This news story originally provided by AP and The Daily Mail

1/6/04

Underground coal fire near Ronald extinguished

RONALD, Wash. (AP)

A coal fire burning underground for at least half a year near this town on the east slopes of the Cascade Range apparently has been extinguished.

Now officials are trying to determine whether coal dust stirred up by the firefighting effort has contaminated a water filtration plant more than a quarter-mile away.

Kittitas County health officials who visited the plant Wednesday could not be reached for comment, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported Monday.

Last Monday workers began excavating a patch of bare and smoking earth, the source of a peculiar odor hanging over Roslyn and Ronald, about 60 miles east-southeast of Seattle, for at least six months.

On Tuesday morning, after reach the heart of the fire, plumes of dust arose as crews used a heavy digging machine to remove about 1,000 cubic yards of earth, rock and burning coal and load it onto dump trucks.

As the debris was hauled to a road bed less than two-tenths of a mile away and spread out there to cool, the dust drifted at least 1,400 feet and settled on snow around the filtration plant that provides water to 785 households and businesses.

David Gerth, whose term as mayor of nearby Roslyn ended Dec. 31, said he was concerned that when the snow melts, coal dust could taint the water.

"I'm not saying that we have an immediate health problem,'' Gerth said, "but it is prudent when you're operating a public water system to protect your ratepayers from any kind of contamination you can prevent.''

After the problem was noticed, landowner R & R Heights Land Co. Inc. was instructed Tuesday to "set up some water sprinkling to control the issue,'' according to a report from Terra Design Works Land Planning Consultants, which drafted the firefighting plan for the landowner.

The plan called for pollution controls that included water sprinkling during the excavation for dust abatement as needed, but Gerth said he believed "the execution of the plan was not 100 percent.''

County Fire Marshall Derald Gaidos said a pipe that workers planned to use to sprinkle water during the digging was frozen, and some dust got away by the time another pipe was brought in to activate the sprinklers.

"There was a goof-up,'' Gaidos said.

Area residents have reported a strange odor for at least six months. Officials say underground coal tailings may have caught fire in March when R & R, which intends to build homes in the area, burned off logging slash.

Authorities said the area would be monitored to assure that the fire was out. Visitors late last week said ice was forming at the bottom of the pit.

Underground coal fires occur sporadically in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, some burning for decades, but are rare in the western states.

"We're trying to do the best we can with a fire that is very, very unique,'' Gaidos said. "You don't have these things very often, and I hope I never see one again.''

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

1/7/04

EPA drops appeal of water-quality rule decision

By Ken Ward Jr.
STAFF WRITER

The Bush administration has dropped its appeal of a court ruling that threw out federal approval of a key West Virginia water quality rule.

Lawyers for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sought to withdraw the appeal. Last month, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., approved the request and dismissed the appeal.

"It just went away," said Perry McDaniel, chief of legal services for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

In October, the EPA had filed a formal notice of appeal just before the legal deadline for such a filing.

At the time, though, EPA officials said that they had not decided if they wanted to appeal. The notice was filed in case the agency decided to appeal, EPA officials said.

In late August, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin ruled that EPA was wrong to approve the state's stream anti-degradation rule because the rule was full of loopholes.

Goodwin concluded that EPA "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" when it signed off on the state's stream anti-degradation procedures in November 2001.

"West Virginia's regulations simply fail to require the minimum protects required by the EPA's regulations," Goodwin wrote.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, anti-degradation procedures are intended to protect the current quality of rives and streams. New development and the additional pollution that it brings are allowed, but only if a cost-benefit analysis shows that jobs or other results are worth it.

Goodwin overturned the EPA's approval of seven of 13 provisions of the state's policy that were challenged in court by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and other groups.

The ruling is believed to be the first time that a federal court has thrown out EPA approval of a state anti-degradation plan.

DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer has downplayed the effect of Goodwin's ruling.

