community."

"One of the happiest days of my life was when we announced the funding for a new school to replace Marsh Fork Elementary," said filmmaker and activist Jerry Cope, who worked with Coal River Valley residents to move a school imperiled by coal dust and a dangerous coal slurry impoundment. "Without Judy's inspiration, I would have never become involved and she will forever be a source of inspiration to me."

In a special tribute to Judy by filmmakers Jordan Freeman and Mari-Lynn Evans, Judy asked for the right to go home. "I miss my home," she pleaded. "I want to go home."

Like generations before her, Judy Bonds has finally gone home to her Marfolk Holler.

And thousands of coalfield residents, activists and leaders will continue the battle to ensure that Coal River Mountain--the last mountain--remains in her view, and mountaintop removal is abolished once and for all.

This Blogger's Books from

Coal ash brings cash boon to Perry County

2010-12-23T05:41:00.000-08:00

Official: Coal ash brings cash boon to Perry County

Critics say environmental risks not worth benefit

FILE | The Associated Press

This Dec. 22, 2008, aerial view shows homes that were destroyed in a coal ash spill when a retention wall at a pond collapsed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Plant in Roane County, Tenn. What happened to the coal ash: For the past year and a half, coal ash has been transported to Alabama for disposal at the Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County. The disposal has generated about $4.22 million for Perry County, Uniontown, Marion and the Perry County Board of Education.

By Jason Morton Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 11:31 p.m.

A train carrying the last shipment of coal ash dredged from two east Tennessee rivers has come and gone in Perry County.

But the benefits — or, some contend, the dangers — are ongoing and possibly could continue indefinitely.

Proponents for the disposal of coal ash in Perry County, which has brought in millions of dollars since 2009 to this rural Black Belt county, are prepared to seek additional sources of coal ash. If these efforts are successful, Perry County could become the de facto coal ash capital of the state.

“We're not out of the coal ash business,” said Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner Jr., who lauded the benefits of coal ash to this rural county of 11,000 residents to Congress in December 2009.

Environmentalists, however, claim that the toxins brought by the coal ash could prove harmful — if not deadly — to residents living near the Arrowhead Landfill, which has taken in more than 4 million tons of the material since June 2009. They also contend the coal ash is possibly harming streams and groundwater drinking sources.

“This is not just dirt. It's a dust that carries with it a bunch of heavy metals, including mercury,” said Tuscaloosa-

based environmental activist John Wathen. “We don't know what's going to happen to Perry County in the future.”

Ashes, then riches

On Dec. 22, 2008, millions of tons of coal ash spilled from the holding pond of the Tennessee Valley Authority's coal-fired Kingston Plant in Roane County, Tenn.

Six months later, in June 2009, the Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown began receiving near daily trainload shipments of the material, known to contain toxins and pollutants.

The bulk of the cleanup took just less than two years, and on Dec. 1, 2010, the last trainload of coal ash that had been dredged from rivers surrounding the power plant left Tennessee for the landfill in Perry County. It arrived three days later.

The final shipment of Train 414, according to TVA documents, marked the end of 4.02 million tons of coal ash that had come from Kingston to Uniontown. The Perry County Commission's agreement with the landfill operators nets the government $1.05 per ton for land use fees.

All told, the disposal in Perry County has brought in about $4.22 million during the past 18 months and divided among the county government, the cities of Uniontown and Marion and the Perry County Board of Education.

“We are very pleased with the operation. The benefits have been enormous,” Turner said. “Perry County is moving at a pace unseen for rural counties in these economic times.”

To illustrate his point, Turner points to a number of projects that either are under way or ready to begin. Among them are a $2 million resurfacing project for about five miles of Perry County Road 24 between Alabama highways 14 and 183. Turner said coal ash proceeds helped the county provide matching dollars for the federal grant that's funding the project.

He said the county spent $250,000 of its coal ash funds to buy a tract of land on which a developer is constructing a new Sleep Inn hotel.

Additional money has been spent to secure grants that will bring $200,000 to Perry County schools, a $1.5 million renovation for the county courthouse and a $3 million water line extension throughout the county.

He also said the cities of Marion and Uniontown will receive new $400,000 sewage and wastewater treatment plans online in 2011.

In addition to the tonnage fees, the handling and disposal of the daily shipments of the material also brought jobs.

Eddie Dorsett, the president of Phill-Con Services, which operates the landfill, said that during the disposal of the ash and, before that, the construction of the landfill cells to hold the coal ash, about 80 new jobs were created. The ash disposal alone created 60 of them.

Dorsett didn't say in an e-mailed response from his attorney how many of those jobs still remain.

“We're one of the most economically sound counties in rural, western Alabama as a result of the influx of monies we've received from coal ash,” Turner said.

‘A gray cloud'

Perry County could also be one of the most environmentally hazardous counties in the state as a result of the coal ash.

Two lawsuits — one in Perry County Circuit Court and another in U.S. District Court — cite a series of alleged environmental violations ranging from the creation of noxious odors to improperly covering and controlling the dissemination of coal ash. The suits ask the respective courts to order landfill operators Phill-Con Services LLC and Phillips and Jordan Inc. to immediately halt the acts.

Dorsett said the geologic location of the landfill atop a massive rock formation makes it naturally safer than other landfills in other parts of the country.

