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Archived More...
April 2004 |
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Sprawl and Destruction of Open Spaces
The Center is continuing to organize local citizens and citizens' groups in
Greenbrier and Monroe Counties to pursue alternatives to a new four-lane highway
that would replace portions of US Route 219 from North of Lewisburg to Organ
Cave. We are developing a political strategy and leading a petition drive to
urge local officials to take economically and environmentally appropriate
actions that would obviate the perceived "need" for a road that would produce
disastrous consequences for the region's farmlands, further increase rapid
sprawl in the area, and radically change the character of the Greenbrier River
watershed.
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| Lewisburg, West Virginia:
before development. |
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| Lewisburg, West Virginia:
after development. |
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Consolidation of Surface Mine Board, Air Quality
Board, and Environmental Quality Board
We recently prevailed in an action brought on behalf of Trout
Unlimited to compel the West Virginia Surface Mine Board (SMB) to
consolidate with the state's Air Quality Board (AQB) and
Environmental Quality Board (EQB), as mandated by the state
legislature over ten years ago to provide for consistent appellate
processes among the three boards and to maintain continuity of their
functions and membership. In her decision, Judge Walker noted that
the legislature had mandated consolidation of the three boards to
"provide fair, efficient and equitable treatment of appeals of
environmental enforcement and permit actions to" these boards. She
pointed out that, at the time of the hearings in the case, SMB had
only one staff member, who was not an attorney and lacked relevant
technical or scientific training, while EQB and AQB (which had
complied with the legislative mandate to consolidate) shared a
full-time attorney with extensive experience in environmental law, a
full-time technical advisor with a master's degree in environmental
science and extensive experience in her field, a full-time paralegal
and a full-time administrative secretary. The judge concluded that
SMB's failure to consolidate had harmed its effectiveness and
hindered public participation.
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