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Your Presence Wanted at Events This Week
CLAY COUNTY IN THE MTR CROSSHAIRS
Research done for OVEC's Progressive Technology Project /Geographic Information System Maps shows that coal companies want to go MTR-crazy in Clay County.
This Thursday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m., please attend an "informal hearing" at which the WV Department of Environmental Protection will discuss citizen concerns over Fola Coal's pending 1700-acre MTR permit. Folks in the area need your support. The hearing is in the Lions' Club building in the town of Clay. The Lions' Club is next to a funeral home, and if you get to Clay, you can't miss it.
NANCY PELOSI AND MTR
California Rep. Nancy Pelosi is the new House Minority Leader. During our June trip to DC, Rep. Pelosi personally listened to coalfield residents talk about life in the shadow of mountaintop removal. She was appalled by what is happening here.
Please take a moment to e-mail her congratulations on her new position as House Minority leader. Ask her for her continued support in our work to stop mountaintop removal. If you have personal stories about problems associated with MTR, please share those with her. Perhaps mention that if her party is looking for a poster child for what is happening to the environment, come on down to the coalfields.
Lara Levison is Pelosi's aide on the environment. Please type "Attn. Lara Levison" in the subject line. The e-mail is sf.nancy@mail.house.gov.
YOUR PRESENCE WANTED!
All week:
M.A.P.S. "Just Gimme Some Truth" Conference
Full Schedule
here.
Jim Hightower and War Cry are "must hears."
Friday Nov. 22:
Hearing at 1 p.m. in the Beckley Courthouse on Main Street in downtown Beckley. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Coal River Mountain Watch and OVEC, the WV Department of Environmental Protection punished a Massey Energy subsidiary for a series of violations. Marfork's Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment was told to shut down for nine days. Marfork thinks it shouldn't have to shut down, and has appealed the DEP's decision. Please come out to hear arguments in this case-you can bet Marfork will pack the courtroom.
WRITE FOR THE WARBLER!
In our last Action Alert, we asked you to write to the US Fish and Wildlife Service asking that the Cerulean warbler be listed as an Endangered Species. Besides sending a letter, you could e-mail your comments to Charlie_Scott@fws.gov.
REMINDERS
DEC. 4 HEARING ON HADEN'S VALLEY FILL RULING
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. will hear arguments on the appeal of Judge Haden's ruling on mountaintop removal valley fills on Dec. 4. This hearing date is earlier than expected; the Bush administration and its coal industry buddies wanted the hearing expedited. Haden ruled that most valley fills are illegal under the Clean Water Act. In his decision, Haden noted that valley fills with legal post-mining development plans are just that--legal. Bush and Co. want no restrictions on dumping former mountains into valleys and streams, and insist that all valley fills - valley dumps, really - are legal under the Clean Water Act. Just in case their "because I said so" argument doesn't work with the appeals court, Bush and Griles, et al, have also rewritten a rule within the Clean Water Act, attempting to "correct" the law so that mountaintop removal can continue at full throttle.
DEC. 10 PRAYER ON THE MOUNTAINS
Join the faith communities in a response to mountaintop removal, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 10 at the Corinth Baptist Church in Neon, Kentucky, at the intersection of Hwy. 343 and Warm Springs Ave in Fleming-Neon. After a simple lunch of soup and bread, folks will travel to McRoberts, Ky. to pray for healing of the mountains and for those impacted by strip mining and mountaintop removal. For more information, contact John Rausch at (606) 663-0823 or Robbie Pentecost at (606) 297-8792.
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