"At first blush, there is just not anything huge," Timmermeyer said. "The rule is very large, and the majority of the rule has been upheld. There are just a handful of sections that were overturned."

However, Goodwin actually vacated EPA approval of the state's entire anti-degradation implementation procedure. Goodwin sent the rule back to EPA for further review.

Lawyers in the case are waiting for EPA to announce how it plans to proceed with that review.

"We're working with the West Virginia DEP to make a decision that is consistent with the judge's order," said EPA spokesman Roy Seneca. "We feel that progress is being made."

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.

This news story originally provided by AP and WHAS11

1/9/04

UMW, other activists, to leaflet neighbors about coal dam

By MARTHA BRYSON HODEL / Associated Press

The United Mine Workers is organizing southern West Virginia residents to warn their neighbors about the potential hazards of a huge dam that holds back a coal waste pond designed and built by companies responsible for earlier sludge spills.

Starting next week, UMW members and other community activists will distribute leaflets door to door along the Coal River, from its headwaters in Raleigh County to its mouth at St. Albans in Kanawha County west of the state capital.

When complete, the Brushy Fork impoundment now under construction in western Raleigh County will be 954 feet high, the largest ever built in West Virginia and nearly 80 feet taller than the New River Gorge Bridge.

"We think there are a lot of people who don't know what's going on in their back yards, and we hope to tell them," said Donnie Samms, a UMW international staff representative.

A spokesman for the coal company developing Brushy Fork disagreed. Jeff Gillenwater of Richmond, Va., based Massey Energy Co. said the project has already been through "an exhaustive and very public process which resulted in the permit being issued."

Those now challenging the project also aired their concerns before the West Virginia Surface Mine Board, which hears appeals of regulatory decisions, and their arguments were rejected, Gillenwater said. The company also has contracted for several peer reviews of the project, he said.

Joe Parker, director of mining and reclamation for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, said the engineering and construction at Brushy Fork have been carefully monitored by several state and federal regulatory agencies.

The structure has been under construction for the past four years and is about 50 percent complete. It already is being used, with the pond being filled as it is built. Its great height is necessary, Parker said, "because of the incredibly steep terrain in the area."

"There is no question it is large and it is intimidating. It's quite an impoundment," he said. "But it is scrutinized very heavily."

The rugged terrain is also the reason for another aspect of the project that residents say concerns them most. The only evacuation route available to residents in some areas of Coal River would take them directly into the path of a surge or spill from the impoundment.

The UMW's campaign began Friday with a commentary by UMW President Cecil E. Roberts published on the op-ed page of The Charleston Gazette. The union president cited a review of the project's engineering by an independent hydrogeologist who believes the project is rife with potential for harm to residents downstream.

"There have already been numerous documented blackwater releases from Brushy Fork, leading to seven formal citations by the state Department of Environmental Protection," Roberts said.

"Brushy Fork has also been cited 37 times for permit violations, many for blackwater or surface water contamination and runoff," he said.

According to the union's review, Massey Energy Co. employed the same engineers for Brushy Fork as it did for a failed slurry pond at its Martin County Coal Co. subsidiary near Inez, Ky.

In October 2000, the bottom of the pond fell out, releasing an estimated 250 million gallons of coal sludge into the tunnels left by earlier underground mining.

>From there the sludge flowed into the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, a major tributary of the Ohio River, and contaminated community water supplies for 30 miles.

Samms said many residents of the area are concerned the same situation could occur at Brushy Fork.

"When it's done, the dam that holds back this pond will be 50 feet higher than the New River Gorge Bridge. It's sitting over top of 350,000 square feet of old workings, and with this company's environmental record, who knows what could happen?" Samms said.

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

1/10/04

Janet Fout and Julie Archer

Clean Elections Act would ensure citizens’ voices heard

Small improvements have led to progress in the effort to clean up election financing in West Virginia — but much more is needed. Decades could be spent passing incremental reforms seeking to patch a fundamentally flawed system. It’s time for a comprehensive approach that will fundamentally improve and preserve our democratic electoral process.

