Mountaintop removal mining

“Over the weekend of July 29-31, I went to Charleston for board meeting of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy on Saturday. We broke for lunch and went to rally against MTR at the capitol grounds. On Friday I went to the home of Larry Gibson, whose ancestral home is being left as an island in a sea of MTR lands.

In mountaintop removal mining, a mountain is literally blasted apart to get the coal, the shale and sandstone are then bulldozed over the side. Known as mountaintop removal-valley fill, the practice is sanctioned by the Bush Administration. The practice began during the Clinton years, when some regulation was applied. When Bush took office, the gloves came off.

http://community.webshots.com/album/410850747jRNMsz/0”

“makes it a lot easier to get to the peak-”

“Looks like you had quite a crowd. What, about a hunderd or so? To bad that most of the MTR supporters were working. If you could have gotten them there you would have filled the whole place with people to voice your concerns to.”

“Well, as long as it keeps my electric bill down...”

“I am currently reading "Night Comes to the Cumberlands" which is a classic view of Applachia in the early 60's.

Even back then, people could see mountain top removal was wrong.

I am planning a visit up to Letcher County and found this website today.....what a catastrophe.

http://thekentuckiannews.com/index.php?page=viewarticle&articleid=204”

“Good post..............good morning Appalachia!

The people who profit from this devastation are from elsewhere and the money goes with them leaving behind the cost of clean up.

It's a kind of one-two punch.”

“Without mountains, Big Bros copters can Bee'line everywhere.”

“
From: info@stopmountaintopremoval.org
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 12:03 PM
To:
Subject: Time to Thank our Supporters


Dear ,

Already more than 2,000 miles of streams in Appalachia have been
buried by mountaintop removal mining, yet as one of its last
assaults on environmental protections, the Bush Administration
is poised to finalize a rule that would allow thousands more
streams and valleys to be buried by waste.

Instead of standing by and allowing the stream buffer zone to be
taken away, Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear, along with
Representatives Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth, and Tennessee
Governor Phil Bredesen stepped in and have sent letters to the
EPA objecting to this rule change.

Please call and thank Governor Beshear and Governor Bredesen for
voicing their concerns about this rule, which would allow coal
companies to dump their massive piles of waste directly into
streams.

For years, federal agencies have looked the other way as the
coal industry has been allowed to blast away the tops of
mountains to reach thin seams of coal. Already, mountaintop
removal mining has flattened more than 500,000 acres and
permanently buried 2,000 miles of streams, destroying sources
that feed drinking water. These actions were taken in defiance
of the existing Stream Buffer Zone Rule. Now, the Federal Office
of Surface Mining (OSM) wants to legalize this destruction. But
the U.S.EPA must give its approval for the change in rules to
become law.

Call and thank the Governors

Gov. Beshear:

Main Line: (502) 564-2611
Fax: (502) 564-2517
TDD: (502) 564-9551 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf)

Gov. Bredesen:

Phone: 615.741.2001
Fax: 615.532.9711
Email: phil.bredesen@state.tn.us


--------------------------------------------------

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.

http://action.earthjustice.org/join-forward.html?domain=stopmtr&r=r7w8SZK14edT

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for
Stop Mountaintop Removal at:

http://action.earthjustice.org/stopmtr/join.html?r=r7w8SZK14edTE

”

“Still wanting to kill babies of coal mine owners, Tllt?

Sick.”

“.”

“Too bad there isn't a way to just fry the great-grandchildren of people who talk the coalmining industry line. Everybody loses, unfortunately.”
Tilt
7:26:43 PM
8/20/07


http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/48714,-1,1.php”

“.”

“its tilt's time of the month”

“"bump" must be "." in tiltland. LOL”

“.”

“MTR is truly destroying Appalachia. My roots are there and still ahve family in SW VA.
Hopefully Obama will help reverse the damage. I've shown the dvd Appalachian Treasures from ilovemountains.org to school and civic groups. Hopefully change will come to Appalachia. Wind power instead of coal.

I recommend also the DVD Kilowatt Ours.”

“If they would obey the laws that were already on the books, that would be a start.”

“wind and nuclear instead of coal”

“.”

“
Powellton Coal Company is currently in violation of the terms
and conditions of their surface mining permit for polluting the
headwaters of Rich Creek in West Virginia. Now they're trying to
get their permit renewed by the Department of Environmental
Protection. Make sure this doesn't happen!

Go to:
http://action.earthjustice.org/ct/t7w8SZK1mL2k/

Large scale surface mines like Powellton's Bridge Fork West
Surface Mine are environmentally devastating, resulting in
wide-scale deforestation and water pollution. This mine is
located between the New and Gauley Rivers, two of the premier
whitewater rafting rivers in the United States! Although laws
and permits are supposed to minimize the effects of mining, the
laws only work if coal companies obey them. Powellton is
definitely not! So why should they be rewarded with permit
renewal? Tell the DEP to deny their application.

Take action to stop Powellton from polluting West Virginia even
more! Sign this petition today:

http://action.earthjustice.org/ct/t7w8SZK1mL2k/

Or send your own letter by January 24, 2008 to:

Ed Wojtowicz
DEP Regional Office
116 Industrial Drive
Oak Hill, WV 25901

If you send your own letter, make sure to say that it's in
reference to Powellton Coal Company's Application to Renew
Surface Mining Permit Number S300301.