Dorsett also said that officials with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have visited the landfill to keep an eye on the handling and control of the coal ash.

“Since the beginning of placement of ash in the landfill in July 2009, Arrowhead has been inspected numerous times by ADEM and jointly by an ADEM/EPA team,” Dorsett said. “And there have been no violations of federal, state, or local laws and regulations reported.

“Additionally, ADEM personnel have been on-site on numerous other occasions for observation and review of the operations and in no case have violations been observed or noted.”

The lawsuits, which were filed last year, await a U.S. bankruptcy court decision before they can go forward, said Florida-based environmental lawyer David A. Ludder.

Ludder, who filed the court actions on behalf of 64 Perry County residents, is worried that other coal ash-producing companies may see Arrowhead as a convenient place to dump the material that's known to contain arsenic and heavy metals, including mercury.

“Certainly one of our concerns is that other generators of coal ash may see this site as attractive, especially with all the attention that coal ash is getting,” Ludder said.

He said residents near the landfill have been exposed to the ash blown by wind and, despite assurances from Dorsett and the landfill operators, Ludder is concerned that nearby groundwater could be contaminated.

Proper sealing of the landfill sections that contain the coal ash could prevent some future problems, Ludder said.

“I do think the permanent cover on the coal ash will probably do a great deal to eliminate the offensive odors,” Ludder said.

Wathen, who assisted Ludder's fact-finding operations, said that he, too, is worried that future shipments of coal ash could further endanger Perry County residents.

“Every time the wind blows hard, you have a gray cloud sweep across that community,” Wathen said.

Bring it on

The county commissioner is outspoken in his position that he would like more power companies to consider Perry County for future coal ash disposals.

Turner said the Arrowhead Landfill is state-of-the-art and safe. And the economic benefits of making Perry County synonymous with coal ash disposal are too great to turn down.

“I haven't seen any negative effects of coal ash in the surrounding communities,” Turner said, who maintains that residents in communities surrounding landfill have made no complaints. “There have not been any reports to the County Commission of any adverse health or environmental problems.

“The largest thing we've had to deal with is mud on the highway.”

Federal regulators are examining the standards for handling coal ash across the country, including a ban on allowing the operators of coal-fired power plants to store the ash, which is a by-product of the electricity-generating process, on the same site as the power plant.

While these guidelines are being decided, Turner said he and landfill operators have been “working feverishly” to hold up Perry County and the Arrowhead Landfill as “the model of disposing coal ash in the United States.”

“We expect even more coal ash to come in to Perry County once these regulations are confirmed,” Turner said. “And we stand ready with 400 acres of undisturbed land.”

Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.

Here's what the citizens had to say about this...

UA students warn of boycott over mine

2010-11-16T05:43:00.000-08:00

UA students warn of boycott over mine

UA Environmental Council protests controversial strip mine

Michelle Lepianka Carter | Tuscaloosa News

Buy photo

Members of the Coalition of Alabama Students for the Environment and concerned citizens protest a proposed strip mine along the Black Warrior River back in September. Now, a group of UA students intend to boycott some UA services in protest.

By Adam Jones Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 6:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:31 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | A handful of University of Alabama students said they intend to boycott some UA services if university leaders lease land for a controversial strip mine in Walker County.

“If the university considers itself a business, the students will consider it a business right back,” said Elyse Peters, a UA sophomore.

Peters is a member of the UA Environmental Council and the Coalition of Alabama Students for the Environment, which held a joint news conference Monday. Members have protested the controversial strip mine as it moved closer to regulatory approval.

After Shepherd Bend, a subsidiary of Drummond Co., was granted a mining permit by the Alabama Surface Mining Commission in October, opponents of the coal mine shifted their focus to UA, which owns the bulk of the land that would be mined. UA, along with most other landowners, has not granted a lease to Shepherd Bend.

“Our position has not changed: the university has not been approached about leasing the land, and has no current plans to lease or sell the land,” said UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen in an e-mail.

Peters said that if the university approves a mining lease, it would be purely for money.

“I came here to protect my university’s reputation,” she said.

The strip mine is planned for a 286-acre site off the Mulberry Fork, which feeds into the Black Warrior River.

Jasper-based Shepherd Bend applied for a permit from the mining commission in May, three years after UA sought bids on leasing 1,300 acres of land it owns off the Mulberry Fork.

The Shepherd Bend mine plan attracted opposition from environmental watchdog groups concerned it would dump too much sediment into an already crowded stream. Also, the Birmingham Water Works asked the mining commission to deny the permit because discharges from the mine would be too close to a drinking water intake that serves about 200,000 customers in northwest Birmingham.

In granting the permit, the mining commission said it did not expect the mine to dump toxic pollutants into the Mulberry Fork, and that the mine would be far enough from the Birmingham Water Works Board intake to dilute discharge. Still, the commission stipulated more monitoring should take place than normal.

Despite the mining commission’s report, Wesley Vaughn, a UA junior from Vestavia Hills, said the strip mine will be a scar on the environment. The university should protect the interests of the entire state, he said.

“The University of Alabama should join with students in opposing this mine,” said Vaughn, also a columnist for the campus newspaper, The Crimson White.