The West Virginia Clean Elections Act is a voluntary system modeled after laws in Maine and Arizona, where 63 percent and 37 percent of the state legislators, respectively, are now free from special-interest ties.

“Voter-owned” elections had broad bipartisan support in those states, saw more women and people of color get elected, and increased voter participation. Arizona elected the nation’s first governor who owes her successful campaign to the people, not special interests.

To qualify for public financing, a candidate must pass a threshold test by collecting a substantial number of small contributions from registered voters in his or her district. Qualified candidates must agree to accept no private contributions and refrain from spending their own money. In exchange, they receive a modest amount of public money to run their campaigns.

Over the past several months, Subcommittee B of the Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee has been studying the Clean Elections Act (now the “Public Campaign Financing Act”). In December, it cleared a major hurdle. Both Subcommittee B and the full Joint Judiciary committee voted the bill out without recommendation. Even without recommendation, the step allows the discussion to continue.

Central to the debate is whether or not it is fiscally responsible to use taxpayer dollars to fund candidates’ campaigns. Unfortunately, under our current funding system, it is increasingly difficult for the average West Virginian to participate effectively in our democracy, either to be elected to office or to be heard above the special interests that finance campaigns. Comprehensive campaign finance reform is needed to reduce the influence of special interests and enable more qualified candidates to seek elected office.

Undoubtedly, a major hurdle for passing a clean elections law will be finding a stable funding mechanism. The legislative interim committee studying the issue received a report from a Charleston-based law firm on potential sources of money. This analysis identified sources outside of general-revenue accounts. The Reform Institute, a Washington-based educational organization working on campaign finance and election reform issues, commissioned the study. We hope lawmakers will take a closer look at this analysis as they consider the Clean Elections Act during the coming session.

Fout is coordinator of Citizens for Clean Elections, a coalition of 28 organizations supporting election reform legislation in West Virginia, and co-director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. Archer is research director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group and the Mountain State Education and Research Foundation.

This news story originally provided by The Heral-Dispatch

1/12/04

Only insurance industry will benefit from tort reform

MARVIN MASTERS - guest columnist

"The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers."

The sentiment is nothing new -- William Shakespeare wrote it more than 400 years ago. We’re used to it.

What Shakespeare meant, however -- and what state Sen. J. Frank Deem has apparently forgotten -- is that the road to tyranny is opened when you eliminate the advocates of the people.

Still, if you are going to criticize our efforts on behalf of West Virginia consumers, you should at least get your facts straight. Unfortunately, Sen. Deem didn’t do that in his recent guest column here.

The laws the insurance corporations want have nothing to do with insurance reform, but "tort reform." Their so-called reforms will strip away consumer protection laws that require these billion-dollar corporations to deal fairly with West Virginians.

More grievously, they will essentially take away your constitutional right to a jury trial.

Insurance corporations claim the laws should be passed because they’re impoverished. According to the Insurance Services Office, the industry’s profit for the first nine months of 2003 was more than $21 billion.

We’re to believe that $21 billion constitutes poverty?

The caps they want will do nothing to lower your insurance premiums. Don’t want to hear it from me? What about the American Insurance Association?

It said, "The insurance industry never promised that tort reform would achieve specific premium savings," (March 13, 2002).

The American Tort Reform Association? "We wouldn’t tell you or anyone that the reason to pass tort reform would be to reduce insurance rates," (July 19, 1999).

The only group that will get anything from these reforms will be the insurance industry because laws that require them to deal fairly with you will be stripped away. That will further increase their already outrageous profits, and you’re still going to pay more for insurance.

You’ll have given away everything and received nothing.

Votes for those so-called "reforms" are votes for billionaire corporations and against West Virginia’s working families.

If Sen. Deem wants to pass real insurance reform, then let’s get started. We’ve advocated insurance reform for two years.

