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Center in the Media
News Archive
(Listing with summaries)
2009-2010
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
News Archive
(Headlines only)
2009 -2010
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
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National and Regional Articles:
(click here for State Articles)
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Male Bass in Potomac Producing
Eggs, Moorefield WV - The South Branch of the Potomac River is as clear as bottled water here, where it rolls over a bed of smooth stones about 230 miles upstream from Washington. But there is a mystery beneath this glassy surface. Washington Post. October 15, 2004.
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Appalachia Is Paying Price for White House Rule Change
BECKLEY, W.Va. -- The coal industry chafes at the name --
"mountaintop removal" -- but it aptly describes
the novel mining method that became popular in this part of
Appalachia in the late 1980s. Miners target a green peak,
scrape it bare of trees and topsoil, and then blast away
layer after layer of rock until the mountaintop is gone.
Washington Post, August 17, 2004
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Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid
In 1997, as a top executive of a Utah mining company, David Lauriski proposed a measure that could allow some operators to let coal-dust levels rise substantially in mines. The plan went nowhere in the government. NY Times; August 9, 2004.
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Federal Judge Rejects Process for Approval of Mining
A federal district judge in West Virginia struck down on Thursday an Army Corps of Engineers procedure that gives a blanket pre-clearance to Appalachian mining operations that dynamite away mountaintops and dump some of the refuse into streams. NY Times; July 10, 2004.
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Court blocks coal mine
dumpings WASHINGTON -- A federal court decision blocking the coal industry from dumping more mountaintop mining waste into some West Virginia valleys and streams was hailed by environmental groups Friday as a major victory because of its potential effect on the mining method everywhere. Chicago Tribune, July 10, 2004.
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Rule Change May Alter Strip-Mine
Fight CHARLESTON, W.Va., - The Bush administration is moving to revamp a rule protecting streams that Appalachian environmentalists view as their best weapon for fighting the strip-mining technique of mountaintop removal. NY Times; January 26, 2004.
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Damage in Appalachia Trickles From
Top - A few years ago, the residents of Appalachia's hollows started fighting in court to rein in the practice of mountaintop mining, which they argued was ravaging the region's forests, streams and wildlife, and leveling its rugged mountain peaks; LA Times, January 18, 2004.
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Decapitating Appalachia Environmental protection under the Bush administration often seems to refer to the political environment and not the stewardship of the nation's precious resources….; NY Times editorial, January 13, 2004.
State Articles:
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Put
common good above political pull Earlier this
month, the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection ordered a statewide fish consumption advisory
because fish contain toxic levels of mercury. DEP’s
advisory, which applies to every water body in the state, is
a long-overdue admission that it is dangerous to eat more
than one or two meals of fish per month from any West
Virginia lake, river or stream. Charleston Gazette, December
27, 2004. Opinion Editorial by Joe Lovett and Margaret Janes
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Fish
mercury poisoning warning goes statewide, W.Va. residents
advised to limit eating of sport fish West
Virginians should limit their consumption of fish from all
state rivers and streams because of high levels of mercury
poisoning, state regulators announced Monday. Charleston
Gazette, December 14, 2004.
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Goodwin won’t hold
corps in contempt of permit ruling A federal judge
has declined to hold the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
contempt of a ruling meant to block streamlined permitting
of mountaintop removal coal mines. Charleston Gazette,
December 10, 2004.
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Goodwin asked to enforce rule on valley fills A
federal judge has been asked to step in and order proper
enforcement of his own ruling to block the streamlined
permitting of mountaintop removal valley fills.
On Friday, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition asked
U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to hold the Army Corps
of Engineers in contempt of Goodwin’s July 8 ruling.
Charleston Gazette, December 5, 2004.
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Mining fills continue, despite judge’s order The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is allowing coal operators to
begin new valley fills under a streamlined permit process,
despite a federal court order that blocked such fills.
Corps lawyers have decided that the fills can go forward if
companies have started other work - such as pond-building or
site preparation - at the same mining complex. Charleston
Gazette, December 03, 2004.
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Acid mine drainage focus of Mettiki
case In May, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection officials in Charleston overruled agency field staff members and approved a permit for a new Mettiki Coal Co. underground mine. When they did so, top DEP officials did not meet with regional staff or discuss the staff’s reasons for recommending that the permit be rejected. Charleston Gazette, October 20, 2004.