Mallory Flowers, president of the Environmental Council, said the organization has just begun signing up students for the boycott of some services, which could include paying to live on campus, paying to eat on campus and buying books on campus. No student mentioned withdrawing from UA.

“Any money we put into the university, we can also take out,” said the sophomore from Dallas. “We want the university to remember that students are the largest shareholders of the university, and when the trustees vote, they vote for us as students.”

Andreen said university leaders respect students’ right to expression.

Reach Adam Jones at adam.jones@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0230.

As the Extraction World Turns:

2010-10-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

As the Extraction World Turns: Peabody Doubles Profits, 37 Dead Chinese Miners, 70,000 Indian Children in Mines

Jeff Biggers

Author, "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland"

As the world continues to hail the wonderful rescue of the Chilean copper and gold miners, 37 coal miners died from a gas leak in China this week, bringing that nation's deathtoll on track for a record year.
Peabody Energy, the world's largest coal provider, just announced its quarterly profits have doubled due to international operations. Despite major concerns over water supplies, desertification, and workplace safety, Peabody recently announced its intention to open some of the largest mines in Mongolia.
According to NGO group Oyu Tolgoi Watch, "Mongolia is experiencing higher degree of climate change -- over 70 percent of Mongolia's territory is suffering desertification. That is a big concern."
Meanwhile, in Zambia, Chinese security guards opened fire on coal miners protesting their low wages.
In the Jaintia Hills in northeast India, according to human rights organizations, over 70,000 children continue to labor in dangerous rathole coal mines. In a recent piece in the Christian Science Monitor, children as young as seven were working in abysmal conditions, including some reportedly sold as indentured servants. The CSM reported:

Mine manager Purna Lama says there is no money for safety measures. Cave-ins are always a threat; wooden ladders leading down to quarries are slippery with moss; there is little or no access to medical care, sanitation, safe drinking water, or even adequate ventilation. Mr. Lama estimates that there are eight accidents a month in the mines, at least two of which are fatal.

The CSM report also includes a photo essay.
As India's King Coal--India Coal--goes public this week on the stock market in a historic sale, devastating coal mine operations in the state of Jharkhand continue to displace adivasi tribal populations, and employ women and children in unsafe conditions.

British photojournalist Robert Wallis released this essay on the "Dark Side of the Boom" in India's coalfields.

While China reportedly built a wind turbine an hour in 2009, and are steamrolling ahead with solar power production, the country just announced its record demands for coal imports.

Strip mine opponents give boat tour of area

2010-10-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

(Cordova, AL) WIAT- The Birmingham Water Works Board has an intake on the Mulberry Fork that serves 200,000 people in the Birmingham area. There could potentially be a mining wastewater discharge site 800 feet away if the Shepherd Bend mine permit is approved.

Strip mine opponents give boat tour of area
(Cordova, AL) WIAT

"I think the residents of Birmingham should be up in arms about how close and unprecented this is to their drinking water source. You know, we take our drinking water for granted when we get up and make our cup of coffee or glass of tea everyday," said Mulberry Fork property owner Todd Hyche.

Representatives of the Birmingham Water Works Board, local environmental groups, and local college students all boarded pontoon boats today for a guided tour from Mulberry Fork residents.
"That way they can see how potentially fragile it is. They can see how beautiful it is. They can see the proximity to the drinking water supply," said Mulberry Fork resident Randy Palmer.
Birmingham Water Works Board spokesperson Binnie Myles said board representatives were just there to observe the site Sunday and declined to comment on the proposed mine.
In earlier comments to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission the Birmingham Water Works Board expressed opposition to the mine permit and said it has the potential to adversely impact the Birmingham area drinking water.
The letter said wastewater discharge could affect the taste of drinking water and stain clothes.
It said "the permit application does not address the protection of the public water supply from pollution by many other mining-related pollutants."
Arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and zinc are among the toxic metals which are often associated with drainage from coal mines, according to the BWWB letter.

The University of Alabama system reportedly owns some of the mineral rights in the affected area. Concerned UA system students say the fight over the future of the land is not over, no matter what happens with the permit.
"We do want them to commit to saying that they will never consider mining on this land even if this particular permit is not approved," said Adelaide Abele, UAB.

Pediatrician says mine pollution could cause birth defects

2010-10-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

Pediatrician says mine pollution could cause birth defects

Reported by: Mike McClanahan
Last Update: 7:39 pm

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Pediatrician says mine pollution could cause birth defects

Pediatrician says mine pollution could cause birth defects

(Walker County, AL) WIAT -   The Shepherd Bend mine would be situated near an intake for the Birmingham Water Works Board on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River.
   In their comments to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission which is considering the Shepherd Bend mine permit, the Birmingham Water Works Board said the mine would threaten water quality. The water board opposes the mine, and now it seems a local pediatrician has joined the fight.
   Dr. Hubert Rodriguez thinks the threat posed by heavy metals and other mining pollutants would be most severe for pregnant women and unborn children.
"It's probable that they would be the most sensitive, because it doesn't require but minimal amounts of these substances to produce serious side effects." said Dr. Rodriguez. "It's possible that this could lead to serious illnesses, miscarriages, probably some mental retardation- congenital malformations." The Black Warrior Riverkeeper is the environmental group which is leading the charge against the Shepherd Bend mine. The mine has already received a permit from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
"The central issue for the wastewater permit issued by ADEM is that, even if Shepherd Bend complies with terms of its permits, it can still discharge toxic pollutants and sediment into our source drinking water. For example, the permit allows Shepherd Bend to discharge iron up to 10 times the levels recommended by the Safe Drinking Water Act, 40 times the levels of manganese recommended by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and we think that's unacceptable," said Eva Dillard, Staff attorney for the Black Warrior Riverkeeper. "This particular drinking water intake facility for the Birmingham Water Works services 200,000 customers."
The director of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission was out of the office October 11th, because Columbus Day is a state holiday.
  A receptionist for the company which is seeking the mine permit, Eagle 1, LLC, said that the only person who could speak about the issue was also out October 11th.
A decision on the permit is expected on or before October 19th, 2010.