What about a law requiring insurance corporations to open their books to justify their rate increases? A law that disallows rate setting based on your credit report, forcing you to pay higher rates even if you haven’t had a claim in years? What about creating an independent consumer advocate for the Insurance Commission, not one who is supposed to advocate for everyday people while still answering to the insurance industry?

And who’s trying to buy elections?

According to campaign finance data in the 2000 and 2002 People’s Election Reform Coalition reports, the insurance industry, health-care interests and the corporate attorneys who represent them donated $1.4 million to candidates in those elections -- more than three times what candidates received from consumer attorneys.

Sadly, they’re also trying to buy votes to take away your consumer protections and right to a jury trial.

If Sen. Deem and others refuse to listen to us on this issue, then perhaps they’ll listen to the Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

Rehnquist, appointed to the bench by President Nixon and made chief justice by President Reagan, has said, "The right to trial by jury in civil cases at common law is fundamental to our history and jurisprudence. A right so fundamental and sacred to the citizens ... should be jealously guarded."

We’re trying to do that. You should, too.

Marvin Masters is president of the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

This news story originally provided by WV Metro News

1/13/04

Protestors Fear Another Martin Co. 

Staff
Sylvester

The UMWA is teaming up with several environmental groups to pass out flyers about a coal slurry impoundment they feel is a serious threat to everyone living along the Coal River.

Homeowners who live along the Coal from the headwaters in Raleigh County through St. Albans where it meets the Kanawha will receive a pamphlet. It has information about the Brushy Fork Impoundment.

The project -- when complete -- will be the largest impoundment in the state -- 950-feet high, holding back more than 9 billion gallons of coal slurry. It's much larger than the impoundment in Inez, Kentucky that broke back in 2000 spilling millions of gallons of black goop into the Tug Fork and the Big Sandy.

The UMWA and environmentalists worry about another break. They say it's not IF the Brushy Fork pond will break but rather how long will it take. M-SHA has listed the project as "high hazardous."

Those flyers will warn residents about the dangers, give them some statistics about the impoundment and urge them to speak out against the project.

Massey Energy, who is developing the impoundment, says the project is perfectly safe and has been tested thoroughly.

Freda Williams with Coal River Mountain Watch disagrees with the company line. She says everyone living in the way of the impoundment is in danger. She says people who live in communities like Whitesville, Sylvester, Seth and Tornado need to know about the danger they're facing.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Daily Mail

1/13/04

Water use panel to regroup after contentious meeting

By LAWRENCE MESSINA
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia's first stab at a water use law appeared in danger of derailment Tuesday.

At a morning meeting, some members of an interim legislative committee launched last-minute objections and concerns over a water use bill that the committee has crafted for the past eight months.

That prompted Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, and Delegate Nancy Houston, D-Monongalia, the committee co-chairs, to recess the meeting until 6 p.m. without a vote on the bill.

Unger later said he spoke with House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh, and Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, during the meeting. Both remain "strongly supportive'' of the legislation and suggested he recess and regroup, he said.

The bill proposes an inventory of a year's worth of water withdrawals with a survey of major users. It would also create a commission and advisory group to recommend whether the survey shows the need for a statewide water management plan.

The bill has largely been shaped by repeated meetings with industry lobbyists and other interested parties. But Delegate Jerry Mezzatesta said the bill goes too far by declaring that West Virginia "reserves a sovereign interest in the waters of the state as a valuable public resource,'' and that the state "should manage state waters for the use and benefit of its citizens.''

"I thought we were just looking at water resources,'' said Mezzatesta, D-Hampshire.

Mezzatesta halted the discussion with a motion to postpone the bill indefinitely. The committee rejected the motion 7-12.

Delegate Bob Ashley, R-Roane, said he preferred a version of the bill presented during December's interim meeting. He and Delegate Don Caruth, R-Mercer, cited language added to the bill last month that said the state's water-related duties include "protection of the environment.''

The committee agreed earlier to address water quality issues separately. Sen. Sarah Minear, R-Tucker, said she will push to delete that phrase.

