Press Releases and Media Advisories

May 8, 2013  Dozens of Appalachians and their allies bring hundreds of gallons of toxic water from their homes to EPA offices in Washington, D.C.

May 1, 2013  United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights

April 24, 2013  Sludge Safety Project Demands Release of Suppressed OSM Report on Coal Sludge Impoundment Stability

April 23, 2013  Court Upholds EPA's Power to Protect Communities from Mountaintop Removal Mining

April 23, 2013  National Commission on the Health Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining Releases Recommendations

February 21, 2013 From Buffalo Creek to Broadway, A Visit with “Miracle Baby” Kerry Chad Albright (free event)

February 6, 2013 House Representatives Introduce Bill to Address Appalachian Health Crisis and Stop Mountaintop Removal

January 28, 2013  Groups Threaten Legal Action against Environmental Protection Agency for Failure to Protect West Virginia Waterways from Coal Mining Pollution

January 28, 2013  Groups Sue Interior Department for Failure to Protect Streams

November 29, 2012  Threats to Blair Mountain Historic Site Prompt Legal Appeal

November 15, 2012  Patriot Coal Commits to Phase Out its Mountaintop Removal, Reaches Agreement with Community and Conservation Groups

October 23, 2012 Environmental Activist to Receive 22nd Raoul Wallenberg Medal

October 23, 2012  OVEC: Celebrating 25 Years of Organized Voices and Empowered Communities

October 18, 2012  Second Presidential Debate Highlights “Agenda Gap” on Energy; 100 Organizations Present Energy Plan for “First 100 Days”

September 19, 2012  Celebrating Larry Gibson, The Life and Legacy of the Keeper of the Mountains

September 11, 2012  Mountain Heroes and Citizens Gather at White House To Call on Nation’s Leaders To End Mountaintop Removal Mining

August 27, 2012  Water and Wellness: Health Impacts of Fossil Fuel Extraction

July 31, 2012  Appalachian Communities Win Case Against Unlawful Mountaintop Removal Mining Permit While Federal District Court Issues Decision Finding EPA Must Act Through Regulation, not Guidance, to Address Pollution from Mountaintop Removal Mining

June 26, 2012  Three W.Va. Groups Join Fight to Stop Energy Lobbyists

June 25, 2012  Annual Mountain Keepers Music Festival Celebrates Appalachia

June 20, 2012  OVEC's Executive Director at Rio+20 Earth Summit Keating to Present Findings of Central Appalachian Women's Tribunal on Climate Justice RIO

June 6, 2012  Constituents Sit In Representatives’ Offices for an End to Mountaintop Removal

May 31, 2012  OVEC’s Maria Gunnoe to testify before Congressional Subcommittee Friday, June 1

May 23, 2012  West Virginia Women Lead Protest at State Capital - Sacrifice of Locks in Name of Appalachian Mountains

May 9, 2010  Groups Act to Protect Waterways Harmed by Notorious Brushy Fork Sludge Lake

May 3, 2012  Central Appalachian Women’s Climate Justice Tribunal

April 26, 2012  OVEC’s Maria Gunnoe to Receive Wallenberg Medal

April 25, 2012  Survey: “Political Divide” on Energy Issues is a Myth

April 16, 2012  First West Virginia Mountain Top Removal Site Still Polluting Local Rivers

March 23, 2012  Appalachians Vow to Continue Supporting EPA’s Effort to Protect Waterways and Communities from Mountaintop Removal Mining

March 20, 2012 Groups Sue Two More Mining Companies for Endangering WV Streams

March 19, 2012  Coal Rush: New Documentary to Screen at Atlanta Film Festival

March 7, 2012  Public Forum Focuses on Electric Utilities and Energy Efficiency Programs

February 29, 2012  Community Members Gathering to Remember Lives Lost to Coal Slurry Disasters

February 9, 2012  Presenting: Hawks Nest: Blood Beneath Our Feet

February 8, 2012  Is Arch Coal About to Mine Historic Blair Mountain?

January 18, 2012  Groups Secure Another Key Victory in Fight to Stop Pollution from Coal Mines

January 18, 2012  Local Groups to Host Showing of The Last Mountain

January 16, 2012  SSP to Hold Press Conference on Water Contamination Evidence Emerging from Prenter Lawsuit

November 16, 2011 New Report Outlines Realistic Path for Cleaner and Less Expensive Energy Future

October 6, 2011  Coal industry receives court ruling on mountaintop removal mining permit review process

October 3, 2011 Groups Secure Agreement from Arch Coal to Treat Pollution from Coal Mines

August 23, 2011  OVECs ED to Receive Human Rights Award

August 4, 2011  Author Parenti Speaks in Charleston Aug. 12 and 13

July 21, 2011  EPA Issues Final Guidance on Mountaintop Removal Mining To Reaffirm the Clean Water Act and New Science

July 10, 2011  Mountain Health & Heritage Association Oppose Frasure Creek Mining Open Fork #2 Permit

June 30, 2011  From Telluride to Twilight, with Love: Colorado Town Officially Supports OVEC's Efforts to Preserve the Community, Culture and Mountains of Twilight, W.Va.; PSAs Now Running in Telluride

June 21, 2011  NEW STUDY SHOWS BIRTH DEFECT RATES HIGHER
NEAR MOUNTAINTOP MINING SITES

May 25, 2011  Artists Join Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Broad Coalition to Speak Out Against Mountaintop Removal Mining in Online Video Campaign