Clean Water Advocates Bring Legal Action Against Kentucky Coal Companies

2010-10-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

Clean Water Advocates Bring Legal
Action Against Kentucky Coal Companies
Contacts:

Donna Lisenby for Appalachian Voices, 828-262-1500

Pat Banks for Kentucky Riverkeeper, 859-622-3065

Ted Withrow for Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, 606-784-6885

Karl S. Coplan for Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, 914-422-4343

John Bianchi for Waterkeeper Alliance, 212-576-2700

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATES BRING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST KENTUCKY COAL COMPANIES

Falsified Monitoring Data in Violation of Federal Law Among the Groups’ Claims

Eastern Kentucky, October 7, 2010 – A coalition of environmental and social justice organizations and private citizens took the first step today in bringing a lawsuit against three mining companies in Kentucky for violations of the Clean Water Act. Appalachian Voices, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance filed a sixty-day notice letter alleging that the companies ICG Knott County, ICG Hazard, and Frasure Creek Mining, a subsidiary of Trinity Coal, exceeded pollution discharge limits in their permits, consistently failed to conduct the required monitoring of their discharges and, in many cases, submitted false monitoring data to the state agencies charged with protecting the public. Joining in the lawsuit were several local residents impacted by the dumping of mining waste into Kentucky’s waterways.

The coal companies cited in the notice letter are all operating in the eastern part of Kentucky under state-issued permits that allow them to discharge limited amounts of pollutants into nearby streams and rivers. Those same permits also require industries to carefully monitor and report their pollution discharges to state officials. These monitoring reports are public documents that can be reviewed by anyone who asks for them.

Among the allegations cited in the notice letter are exceedances and misreporting of discharges of manganese, iron, total suspended solids and pH. The groups and local residents bringing these claims cite a total of over 20,000 incidences of these three companies either exceeding permit pollution limits, failing to submit reports, or falsifying the required monitoring data. These violations could result in fines that may exceed 740 million dollars. “The sheer number of violations we found while looking over these companies’ monitoring reports is astounding,” said Donna Lisenby of Appalachian Voices. “It shows a systematic and pervasive pattern of misinformation. These companies are making a mockery of their legal responsibility under the Clean Water Act and, more troubling, their moral obligation to the people of the state of Kentucky.”

Coal mining operations in Appalachia and across the country are notorious for the amount of water pollution that they produce on a daily basis. “Mining coal produces a whole host of pollutants that significantly impact our waterways,” stated Pat Banks, the Kentucky Riverkeeper. “When coal companies don’t bother to properly monitor and report their toxic discharges, it shows a total disregard for the health and safety of our local communities and the folks who use and enjoy these waters.”

The claims brought today may just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to irresponsible mining reporting practices and a failure in the state’s monitoring program. A recent trip to Kentucky's Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement regional offices by Appalachian Voices’ Waterkeeper found stack after stack of discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) from more than 60 coal mines and processing facilities covered in dust on the desks of mine inspectors’ secretaries. They did not appear to have been evaluated for compliance by the regulators for more than three years. A sampling of the reports showed hundreds of repeated violations by coal mine operators in the state.

“Our state officials have closed their eyes to an obviously serious problem,” said Ted Withrow, the retired Big Sandy Basin Management Coordinator for the Kentucky Division of Water and a member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. “These are not small exceedances – some are over 40 times the daily maximum. This should have been a red flag.”

The allegations of falsification of monitoring reports is another in a long list of recent black eyes for the coal industry, which is under widespread pressure to clean up its destructive practices and take responsibility for its enormous and devastating ecological footprint. “The coal industry has proven time and again that it can’t be trusted. It continually downplays its severe environmental impacts, places profit over worker safety and offers false economic analysis to try to keep its inherently destructive practices alive,” said Scott Edwards, Director of Advocacy for Waterkeeper Alliance. “And now, we know they’re not honest in reporting on matters that impact the health of communities where they operate."

“The Clean Water Act allows citizens to bring polluters into court when government chooses to look the other way,” said Withrow. “In Kentucky, our Department of Natural Resources and Division of Water are required to provide oversight of the permits they issue to the coal industry to ensure compliance. We intend to do what our government won’t; that is, enforce the law and put an end to these illegal practices.”

Under the Clean Water Act, the companies have sixty days to respond to the allegations made in the notice letter. If, at the end of that period, all violations have not been corrected, the groups and individuals plan on filing a complaint in federal court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The plaintiffs are being represented by lawyers with the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, the Capua Law Firm, the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic and the Waterworth Law Office.

