Rob Perks's Blog: Environmental Justice

Kentucky Endangered by Mountaintop Mining

2008-12-19T15:54:11Z

Our friends at Appalachian Voices have a campaign to save America's Most Endangered Mountains from "strip-mining on steroids" -- otherwise known as mountaintop removal mining. The latest mountain in the cross-hairs of Big Coal is a ridge top above Wilson Creek in Kentucky. Here is a helpful video profiling this special place, along with details on the company's plan to blow up the mountain and bury headwater streams under three "valley fills." Nearly 100 families who live in small towns along Wilson Creek are fighting to save their homes and their way of life. Learn more and take action to end mountaintop removal.

The good news is that some Kentucky politicians are starting to come around on this issue. Recently, Gov. Beshear and other elected leaders spoke out strongly against the Bush administration's efforts to weaken mining pollution rules. And yesterday state Rep. Don Pasley introduced his "stream saver bill" to prevent mining operators from dumping "overburden" waste from mountaintop removal sites into nearby streams.

As quoted in the newspaper, Rep. Pasley doesn't oppose "responsible" coal mining -- all his legislation does "is simply call on the coal companies to leave the mountain largely as they found it." He said "[i]t may not be as easy as burying a stream and leveling dozens of square miles in a matter of months, but it is the right thing to do."

Coal operators and their supporters in the state legislature have twice thwarted Rep. Pasley's attempts to force the industry to clean up it's act. But Pasley remains undaunted in his crusade to protect the headwaters that feed his beloved Kentucky River -- and other streams in the state that routinely get buried under mining waste or choked with sediment and heavy metal contamination from coal mining upstream.

"I'm interested in the Bluegrass Region and the Kentucky River," Pasley said when he filed his bill for the third time. "Nearly 800,000 people depend on the Kentucky River for their drinking water."

Although previous attempts to pass the stream saver bill have fallen short, Pasley -- and supporters like Kentuckians for the Commonwealth -- realize this time it's even more critical. The health of hundreds of streams are at stake in the wake of the Bush administration's new regulation removing the required 100-foot buffer area between streams and the disposal of the mining waste.

One thing's for sure -- the people of Kentucky are lucky to have a few solid environmental champions like Rep. Pasley who are willing to fight against those who prefer the Bluegrass State to be the Big Coal State.

Bank of America Puts a Deposit on Our Mountains

2008-12-03T21:08:22Z

Great news: One of the biggest banks in the land is saying NO to the baddest strip mining on earth -- mountaintop removal coal mining.

This summer, after months of conversations, some top executives from Bank of America agreed to accompany NRDC staff on a fact-finding trip to Appalachia. In July we flew them over moonscaped mine sites in West Virginia, took them to Kayford Mountain for a closer look at mountaintop mining, and introduced them to several local residents/activists who are fighting to save their beloved homeland from reckless coal mining companies.

Today, BofA released its revised coal policy, which will have the immediate effect of curtailing commercial lending to companies that mine coal by blowing off the top of mountains. The policy states, in part:

Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal. While we acknowledge that surface mining is economically efficient and creates jobs, it can be conducted in a way that minimizes environmental impacts in certain geographies.

Why is this significant? Consider that Bank of America stands as a pillar of our country's shaky financial system. In fact, the trying economic crisis has only served to strengthen this behemoth bank while other once proud and stable institutions fall by the wayside. All the more reason to engage BofA in using its investment power and influence to affect positive environmental change.

That's exactly why our friends at Rainforest Action Network targeted BofA as a prime candidate for a public campaign to pressure the bank to de-invest in companies that practice mountaintop removal.

NRDC decided we could be more useful engaging BofA in a different way: By talking to the bank's executives directly and explaining the great opportunity available to them as responsible corporate citizens to help end this travesty. That's when they agreed to the West Virginia trip and saw firsthand the Appalachian Armageddon their funding was supporting.

Is BofA's policy perfect? No. Is the policy as strong as we'd like? Not really. Will this shut down all mountaintop mining operations? Of course not.

But BofA's bold step forward sends an unequivocal signal to the mining industry that business as usual is no longer acceptable. And for the worst offenders of mountaintop mining, like Massey Energy, the bank's new policy will effectively stop the flow of the funding for this activity from one of the nation's leading financial giants.

