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Important to ACT NOW for Congressional Hearing—Come or Write a Statement
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Come To Hearing (Let Us Know By Friday): If you plan to attend the Thursday, June 6 Congressional Hearing on the Bush administration’s change to the definition of “fill” (which would legalize illegal valley fills at mountaintop removal sites), we must hear from you by this Friday at 5 P.M. E-mail dave@ohvec.org or call him at the office, 304-522-0246. OVEC is helping folks arrange for carpools. We’ll drive to a hotel near an outlying Metro stop on Wednesday evening, and then take the Metro into DC Thursday morning. National and regional groups have offered to help us cover our gas and hotel expenses.
The hearing is set for 10 a.m. in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Building (on First St. NE between C Street NE and Constitution Ave; the nearest Metro Station is Union Station). Senators Lieberman and Jeffords called this important hearing. Senator Byrd has asked that WV Department of Environmental Protection director Michael Callaghan be one of the witnesses. Joan Mulhern, a lawyer with Earthjustice who has been one of our champions in DC, will be another witness.
Not all of us may be able to get into hearing room. (Draw straws?) Some of us may have to watch the proceedings from the hallway. After the hearing, probably at 1 p.m., we’ll have a Senate/Press briefing at which coalfield residents will speak about life in the shadow of mountaintop removal operations. We don’t have the location yet—so if you want to attend please reply to this e-mail with an inquiry as to where the hearing will be. Note: Not 100% confirmed, but most likely Robert Kennedy Jr. will speak at this event.
Write Now--make Your Voice Heard By The Nation When Joan Mulhern delivers her (ours!) statement to the Congressional hearing committee, she’ll be able to deliver your statements to be added to the Congressional Record. Please make a statement! It’s best if you deliver that written statement into the hands of someone at OVEC, Coal River Mountain Watch, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy or West Virginia Rivers Coalition by Tuesday, June 4. Otherwise, please mail your statements by June 1 to:
Senator Joseph Lieberman, Chair Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands and Climate Change Environment and Public Works Committee United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Be sure to include this note: Please add my comments to the Congressional hearing record on the Bush administration’s change to the Clean Water Act’s definition of “fill.”
You can also fax your comments to 1-202-224-1273 by June 4.
Please send a copy of your statement to one of the groups listed above (all organization’s addresses are here on OVEC’ website.
Your note doesn’t have to be fancy, only sincere. If you would like a little more info or a sample letter, please reply to this e-mail.
June 13 Update We have two volunteers who are going to make a scrumptious home cooked dinner for the June 13 Post-Haden-Decision Strategy Meeting. Dinner is at 6 p.m. sharp, discussion at 7 p.m. sharp at the Asbury United Methodist Church, 501 Elizabeth St., Charleston, WV (just down the street from Empty Glass). We'll brainstorm and discuss our post-Haden-decision strategy to end mountaintop removal. Please, you MUST pre-register for this free event by e-mailing dave@ohvec.org or vivian@ohvec.org by June 11. If you have questions, or would like to help with dinner, e-mail or call Dave or Vivian at 304-522-0246. Again, only those who have been pre-registered will be admitted to this meeting.
Coal Summit Update Check the OVEC website for the latest on the June 20-22 Coal Summit. To receive registration materials, email your name, address, and organization if appropriate to ohvec@ezwv.com or outreach@appvoices.org. Registration fee is $20, but for students, coalfield residents, and folks with modest incomes, the $20 registration fee is optional.
Volunteer Drivers Wanted The Coal Summit will include field trips to nearby coalfield communities such as Whitesville, and airplane flights over the nearby mountaintop removal mines and declining forests. Summit organizers are looking a couple of folks, over the age of 25 with good driving records, to drive the filed trips vans. Please contact vivian@ohvec.org or outreach@appvoices.org if you would like to volunteer.
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