# # #

MEDIA ADVISORY

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATES TO BRING LEGAL

ACTION AGAINST KENTUCKY COAL COMPANIES

Mass Arrests in DC: We Shall No Longer Be Crucified Upon the Cross of Coal

2010-09-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

Published on Monday, September 27, 2010 by CommonDreams.org

Mass Arrests in DC: We Shall No Longer Be Crucified Upon the Cross of Coal

by Jeff Biggers

Over one hundred protesters from the Appalachian coalfields were arrested in front of the White House today, defiantly calling on the Obama administration to abolish mountaintop removal mining. As part of the Appalachia Rising events, the coalfield residents took part in a multi-day series of events to bring the escalating human rights, environmental and health care crisis to the nation's capitol.
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth leaders Teri Blanton and Mickey McCoy, the first arrested in today's nonviolent act of civil disobedience, were joined by allies from around the country, including NASA climatologist James Hansen. Meanwhile, protesters led by the legendary Rev. Billy Talen staged a nearby sit-in at the office of the PNC bank, which remains one of the last major financiers of coal companies engaged in this extreme form of strip-mining in Appalachia.
In a stark reminder of the national connection to the coalfields, the Obama administration officials looked on from their White House offices, as their electricity came from a coal-fired plant generated partly with coal stripmined from Appalachia.
As a litmus test of the administration's commitment to science and the rule of law, Appalachian residents are calling on the EPA to halt any new permit on the upcoming decision over the massive Spruce mountaintop removal mine.
Mountaintop removal coal only provides, in fact, less than 10 percent of all coal production.
Fed up with the regulatory crisis and circumventions by outside coal companies, coalfield residents have been rising up against reckless strip-mining practices against the country, from Alaska to Alabama to Arizona.
In southern Illinois, scores of black crosses were found at coal mines, strip mines, coal-fired plants, coal ash piles, and at the Southern Illinois University Coal Research Center.
Citing Illinois as the birthplace of the coal industry, and "ground zero in the Obama administration's plan to dangerously experiment with carbon capture and storage technologies for coal-fired plants," a new Black Cross Alliance campaign announced plans to construct symbolic black crosses at coal mining and coal-burning landmarks in the state and across the nation to serve as a public warning: It is no longer acceptable for the Obama administration--and state and regional government officials---to be complicit in maintaining deadly coal mining and coal-burning communities as shameful national sacrifice areas in 2010.
Invoking William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech, the Black Cross Alliance called on the Obama administration and the state of Illinois to halt billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for multinational coal corporations, and bring an end to the scandalous coal wars in Illinois by re-investing in a sustainable clean energy policy for the future for the coalfield regions.
The Black Cross Alliance declared: You shall not crucify us any longer upon a cross of coal.
"While the rest of the nation--and world--launches into the exploding new global market of clean energy development and green jobs," the Black Cross Alliance asked, "why have the coalfield regions in the country been left out of the renewnable energy movement and slated for a new generation of increased coal production?"
For more updates on Appalachia Rising, see: www.appalachiarising.org

Sinking the Heartland

2010-09-28T16:09:00.001-07:00

Citizens Against Longwall Mining (C.A.L.M.) express concerns about efforts to mine coal from under their properties in Montgomery County, Illinois. The central and southern part of the state is rich with coal that is now being sought by coal companies. Longwall mining will cause the land to drop by 4 - 6 feet, thus destroying the productivity of some of the richest farmland in the world.

More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Remova

2010-09-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal

Monday, September 27th, 2010
posted by lacymacauley

Appalachia Rising saw supporters both old and young. Hazel (front) was one of the youngest supporters in the streets, in front of the White House! About 100 were arrested at the White House. 4 were arrested at PNC bank calling for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.

Dr. James Hansen, Appalachian residents and retired coal miners arrested calling for abolition of mountaintop mining and immediate veto of Spruce mine project

WASHINGTON DC —More than 100 people were arrested today during Appalachia Rising, the largest national protest to end mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. Arrests included Appalachian residents; retired coal miners; renowned climate scientist, James Hansen; and faith leaders. After a march from Freedom Plaza and a rally at Lafayette Park, more than 100 stage a sit-in in front of the White House to demand President Obama follow his own science and end mountaintop mining. The likely charge is obstruction.
In addition to the non-violent civil disobedience at the White House, four people were arrested during a sit-in at PNC bank for protesting the bank’s role as the lead U.S. financier of MTR.
“The science is clear, mountaintop removal destroys historic mountain ranges, poisons water supplies and pollutes the air with coal and rock dust,” said renowned climate scientist James Hansen, who was arrested in today’s protest at the White House. “Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, can and should be abolished. The time for half measures and caving in to polluting industries must end.”

About 2,000 people, led Appalachian residents, marched in the street to call for an end to mountaintop removal. Photo: Friends of the Earth (C)

Appalachia Rising is being led by residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee – Appalachian states directly impacted by mountaintop removal. They are calling for the Obama Administration to immediately abolish the practice of blowing up mountains and dumping the debris into nearby streams and valleys to reach seams of coal.