Make no mistake, this is a big step from one of the nation's biggest lenders. And it marks a turning point in the campaign to end the war on Appalachia being waged by the coal industry.

At a time when the Bush administration is weakening laws to benefit the mining industry, NRDC is pleased to be moving forward with our Appalachian allies and leading corporations like Bank of America in the campaign to stop mountaintop mining.

UPDATE: For those BoA customers who asked where to send a thank-you note to the bank, here is the address: Environment@bankofamerica.com

Lucky in Kentucky: State Legislators Oppose Mountaintop Mining

2008-11-19T15:41:12Z

Political momentum appears to be building against the egregious, outrageous practice of mountaintop removal mining. First of all, last month on the campaign trail President-Elect Obama expressed his concerns about this strip mining on steroids. Now comes welcome news that Kentucky legislators care more for mountains, the environment and their constituents' quality of life than the rapacious, reckless coal industry.

Yesterday Governor Steve Beshear -- joined by State Attorney General Jack Conway, Congressman Ben Chandler (Lexington) and Congressman John Yarmuth (Louisville) -- sent letters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally objecting to the Bush administration's recent proposal to legalize the dumping of mountaintop mining waste near rivers and streams. This impressive collection of lawmakers called the proposed rule change a threat to the state's ability to protect its natural resources, especially water.

"Kentucky's vast water resources are critical to our health and economic development," Beshear wrote in his letter to Stephen Johnson, EPA administrator, "and I do not believe the newly proposed waivers can be effectively and uniformly applied to protect these water resources."

While noting that coal remains vital to Kentucky's economy and the country's energy needs, the governor wrote in his letter that he is "strongly committed to environmentally responsible coal mining and [therefore] cannot support rules that may be subject to arbitrary administration or enforcement."

The Bush administration's proposed rule change would weaken a 1983 federal regulation that restricts where mining waste can be dumped, a so-called "Excess Spoil minimization - Stream Buffer Zone" rule. What the Bush EPA is trying to do in its waning days is to erase that restriction, making it easier to dump waste near homes and potentially into waterways and streams.

Attorney General Conway reiterated support for coal while nevertheless insisting on the obligation to "pass along a stable environment to coming generations." Congressman Chandler applauded the governor, as well, and stated that "undermining the Stream Buffer Zone would endanger our water and threaten the health of our people and economy." Echoing that sentiment, Rep. Yarmuth insisted that industry's economic gains should not come at the expense of the health and quality of life of Kentuckians, and noted that "the damaging effects of dumping fill into our streams are evident in the water quality and environment in coal producing regions."

The people of Kentucky should be proud to have such stalwart champions for their environment. And other elected leaders should take heed that the health and safety of those whom they represent take precedence over corporate greed and polluter profits.

Face it, coal is a dirty business -- and removing mountaintops to get it, leaving behind polluted streams, poisoned communities and a leveled landscape...well, that's the dirtiest trick of all.

CNN Covers Mountaintop Mining

2008-10-08T16:30:42Z

Three cheers for our friends at Coal River Mountain Watch for their continued persistence in fighting Massey Energy Company's efforts to gain approval from federal and state authorities so they can blast the mountain into oblivion to mine coal.

A better alternative has been proposed to save the mountain while generating the same amount of electricity from wind power.

Score one for the mountain lovers over the mountain killers for getting CNN to cover the saga. Here is a link to the video of the story, and a link to the transcript.

You can help by urging Congress to support legislation to end mountaintop removal mining.

Big Coal Getting Lucky in Kentucky

2008-05-16T02:45:05Z

I had to reread this story to be sure it wasn't actually from The Onion. Taxpayer dollars going to spew propaganda to children about the wonders of coal and the benefits of MTR?

Unbelievable. Sadly, outrageously, this is totally true. Yet again the coal industry manages to surprise - but not shock - me.

What is shocking, however, is the lame excuse and shameless defense of this boondoggle by the very public servants who are charged with protecting the public interest.

Many Mountains. One Voice.

2008-02-21T19:37:09Z

It's good to know that Kentuckians have laws to protect their communities from the abuses of our throwaway society. While spending time recently in the eastern part of the state, I was relieved when I read a front page story in the Floyd County Times about folks not just fined, but sent to jail for illegally dumping refuse along a county road. Watch out litter bugs or you may get unlucky in Kentucky!