West Virginia and Rhode Island are the only states east of the Mississippi without a law defining their water rights. Delegate Robert Tabb, D-Berkeley, said he didn't think the state needed the bill to assert its rights.

"I certainly believe we would take up arms if Germany came in here and took our water,'' Tabb said.

Last year, German conglomerate RWE finalized its $4.6 billion takeover of West Virginia-American Water, the state's largest water company.

After the meeting, several industry lobbyists urged committee members to defeat the bill when they reconvened.

"It's a bad bill,'' John Snider, an Arch Coal lobbyist, told lawmakers.

Unger had helped broker compromises with industry, but after the meeting blamed those interests for the 11th-hour objections.

"I think there are special interest groups that are influencing the committee,'' he said. "They are flexing their muscle.''

Supporters of the bill had outnumbered foes 2-to-1 at a Monday public hearing.

"I'm surprised and disappointed, based on the broad-based public support of the bill,'' said Conni Gratop Lewis of the West Virginia Environmental Coalition.

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

1/15/04

‘Too little, too late’ on environment, activist says

By Ken Ward Jr.
STAFF WRITER

Last year, environmental groups harshly criticized Gov. Bob Wise when the governor didn’t use the word “environment” even once in a 5,700-word State of the State address.

On Wednesday, the governor proposed what administration officials described as an “aggressive” list of environmental initiatives.

Still, the governor’s fourth annual address to lawmakers got only a few minor compliments from leaders of state environmental organizations.

“While some of his environmental proposals for this session are definitely a step forward, they seem like too little, too late,” said Janet Fout, co-director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.

“How can he say he cares about the precious waters of our state and turn a blind eye to the coal industry’s ongoing practice of mountaintop removal that smothers headwater streams beneath millions of tons of coal mining waste?”

In his speech, though, Wise appeared to take on the coal industry and other business groups on several fronts.

Most significantly, the governor proposed his own version of a water use law, just one day after business lobbyists won a victory when an interim legislative committee failed to advance such a bill.

Next, Wise waded into another fight with industry officials who have proposed a series of changes that environmentalists say would significantly weaken state water pollution rules.

“We also must continue to protect the quality of water in our streams and rivers to preserve them for future generations,” the governor said. “We must reject any attempt to weaken our water quality rules.”

“I’m pleased he mentioned those issues, and I’m glad he agrees with us on those issues,” said Don Garvin, lead lobbyist for the West Virginia Environmental Council.

“I hope the governor and his staff will work hard to get a state water quantity bill and to oppose any weakening of water quality rules as the industry coalition has oppose,” Garvin said.

Wise also adopted as his own a state Department of Environmental Protection bill to force state companies to report their emissions of greenhouse gases.

“It’s a bold step,” said DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer. “It’s a huge step for West Virginia.”

Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said that he is not sure that the state needs a greenhouse emissions reporting bill.

“I wouldn’t say we’re against that,” Raney said. “I would say that we are concerned about that.”

But Joe Lovett, executive director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, said that if Wise really wanted to address climate change, he would seek to repeal a state law that forbids DEP from seeking to force reductions in greenhouse gases.

“He didn’t say anything about how we need to restrict the mining and burning of coal,” Lovett said. “West Virginia needs to understand that it’s time to move away from a coal-based economy to a more sustainable economy.”

On coal issues, Wise also praised DEP, saying that his administration “worked with the industry and found ways to expedite the permit process for mining without relaxing environmental protections.

“We must not lower our expectations of the coal industry - we can mine coal cleanly, without harming our water and land,” Wise said. “West Virginia’s stronger protections should not be lowered to the minimum federal standard.”

Dave Flannery, a Charleston lawyer who represents businesses in environmental matters, said that Wednesday’s speech showed renewed interest by Wise in those issues.