“I have talked, begged, debated, written letters to officials, published op-ed pieces in newspapers and lobbied on the state and federal level to end mountaintop removal,” said Mickey McCoy, former mayor and lifelong resident of Inez, Kentucky, who was also arrested today. “Being arrested? That’s such a small price to pay for being heard. My home and people are paying the real price for mountaintop removal. They are dying.”
The tide has been turning on mountaintop removal with Appalachian residents, scientists, congressional representatives and environmentalists decrying the practice as coming at too high a cost to public health, land, water and taxpayers. Last April, in response to resounding opposition to mountaintop removal, the EPA announced new guidelines for permitting mountaintop removal valley fills. However, the impacts of mountaintop removal mining are so destructive that Appalachia Rising is calling on the administration to end the practice altogether by halting active mines and creating a permanent moratorium on new permits.
As a step in the right direction, groups have called on the EPA to immediately veto the Spruce No. 1 Mine project, which would be one of the largest strip-mining operations in Appalachia. The EPA is set to make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to reverse the Corps of Engineers’ 2007 approval for the mine. With mountaintop removal becoming increasingly controversial, the EPA’s decision on the 2,278-acre Spruce project is being closely watched as a sign of the mining practice’s future.
“We know, and the Obama Administration has said, that mountaintop removal mining is bad for human health and the environment,” says Jane Branham of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards in VA. “The issue here is whether President Obama will follow the science and do something about it now!”
A dozen leading scientists published a paper in the journal Science in January 2009, concluding that mountaintop removal is so destructive that the government should stop giving out new permits altogether. “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.
Mountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining in which up to 800 feet, sometimes more, of densely forested mountaintops are literally blown up to reach thin coal seams. The resulting millions of tons of rock are dumped into surrounding valleys and rivers, polluting the headwaters that provide drinking water to millions of Americans. Already, 500 mountains and 2,000 miles of streams have been lost due to this devastating mining practice. A 2009 report estimated that coal mining costs Appalachia five times more in premature deaths than it provides the region in jobs, taxes and other economic benefits.

Appalachia Rising up in DC

2010-09-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Updated: New Photos
Appalachians live but a few hours drive from our nation's capitol, much closer than most of the country, and yet their voices are so seldom heard here. Maybe it has something to do with the hillbilly reputation. And maybe, because their voices are so seldom heard here, they've become prime targets for reckless industrial practices like mountaintop removal coal mining, or MTR.
Today, thousands of Appalachians and concerned citizens are trying to change that, by taking to the streets in DC with all the fierce determination and creative enthusiasm that the steep Appalachian mountains engender. Today Appalachia is rising up to demand an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.

The action's already started - check out these pictures from an early morning occupation of the Army Corp of engineers building.
There's no one person that can put an end to MTR - it takes a team. The US Army Corps of engineers directly approves permits for the practice, granting companies like Massey and Peabody the 'rights' to bury over 2000 miles of head-water streams and blow the tops off 450 mountains. But they use standards set by the EPA, which determine what the acceptable levels of pollution and stream destruction are. The politics are set by the Obama administration - how to balance justice for the Appalachian people with the ever-shrinking but significant number of coal mining jobs, with the political power of coal company war-chests grown fat from years of raping the land?

Appalachia Rising is intended to make that choice easier for them. Over the weekend 700 Appalachian residents, retired coal miners, faith leaders, scientists, artists and students crammed into the Georgetown conference center (a bit of a shock for the usual Georgetown residents) and learned how to take down MTR. Today, the vision of Appalachian's like Bo Webb and Judy Bonds and many more will be realized - an uprising in a long Appalachian tradition of plucky determination, transplanted directly to the heart of DC.
From the press release:

"I have talked, begged, debated, written letters to officials, published op-ed pieces in newspapers and lobbied on the state and federal level to end mountaintop removal," said Mickey McCoy, former mayor and lifelong resident of Inez, Kentucky. "Being arrested? That's such a small price to pay for being heard. My home and people are paying the real price for mountaintop removal. They are dying." Appalachia Rising is being led by residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee
- Appalachian states directly impacted by mountaintop removal. They are calling for the Obama
Administration to immediately abolish the practice of blowing up mountains and dumping the
debris into nearby streams and valleys to reach seams of coal.
"It is past time for the Obama Administration to abolish the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. It is killing off our culture and its people," said Maria Gunnoe of Boone County, W.Va. who works with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. "It is time to turn coal country into clean energy country. Who better to build the infrastructure to repower America than the people who powered it to begin with? We can build a new future starting now and starting in Appalachia, and starting with an end to mountaintop removal."

There will be continuous updates at Appalachiarising.org and follow @App_Rising.

Follow Morgan Goodwin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mogmaar

Solar Energy Tours across the country!

2010-09-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

http://nationalsolartour.org

About the 2010 ASES National Solar Tour

Event Date: Saturday, October 2, 2010 (in most areas)

Join Ed Begley, Jr., Author of "Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life", in supporting the ASES National Solar Tour!

The ASES National Solar Tour is the world's largest grassroots solar event. This event offers you the opportunity to tour innovative green homes and buildings to see how you can use solar energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable technologies to reduce monthly utility bills and help tackle climate change. More than 160,000 participants will visit some 5,500 buildings in 3,200 communities across the U.S.
Now in its 15th year, this event is coordinated nationally by the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society in collaboration with dozens of outstanding partner organizations. It takes place annually during the first Saturday in October in conjunction with National Energy Awareness Month.
We invite you to learn more about the Solar Tour, find a tour in your area, or register your own solar tour.