But as bad as that particular problem is I have to wonder if broken glass, busted furniture and assorted trash cluttering roadsides and streams is really the highest priority pollution in need of enforcement. You would think that the authorities in eastern Kentucky have bigger fish to fry – namely those pesky coal companies that are literally blowing up mountains and burying the streams below with tons of rock and mine waste. Tackling unsightly litter is all good and well, but seriously, what about the rampant valley fills obliterating and polluting entire watersheds all over Appalachia?

Along with a few other NRDC colleagues, we took a trip to the region to meet with the Alliance for Appalachia, a coalition of local citizen groups fighting the coal companies that specialize in this most rapacious and reckless form of strip mining. Several groups have excellent websites, but a couple of especially good starting points to learn more about the growing movement to save America’s most ancient peaks are www.ILoveMountains.org or www.StopMountaintopRemoval.org.

You may have heard about this atrocity taking place primarily in West Virginia, western Virginia, eastern Kentucky and parts of Tennessee. Maybe you’ve watched documentaries or viewed videos about mountaintop removal coal mining, or even read some of the excellent books on the subject, such as Jeff Goodell’s Big Coal or Erik Reece’s Lost Mountain. But trust me, you simply cannot comprehend the scope and severity of the problem until you travel to Appalachia and bear witness to this tragedy.

During our visit we trekked the back roads of the coal fields in West Virginia and Kentucky, dodging speeding coal trucks laden with lumps of “black diamonds”, watching huge excavators eat away high-wall seams, staring slack-jawed as giant earth movers dumped endless layers of dirt down mountainsides, and wincing whenever high explosives reduced ridges to rubble.

Of course, it was down in the hollows where the worst impacts of mountaintop destruction hit home – literally. It’s there, along the narrow roads leading to and from the mines, where we met some of the victims. People like Dalven Ratliffe, a local pastor whose Kentucky home – and those of his neighbors – bear cracks in the walls, ceiling and foundation from the constant rattle of blasting.

We heard harrowing first-hand accounts of the harassment and lies by the coal companies who will stop at nothing to secure the leasing rights to residential property so they can expand the mining. Rev. Ratliffe refuses to sell out to Big Coal – but the result of his courageous stand is not just relentless industry abuse but also cold indifference if not outright hostility from government regulators who see their jobs as protecting coal profits, not the public interest.

We met a number of gracious folks who told us their stories and showed us how their lives are being ruined by environmental destruction fueled by a mix of senseless corporate greed and shocking government corruption. Most amazing to me, however, is the resilience of these folks despite the ugly legacy of Big Coal’s power over the people.

Take Rick Handshoe, for example. His family has lived on the same chunk of land at the foot of the mountains in that neck of Kentucky for over 200 years. Rick’s certainly not your typical activist – in fact, he’s the opposite of someone who usually fits that description. A friendly, fair-haired 47-year old, he became an outspoken opponent of mountaintop removal a few years back only after the mining crossed over a few ridges to his own back yard. Now his home and those throughout the valley are under siege – from burning coal ash that clouds the sky, from black dust that coats cars (and everything else), from dried up creeks where water flow is cut off by the valley fills, from methane gas that seeps into wells and faucets.

Unlike a lot of folks who feel there’s just no way to win against the coal companies, Rick is a leader fighting the good fight with help from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. He’s doing this not just for his own sake or for the future of his daughter’s generation, but for everyone who’s suffering from this injustice.

Rick’s father lives nearby in a house built over 60 years ago by his father, which is catching all kinds of hell from the sprawling coal operation that moved in next door a couple of years ago. As we visited with Clinton Handshoe on his front porch, he ran his finger through the coal dust covering the plastic furniture and told us: “I drove a coal truck years ago. I’m not against coal. I’m against this.”

Everybody – not just in Appalachia but all over America – should be against the travesty of mountaintop removal coal mining. And everybody who cares should find a way to join the fight to save not someone else’s but our mountains. This destructive mining must end if for no other reason than so Mr. Handshoe can once again sit on his porch in peace and enjoy the view, in a world without the constant pounding of machinery against rock that is slowly but surely reducing his beloved mountains to a flat, dead moonscape.