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Board rules for DEP in valley fill
case On Monday September 13th the state Surface Mine Board members ruled 5-1 that a stream buffer zone rule does not apply to valley fill waste piles. [Under the buffer zone rule, no mining activities are allowed within 100 feet of perennial and intermittent streams if that activity would harm water quality.] Lawyers for the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy are expected to appeal to circuit court. The case could end up in a major legal fight before the state Supreme Court. Charleston Gazette, September 14, 2004.
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Bush
officials trumpet mine ruling appeal The Bush
administration moved Thursday to appeal the latest in a series
of federal court rulings to limit mountaintop removal coal
mining. Lawyers for the Army Corps of Engineers appealed
the July 8 ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to
the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
Charleston Gazette, September 03, 2004.
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Goodwin declines to clarify mountaintop removal
ruling U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin on Tuesday declined to clarify his July ruling on mountaintop removal coal mining. Charleston Gazette, September 01, 2004
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Corps
mum on mine permit ruling On Thursday, coal industry
officials gathered in a hotel conference room to learn how
they can obtain Clean Water Act permits from the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers. Corps officials billed the special
workshop as a chance for them to provide an overview of
permitting requirements. But the Corps refused to
explain how it plans to interpret a new federal court ruling
that restricts its permit authority. Charleston Gazette,
August 27, 2004 .
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Judge
asked to clarify valley fill ruling A federal judge
should clarify his mountaintop removal ruling to stop coal
operators from illegally burying streams, lawyers for citizen
groups said in court papers filed Tuesday. Charleston
Gazette, August 25, 2004
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Goodwin expands ruling on permits for valley
fills A federal judge on Friday expanded his July 8 ruling that blocked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from approving mountaintop removal valley fills through a streamlined permit process. Saturday Gazette-Mail, August 14, 2004.
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Judge’s mining order ignored? Permit suspension was aimed at mine sites not yet started
A battle is brewing among environmental groups, the coal industry and regulators over enforcement of a July mountaintop removal ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. Charleston Gazette; August 9, 2004.
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Morgantown plant appeal settled
Developers of a proposed Morgantown power plant have agreed to tighter pollution limits to resolve a challenge of their state permit. GenPower LLC also agreed to donate $500,000 a year to a project to mitigate the effects of acid rain and global climate change.
Published: July 30, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
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Goodwin mine ruling ‘whole new ballgame’
Environmentalists are praising a new federal court ruling that could greatly reform the permitting of mountaintop removal coal mining. Sunday
Gazette-Mail, July 18, 2004.
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Mountaintops
LAST WEEK, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot give blanket approval to coal companies to bury streams. This week, a national polling firm found that more than half of West Virginians oppose mountaintop removal mining. Charleston Gazette Editorial, July 16, 2004
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Residents oppose mountaintop removal, poll shows
West Virginians oppose mountaintop removal mining and Bush administration efforts to weaken restrictions on the practice, according to a new poll to be released today. Published: July 14, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
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U.S. judge curtails
valley fills Coal companies must undergo a more rigorous government review of the effects of mountaintop removal mining on waterways before they receive permits, a federal judge in West Virginia ruled Thursday.
Published: July 09, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
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15 W.Va. counties violate air particle rules
Nearly one-half of all West Virginians live in counties where the air contains unhealthy amounts of small-particle pollution, according to new federal government designations released Tuesday.
Published: June 30, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
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Arch Coal strikes at researcher
In late 1999, state regulators, environmentalists and coal operators sat down to write new rules they hoped would help regenerate forests on mountaintop removal sites.
Published: May 30, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
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Mine board members asked to recuse themselves State Surface Mine Board members with financial ties to the coal industry were urged Wednesday to recuse themselves from a major case before the panel. Published: May 27, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
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UMW criticizes Bush on mercury rules. The United Mine Workers union said Monday that a Bush administration plan to reduce mercury emissions from power plants favors the western coal industry over Appalachian mine operators. Published: May 04, 2004 in The Charleston Gazette
In addition, Joe Lovett has appeared on Sixty Minutes, Bill
Moyers' NOW, the BBC, and in Sasha Waters' award-winning documentary, Razing Appalachia, which aired on the PBS feature Independent Lens.
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