About the American Solar Energy Society

Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation's leading association of solar professionals & advocates. Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy. We advance education, research and policy.
Leading for more than 50 years
ASES leads national efforts to increase the use of solar energy, energy efficiency and other sustainable technologies in the U.S. We publish the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, organize and present the ASES National Solar Conference and lead the ASES National Solar Tour – the largest grassroots solar event in the world.

What's New?

LET THE TOURS BEGIN

Date: September 24, 2010

Although the official date for the ASES National Solar Tour is October 2nd there are many tours occurring this weekend- be sure to look under the "Find a tour" tab on this web page to see when a tour is taking place in YOUR community- bring the family, neighbor or friend and celebrate the many benefits of going solar.

Three new solar videos!

Date: August 31, 2010

Check it out! There are three great solar videos posted in the National Solar Tour video gallery, http://nationalsolartour.org/video.

Miners settle, avoid long trial

2010-09-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

Miners settle, avoid long trial...

Miners settle, avoid long trial

By Stephanie Taylor Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 27, 2010 at 10:34 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | More than 1,000 miners who filed suit against several companies have reached a settlement, avoiding a jury trial that could have lasted up to four months.

The Case

It was originally filed in 2001 by

1,394 miners and former miners

who claimed they were exposed to

the dangerous chemical isocyanate.

The terms of the settlement are confidential and will not be made public.

The settlement concludes the case originally filed in 2001 by 1,394 miners and former miners who claimed they were exposed to the dangerous chemical isocyanate, which is found in products used to strengthen mine walls and ceilings.

There were around a dozen defendants originally, from product manufacturers and owners of mines where the chemical was used. Jim Walter Resources Inc., which operates mines in Tuscaloosa County, was one of the original defendants.

Yellow ribbons wave at Jim Walter Resources Blue Creek No. 5 Mine in 2003 in remembrance of the 13 miners killed on Sept. 23, 2001. The miners who died on Sept. 23, 2001, were: Gaston E. Adams Jr., Raymond F. Ashworth, Nelson Banks Jr., David L. Blevins, Clarence H. Boyd, Wendell R. Johnson, John W. Knox, Dennis R. Mobley, Charles J. Nail, Sammy Joe Riggs, Charles E. Smith, Joseph P. Sorah and Terry M. Stewart.

Dow Chemical Co. and Flexible Products Co. reached a settlement with the plaintiffs last week, the last two companies to reach an agreement.

The settlement came after an unusually long jury selection process. Attorneys took four weeks to narrow a pool of hundreds of potential jurors to a 16-person jury.

To accommodate the large number of people, jury selection took place in the Bama Theater near the courthouse.

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge John England told the jury Monday morning that the case had been settled and was concluded.

“I have not been a part of a case wherein a citizen served on a jury for four weeks and not heard one minute of testimony,” he told the jurors. “You’ve done something

extraordinarily unique in the state of Alabama.”

England presided over the jury selection, which involved days of questioning the pool and showing slides of all 1,394 plaintiffs to establish whether anyone knew the miners involved.

“We were totally shocked, we didn’t see that coming,” juror Peggy Baggett said as she left the courthouse at 10 a.m. “We came in this morning ready to hear testimony.”

Baggett and other jurors had expected the trial to last three to four months and had been told little about the case.

Most of the plaintiffs claimed that they suffered from occupational asthma caused by isocyanate exposure. Isocyanate is combined with polyurethane to create a foam. Exposure to products containing the chemical can irritate mucous membranes of the eyes, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Direct contact can cause skin inflammation and exposure can make people more prone to severe asthma attacks. Death from severe asthma attacks in some people exposed to isocyanates has been reported, according to the CDC.

Three cases were originally filed in the Bessemer division of Jefferson County Circuit Court, but were later consolidated and moved to Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court in 2007.

The suit claimed that the companies violated the Hazard Communication Standard contained in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, guidelines set by the American National Standards Institute and the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.

The miners also claimed that the defendants committed fraud by willfully misrepresenting, concealing or suppressing the truth about the dangers of the product, that the companies engaged in a civil conspiracy and destroyed data that demonstrated the effects of exposure to the chemical.

They sought compensatory and punitive damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, loss of income, inability to work, permanent injuries and disabilities and aggravation of pre-existing conditions that the miners allegedly suffered as a result of using the substance.

Reach Stephanie Taylor at

stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosa

news.com or 205-722-0210.

It's no joke; strip mine could get OK near drinking water source

2010-09-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

Did you hear the one about the big coal company that wanted to put a strip mine across the river from a drinking water intake valve?

There's no punch line because it only sounds like a bad joke. It's really no joke at all. Rather, it is a serious threat to our health, our economy and our river.

Photo by Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER

The water intake can be seen in the right middle of the photo.