“He certainly seems to be interested in re-engaging on these issues, and we welcome that,” Flannery said.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Daily Mail

1/15/04

Environmentalists tepid to Wise speech

Groups happy to hear mention, but expected more

Brian Bowling 
Daily Mail staff

The middle ground is a tough place to stand when it comes to environmental issues.

In his final State of the State, Gov. Bob Wise returned to the environmental theme he announced at the start of his four-year term.

"One of the guiding principles of this administration is that energy and economic development are not the enemies of the environment," he said Wednesday evening.

But those sides certainly have clashed in the past.

At the start of Wise's term, environmental groups had successfully sued the state over its mining program and, subsequently, had significantly slowed the mine permitting process. Their lawsuits also have forced coal companies to spend more on engineering and environmental studies to obtain permits.

The state also was facing the possibility that the federal government would take over part or all of the mining program after environmental groups demonstrated the state program was underfunded, understaffed and generally not meeting minimum federal requirements.

Now the mine program is secure and issuing permits.

As that fight has faded, so have Wise's comments on the environment. His first State of the State dwelled on the need to end a generations-long problem of pitting the good of the economy against a healthy, protected environment.

By his third year, Wise didn't mention the word "environment" once in his speech. On Wednesday night, the governor put it back on center stage. Wise announced he would fight two industry attempts to weaken environmental regulations while pushing for a water use inventory and greenhouse gas emissions inventory.

Some environmental activists who listened to his speech, however, were less than thrilled.

Norm Steenstra, executive director of West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said he was disappointed by the governor's focus on clean coal technology, golf tournaments and cancer survivors.

"I was led to believe there was going to be some boldness there," he said. "I guess I was foolishly thinking that a person not running again might provide some leadership."

The water use and greenhouse gas inventories are about the weakest step the state could take on those issues other than doing nothing, he said.

"With all of the environmental issues he talked about tonight, I'm sure the coal industry has no heartburn," Steenstra said.

In last year's regular session, the coal industry backed a bill that would have stripped the state's coal mining regulations to the minimum required by federal law. The West Virginia Coal Association and coal company representatives argued that having some laws more stringent than those of surrounding states puts the West Virginia coal industry at a competitive disadvantage.

During his speech Wednesday evening, Wise said, "We must not lower our expectations of the coal industry -- we can mine coal cleanly, without harming our water and land. However, West Virginia's stronger protections should not be lowered to the minimum federal standard. We will set our own standards in West Virginia."

Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said the governor's comments don't bother him because the industry is focused on ensuring future regulations adhere to federal minimum standards.

"There's probably been conversation about going back, but that's not what we're talking about now," he said.

The coal industry has also pushed for loosening water quality standards with regards to some heavy metals associated with mining operations.

Wise, in his speech, apparently rejected that idea also: "We also must continue to protect the quality of water in our streams and rivers to preserve them for future generations. We must reject any attempt to weaken our water quality laws."

Raney said the industry isn't pushing for weaker standards.

"I'm not certain how you define ‘weaken,' but water standards need to be achievable," he said.

In setting water quality standards, the state needs to consider the background geology. Even agricultural areas have trouble meeting some of the metal standards because digging stirs up the metal found naturally in the ground, he said.

"There are many of them that need to be looked at and updated," Raney said.

Vivian Stockman, of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, said the governor spent a lot of the speech discussing issues that she thinks are no-brainers, such as the tobacco tax and all-terrain vehicle regulations.

"He did touch on some issues that are tough and stepped on the toes of big business interests," she said.

On the other hand, she doubts the viability of his statement that the state can have coal mining while protecting the environment.

"The only way I see that happening is if there's a ban on mountaintop removal because mountaintop removal is burying streams and destroying wide swaths of forests," she said.

Don Garvin, a lobbyist for the West Virginia Environmental Council, said he was happy the governor at least mentioned three of the issues at the top of the council's list for this legislative session -- water use, water quality and mine regulation.

"I'm optimistic that the governor and the governor's staff will work with the environmental community this year," he said.

Writer Brian Bowling can be reached at 348-4842.