April 28, 2001  State Bonds for Proposed Mingo Coal-To-Gas Plant Questioned

March 23, 2011  Illegal Water Pollution Compels Groups to Take Legal Action

March 8, 2011  Court Orders Hold on Permit for New Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine Challenged by Community Groups

March 4, 2011  Coming to Huntington: The Beehive Collectives Innovative Graphic, The True Cost of Coal

February 22, 2011  Community screening and forum: "DIRTY BUSINESS: 'Clean Coal' and the Battle for our Energy Future"

February 18, 2011  Press Conference: Bill Slated to Ban Underground Slurry Injection

January 18, 2011  The Impact of Coal on Our Lives

January 13, 2011  Statement from OVEC Executive Director Janet Keating on EPA's Veto of the Spruce No. 1 Mountaintop Removal Mine

November 10, 2010  The Toll of Coal: Cradle to Grave Impacts of Coal on Human Health

November 3, 2010  Appalachian Art for Appalachian Families Announces "Deers & Beers" Fundraising Dinner and Call for Art Submission

October 16, 2010  Statement from OVEC re: EPA Region III recommendation to HQ on Spruce No. 1 Mountaintop Removal Mine

October 14, 2010  Appalachian and National Organizations Defend Obama Administrations Review of Mountaintop Removal Mining from Industry Interference

September 9, 2010  Reckless Removal of West Virginias Historic Blair Mountain Battlefield from National Register of Historic Places Prompts Legal Challenge from Community Groups

August 25, 2010 DC Press Conference to Announce Appalachia Rising Mobilization in Washington D.C

August 11, 2010  WV Environmental Group Challenges US Senate Seat Contenders to Over Flight of Mountaintop Removal Sites

June 25, 2010  Annual Mountain Keepers Music Festival Celebrates West Virginia's Freedom

June 14, 2010  Group of 22 professionals from Ghana, Africa coming to West Virginia to examine community responses to natural resource extraction.

June 11, 2010  Thousands to March in DC Calling for the Abolition of Mountaintop Removal  

June 3, 2010  Media Advisory: June 8 Slurry Hearing

April 1, 2010  Statement from OVEC on EPA's Comprehensive Guidance to Protect Appalachian Communities From Harmful Environmental Impacts of Mountain Top Mining

April 1, 2010  Treehuggers Ball Returns to Huntington

March 26, 2010  Statement from OVEC co-director on EPA's decision on Spruce No. 1 mountaintop removal mine permit

March 2, 2010  Global Acclaim & Recognition for WV Environmentalist Continues; Maria Gunnoe Receives 2010 David Brower Award From Lawa

January 28, 2010  Groups Galvanize to Support Federal Coal Ash Regulations,  Demand U.S. EPA to release regulations as promised

January 5, 2010  Environmental Protection Agency Approves Permit for Controversial WV Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine

December 2, 2009  Hundreds to Rally at WV Department of Environmental Protection against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

November 25, 2009  Court Scolds Army Corps for Ignoring Public, Issuing Mining Permits

November 17, 2009  Coal River Valley Residents to Speak Against Blasting on Coal River Mountain

September 30, 2009  International Peacemaker to Speak at Oct. 3 Ecumenical Event in South Charleston Turning Over a New Leaf: Faith Community Green Event Open to Public 

September 11, 2009  EPA Plans Scientific Scrutiny of New Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Permits

August 26, 2009  Earthjustice Appeals to Supreme Court on Mountaintop Removal Mining Case 

August 18, 2009  Media Advisory for event on Sunday, August 23, 2009 

August 11, 2009  Army Corps of Engineers Approves Permit for Controversial WV Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine

June 29, 2009  Help select new nickname for the Mountain State.

June 24, 2009  The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia

June 22, 2009  Educational Rally on Sustainable Solutions for West Virginia

June 10, 2009 Still Moving Mountains CD Celebrates Coalfield Resistance to Mountaintop Removal

June 1, 2009  Concert Funds Campaign for Replacement of School Below Coal Sludge Dam, Promotes Clean Energy

May 24, 2009  Seventeen Arrested Saturday; Six Remain in Jail for Opposition to Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining and Coal Sludge Impoundments; $2000 Cash Bail Unprecedented

May 23, 2009 More Arrests on Coal River Valley as Actions Against Mountaintop Removal and Coal Sludge Dams Continue

May 23, 2009  11 Removed During Raleigh County, W.Va. Protests of Coal Sludge Dams and Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining; More Protestors Expected This Afternoon

May 6, 2009  Grassroots citizens groups ask EPA to take over W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection; DEP places coal profits ahead of environmental justice for citizens

April 21, 2009  OVEC organizer Maria Gunnoe Wins Goldman Environmental Prize; Second Former Southern W.Va. Waitress to Win Environmental Nobel

April 19, 2009  The Faces and Places of Mountaintop Removal

March 24, 2009  Hope is alive in the mountains and valleys of Appalachia: Obama Administration EPA to scrutinize mountaintop removal permits

March 19, 2009  Underground Injection of Coal Slurry Not Meeting Public Health Standards

March 17, 2009  Bulldozers, Explosives Raze Mountains as W. Va. Groups Ask Obama Administration for Relief

March 11, 2009 Wyoming County Native Burns Featured In Charleston Event

February 28, 2009  Putnam County Activist Join Climate Protest in Washington, D.C.

January 13, 2009  Court sides with mountaintop removal coal mining industry; Conservationists urging new administration to stop mountaintop removal coal mining

January 13, 2009  Citizens to DEP: Prove that Sludge is Safe