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Please Come Out Tuesday To Support Cindy Rank
We Sue Army Corps of Engineers Over Illegal Permitting Practices
Protect the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund
TUESDAY: CINDY RANK V. MASSEY CEO DON BLANKENSHIP
We need you! Yup, we need a big turnout for the Oct. 28 event at the University of Charleston. West Virginia Highland Conservancy's Cindy Rank will speak the truth to Massey Energy's CEO Don Blankenship. OVEC, Coal River Mountain Watch, Citizens Coal Council and the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club plan to gather at 5:30 p.m. outside the University of Charleston's Geary Student Union (2300 MacCorkle Ave. SE) to educate people about mountaintop removal and Massey Energy's terrible environmental and labor record. Please join us to hand out literature and hold placards. If you have a Stop Mountaintop Removal T-shirt, please wear that. The event itself starts at 6:30, in the ballroom on the third floor of the student union.
WE SUE THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Many thanks to the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment and Trial Lawyers for Public Justice who are representing OVEC, Coal River Mountain Watch and the Natural Resources Defense Council in a major new mountaintop removal/ valley fill lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers. The suit challenges the illegal use of Nationwide Permit 21 for large-scale surface mining operations, particularly mountaintop removal operations.
The action seeks to force the Corps to comply with the federal Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act by requiring it to cease using a general permit, called Nationwide Permit 21, to authorize large-scale strip mines. Nearly all surface mines in West Virginia are authorized under NWP 21, which is essentially a "rubber stamp" the Corps relies on to allow coal companies to destroy thousands of acres of irreplaceable forest and water resources and the communities they support. If successful, this action will set a precedent for improved Corps' permitting throughout the Appalachian region and nationally.
If you'd like to read the news coverage of this lawsuit, go to www.ohvec.org, scroll down to the news section of the home page, and look for the big red asterisks. While you are on the OVEC website, please follow the links to take EASY WEB ACTION on the ENERGY BILL.
PROTECT THE ABANDONED MINE LANDS FUND
Citizens Coal Council is urging everyone to call their US Representatives in order to strengthen (not cut!) the Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Program for cleaning up old coal mine sites. Please take action! Visit: www.citizenscoalcouncil.org/campaigns/jobsjust.htm.
REMINDERS FROM OUR CALENDAR PAGE
Please see OVEC's event calendar for reminders on important events happening this weekend and next week. Do your part for peace, learn more about global warming and hook up with Granny D!
Over the last few weeks, news stories have focused on sludge from coal waste impoundments. If you missed the stories as they were posted to our website, we've compiled some of them. We know you will be shocked, simply shocked, to find out that Massey Energy gets off the hook again. Also, OVEC is involved in the new coal sludge project you'll read about by following the links below.
Tale of sludge spill still untold; Too many questions, no accountability
Floods and failures in the coalfields
Sludgy aftermath: Massey gets its way; residents get cold shoulder
W.VA. PROJECT DETAILS POTENTIAL THREATS FOR THOSE DOWNSTREAM
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