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Stop Mountaintop Removal

http://action.earthjustice.org/ct/gdw8SZK1mL2l/
http://www.stopmountaintopremoval.org/link-redirect.jsp?domain=stopmtr&itemID=28537368&member_key=iw8ub754ykx5bnb&

”

“I signed”

“Yo Tilt Thanks for this info......I just signed.....”

“Heck, I just hike up there ---- I worry about the people who live there.”

“I'm in”

“Thanks Tilt.”

“pollute even more?? WV water is actually pretty darn clean in comaprison with most other states. it's cleaner then MN or MI.”

“Mountain top removal has increased water pollution far worse than under ground mining, which is bad enough.

West Virginia water is clean where there is no mining.”

“
Take Action: Tell the President - Mountaintop removal mining is destroying Appalachia

info@stopmountaintopremoval.org


They blew the top off West Virginia's Cherry Pond Mountain a few
weeks ago, and pushed it into streambeds to get the coal.
Appalling? Yes. But hundreds of thousands of acres of mountains
and forests and more than 2,000 miles of streams have already
been destroyed by this vicious form of strip mining.

What makes Cherry Pond different is the timing.

Cherry Pond is just the most recent victim of mountaintop
removal mining. A panel of federal judges may turn dynamiters
loose across Appalachia. On February 13, they ruled against our
coalition and said: The Clean Water Act -- as written -- won't
protect streams in this ancient mountain range.

About 100 mountaintop removal mining permits were on hold
pending this case. The ruling potentially opens the floodgates
for more destruction in Appalachia. These permits will destroy
432 valleys and 213 miles of streams in Kentucky and West
Virginia alone. We need your help to change the rules and
silence the explosions.

Take Action Today:
http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/MTR_Obama_Alert_Mar_2009/iw8ub754l7n7t7dk?

Tell President Obama to prevent this irreversible destruction
and work quickly to undo changes in Clean Water Act rules that
allow industries to bury streams and other waters under their
wastes by calling it "fill" material.

Mountaintop removal mining destroys entire forests and threatens
nearby communities with floods and poisoned drinking water. It's
been described by locals as "strip mining on steroids." No one
should ever again have to hear the sound of a mountain torn
apart by mountaintop removal mining, with coal companies bent on
quick profit whatever the cost.

Thirty-six years ago, a coal slurry impoundment dam in Logan
County, West Virginia burst, sending 132 million gallons of
black water into Buffalo Creek Hollow, killing 125 people,
injuring 1,121 and leaving over 4,000 people homeless. The
tragedy made abundantly clear the dangers of allowing coal
companies to sacrifice Appalachian headwater streams as garbage
dumps for their industrial waste.

But the court says current law does not stop them. So, please,
join with us. Ask President Obama to undo rule changes to the
Clean Water Act and end the Bush administration's attack on our
mountain communities. Act quickly -- because once the
mountaintops and headwater streams are gone, they're gone for
good.

Tell the President - Mountaintop removal mining is destroying
Appalachia:
http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/MTR_Obama_Alert_Mar_2009/iw8ub754l7n7t7dk?

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Stop Mountaintop Removal
www.stopmountaintopremoval.org

”

“Any help from the masses is appreciated. There are signs that things will turn around under the Obama administration, but numbers count.”

“Have they found any of that "clean coal" yet?

You know the guy that thought *that* one up got a bonus.”

“There are now at least two:

The clean coal power plant

The clean coal aerosol”

“Last I heard it hadn't been demonstrated. The company that allegedly had a carbon sequestration method to test would not proceed unless they got Uncle Sam to assume the risk.”

“its okay Obamster will be using the mountaintops to put a sledding area in for the kiddies at the White House.”

“Watch out, that peyote will screw you up.”

“Mescalito Bandito.........OLE!!”

“so, when do we start #&%!$ing about the expense to heat our homes? or tires or medicines?? i am not for MTR but the other methods aren't exactly clean either and the costs are crazy. remember, for every action there is a reaction so be careful for what you wish for.”

“That's your choice. Try to preserve the mountains, or not. Go hike in Kansas or whatever.”

“Tilt lives in a fairy tale world where the only reason coal is used for electricity is because the evil Coal Mining Lobby has used their "blood money" to bribe and lobby our government to suppress other sources of energy. In reality, if lunatics like Tilt get their way, poor people will be hit the hardest from increased energy costs. So much for caring for the poor. But not to worry, Tilt will be warm.”

“all i said there is a price for that or any choice... last time the WV legislature made MTR illegal, half the state lost their jobs..”

“Not that many people are needed to mine coal anymore.... mechanization, ya know.

But if they continue to dynamite and bulldoze, they won't be left with anything. It's all short-term gain.

What about rights of the people who live downstream?

What about the people with slurry coming up out of their wells?”

“ok, let's stop mining altogether. cool? it's all bad. :)”

“I'm sure poor t*ltypoo doesn't use the evil electricity.”

“lol... where have you been?”

“Mountain top removal is the worst thing that ever happened to Appalachia.”

“the worst things in appalachia are they things that aren't happening there.”

“Can't you just take the top off a mountain like you take off your hat, scoop out the coal and put the hat back on again. Problem solved?”

“that would be nice but that is not how it's done.”

“Oops, beer talk.”

“It's all the crap that comes oozing out when they take the top off that is the problem.

There is a professor at UK that wrote an excellent book on MTR. I will have to look up the title.”