Photo by Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER

What could be more reckless and shortsighted than to knowingly pollute our own drinking water?
We are told it will benefit the economy. Some of the poorest states, including Alabama, are being ripped open and polluted by the coal industry because it's "good for the economy." Well, after decades of strip mining, those states are still poor, and their land, their mountains, their wells and their rivers are a sickly mess. Pollution and destruction of the land that supports us are the demons of strip mining. Alabama deserves, and should demand, better.
If the cancerous spread of Alabama strip mines is allowed into Shepherd Bend, that's another chunk of Alabama the Beautiful chewed up and spit out, along with the communities that rely on it for clean drinking water. We cannot allow this to happen.
Shame on the University of Alabama for sacrificing its land and our water to rapacious strip mining. Shame on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for permitting Drummond Coal Co. to discharge wastewater into the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River. The fact that the discharge points are across the river from the intake valve for Birmingham drinking water is unconscionable.
In a few weeks, the Alabama Surface Mining Commission will decide whether to grant a permit for a strip mine at Shepherd Bend. The commission needs to hear from you.
On behalf of Wild South, which represents hundreds of people potentially affected by this project, I oppose this permit and the proposed mine in general. I stand with those who support and fight for the preservation of Alabama's rivers and streams and sustainable, clean energy. And I stand with the people of Cordova who have a dream of building a local economy based on intact, healthy ecosystems and the amazing natural beauty of their home land.
You should, too. Contact the Alabama Surface Mining Commission (asmc@asmc.alabama.gov) and the University of Alabama.
Janice Barrett
Wild South
Moulton

Coal Watch

The Power of Coal: Why People in Colstrip, MT Can't Drink the Water

Bluff collapse at power plant sends dirt, coal ash into lake

Fuel sheen on lake

Debris flows south

Coal ash spills into Lake Michigan after bluff collapse

Tr-Ash Talk: Yet Another Coal Ash Spill

Wisconsin coal-ash spill renews calls for federal rules

Wisconsin coal-ash spill renews calls for federal rules

November 1, 2011 by Ken Ward Jr. Coal Tattoo

Another coal ash spill—this time in Lake Michigan

Another coal ash spill—this time in Lake Michigan

Salazar plans to bury half-alive Office of Surface Mining

Mine on Hurricane Creek

Mine on Hurricane Creek

A mine on Hurricane Creek is polluting the waters that flow into the Black Warrior River and its owner should be forced to begin meeting its permit, according to a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit groups Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of Hurricane Creek.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Targets Massey Coal Company

Groups Sue Coal Mine news report CBS 42

Enviros Sue Mining Co. Over Alabama River Pollution

Enviros Sue Mining Co. Over Alabama River Pollution

Documents

Case Information

Case Title

Court

Nature of Suit

Case Number

Judge

Date Filed

Coal company faces lawsuit alleging pollution of Black Warrior River

Two Waterkeeper Groups Sue Black Warrior Minerals’ Fleetwood Mine in Tuscaloosa

State tries to explain deal on fines in coal pollution trial

Tell ADEM to Hold Walter Energy Accountable

Tell ADEM to Hold Walter Energy Accountable

North River has elevated toxins

North River has elevated toxins

Levels not deemed a danger to drinking water

Published: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 25, 2011 at 11:10 p.m.

Facts

The slurry

Mayor Bloomberg gives $50 million to fight coal-fired power plants

By Juliet Eilperin, Thursday, July 21, 6:05 AM

LETTER: Clean Water Act under attack

LETTER: Clean Water Act under attack

Slurry mix spills, flows into Freeman Creek

Slurry mix spills, flows into Freeman Creek

Published: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 18, 2011 at 10:51 p.m.

You're invited to the SMCRA Legal Workshop!

Black Warrior River placed on endangered list

Black Warrior River placed on endangered list

Alabama Miners Shut Down Coal Production, Rally for Labor in Birmingham April 5th, 2011

Glynn Wilson,

Locust Fork News Journal

April 5th, 2011

Consol Energy to Pay $5.5 Million to Settle Clean Water Act Violations

Dump neighbors concerned about Ala. coal ash bill

Dump neighbors concerned about Ala. coal ash bill

Coal meeting canceled after student-led protest

Coal meeting canceled after student-led protest

An Open Letter to the University of Alabama System: Stop the Shepherd Bend Mine

Coal is dirty, dangerous, deadly and unsustainable !

No Ash Is Good Ash

Yes, Virginia, This Dirty Coal Bill Is a Bad Bar Room Romance

Yes, Virginia, This Dirty Coal Bill Is a Bad Bar Room Romance

Taking their cue from the widely disgraced West Virginia politicos and Big Coal lobbyists, some legislators in Virginia are courting a bad regulatory romance bill that could cost the state dearly -- the morning after.

W.Va. mining activists criticize Tomblin's rally

Environmental Groups Take Rosa Coal Mine Fight to Court of Appeals

"Impacts of Coal" Rally Thursday, Jan 20

EPA Halts Disposal of Mining Waste to Appalachian Waters at Proposed Spruce Mine

Electric cars... At what price?

Julia 'Judy' Bonds, 58, dies; outspoken foe of mountaintop strip mining

Thousands Pay Tribute to Judy Bonds:

Coal ash brings cash boon to Perry County

Official: Coal ash brings cash boon to Perry County

Critics say environmental risks not worth benefit

UA students warn of boycott over mine

UA Environmental Council protests controversial strip mine

As the Extraction World Turns:

Strip mine opponents give boat tour of area