Below:

• Wednesday Hearing Cancelled

• Press Release: Groups Continue to Fight for Better Energy Decisions

• National Online Campaign for the Coal River Mountain Wind Project Launched

 Wednesday Hearing Cancelled
Last week, we urged you to come to a hearing on whether a temporary restraining order on expansion at a mountaintop removal site should become a longer preliminary injunction while our larger lawsuit continues. The Wednesday August 20 hearing at the Federal Courthouse in Huntington is now canceled.

On Friday, we learned that immediately after the Corps issued a permit (an illegal permit, we believe--that is at the heart of our lawsuit) for "Hobet 22," Patriot Coal proceeded with great haste to cover the stream beds in the new permit zone with boulders from other adjacent mining areas. In its rush to destroy the streams, the coal company did not follow its written mining plan. This hurry-up-and-destroy activity is a ploy the companies have adopted as they wait for the ruling in our larger lawsuit. (Oral arguments in that case are set for Sept. 23 before the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.)  The quick destruction of the streams serves to make our request for an injunction moot. We can't ask the judge to protect something that is no longer there.

The larger lawsuit has greatly reduced the number and pace of permits issued by the Corps. But, this latest incident in the legal battle to end mountaintop removal underscores the need for us all to work to end mountaintop removal on all fronts - not with lawsuits alone, but with organizing, lobbying politicians at all levels of government and building public awareness and resistance. Writing letters to the editor is one excellent way to build public awareness and resistance. Hosting screenings of assorted documentaries in your town is another way. Check out Rise Up! West Virginia, Burning the Future, Mountain Top Removal and Black Diamonds. 

For more ideas on what you can do to help end mountaintop removal, click here, here and here.

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 Press Release: Groups Continue to Fight for Better Energy Decisions
Force Hobet Mine to Clean Up Its Act
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — In a rush to beat the legal system, Hobet Mining Company has already destroyed miles of streams that community groups sought to save from expanded operations at the Hobet mountaintop removal coal mine. However, the mining company is required to do its duty under the Clean Water Act and limit the amount of toxic selenium it releases into local waterways.  In addition, Hobet must take additional measures to attempt to reclaim the land affected by their mining operation. 

“It’s high time that West Virginia state agencies stop giving coal companies a free pass for mountaintop removal. Selenium limits and other safeguards are there to protect the health of our citizens, and it’s about time the Manchin administration started enforcing them,” said Jim Sconyers of the WV Chapter of the Sierra Club.  

Shrouded in secrecy by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and protected by the complacency of public officials, the proposed mine expansion was approved without the opportunity for public input. In addition, the mining permit prepared by the Corps failed to include limits for selenium, which when released into the environment by mining, causes deformities, reproductive failures, and the eventual collapse of fish population in nearby waterways.  This case is yet another example of the failure of the Corps pandering to coal companies. The Corps failed to consider or analyze the effects of the mine’s release of selenium.

"It's neither fair nor morally correct to have eliminated the communities of Mud, Berry Branch and others to make way for the continued pollution from the over 20 square miles of mining at this Hobet operation," said Cindy Rank with the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.  

"The sad reality is that once again the citizens have to force the government to do its job," said Vernon Haltom, Co-Director of Coal River Mountain Watch.  "The Department of Environmental Protection should have already been enforcing selenium limits.  The Corps is complicit in issuing permits without public involvement, covertly issuing permits in such a manner that the citizens' rights to clean water are trumped by the coal company ready to fill streams at the drop of a hat.  The politicians of this state care only about one industry's corporate welfare, to the extent of encouraging illegal activities that impact the rest of us."  

“When I heard that the streams at Hobet 22 had been hastily destroyed, my heart sunk; and frankly, the governor's eleventh hour involvement is too little, too late.  Where has he been for the last four years?  Many citizens are suffering as a result of illegal mining activity. As governor, he should be serving everyone’s interests; after all, most West Virginians are concerned about quality of life, healthy families, and the future of our state,” said Janet Keating, Executive Director, OVEC.  

All of the groups will continue to push for increased public involvement and a more open permitting process to ensure instances like this never happen again.

The U.S. District Court hearing set for Wednesday August 20 in Huntington, W.Va. has been cancelled. 

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 National Online Campaign for the Coal River Mountain Wind Project Launched
    ~~Links to news coverage generated so far this morning are collected here.~~
Working with Coal River Mountain Watch, OVEC and other groups, residents of the Coal River Valley are proposing the development of a 440 Megawatt wind farm on Coal River Mountain as an economically viable alternative to a planned mountaintop removal coal mining operation.

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