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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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Producers: Expanding
the Mined How U.S. coal companies adapt to safety and
environmental pressures may determine their future, U.S. coal
miners sit at the crossroads of worker safety and the
environment -- two major public-policy issues that pose threats
to the industry as a whole, but offer opportunities for
individual companies that can adapt. Increasing scrutiny
of the industry's environmental and safety performance has put a
premium on companies that can mine coal more safely while
causing less environmental damage. Wall Street Journal, November
12, 2007.
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Mount Stripmine?
WHILE THE nation's attention was focused on the nine lives lost
in the deep coal mine of Crandall Canyon in Utah, the Bush
administration has been busy pushing a form of strip mining in
Appalachia that is lethal to land itself. It has proposed a rule
that would explicitly allow mining companies to blast and
bulldoze the tops of mountains and dump rock and dirt debris
into streams and hollows. While this has been going on under
existing rules and laws, critics of the dumping had fought it in
courts. With the new rule, mine owners expect the legal fights
to end. Editorial Boston Globe,
September 4, 2007.
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Leveling Mountains for Cheaper Coal Host:
Warren Olney - panelist Joe Lovett of the Appalachian Center for
the Economy and the Environment. Coal miners are taking
the tops off mountains and dumping the rubble in streams and
valleys—forever changing the Appalachian Mountains. To the
Point - NPR Radio, August 24, 2007
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A change to mountaintop-mining rules? The Bush Administration is preparing
new rules to encourage what some say is a safer and more efficient type of
above-ground mining -- mountaintop, or strip, mining. John Dimsdale reports
environmentalists are worried. Marketplace - American Public Media, August
23, 2007
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Rule to Expand Mountaintop Coal Mining
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 — The Bush administration is set to issue a
regulation on Friday that would enshrine the coal mining
practice of mountaintop removal. The technique involves blasting
off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys
and streams, New York Times, August 23, 2007
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Mining Battle Marked by Peaks and Valleys BOB WHITE,
W.Va. — In the hamlets scattered across the coal fields of
southern Appalachia, the news from the courthouse was a breath
of fresh air to many: A federal judge had sided with
environmentalists fighting to stop a form of destructive strip
mining known as mountaintop removal. USA Today, April 18, 2007
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Ahead of the Bell:
Peabody Energy Rises NEW YORK — A Friedman Billings Ramsey
analyst upgraded shares of Peabody Energy Corp. on Monday,
saying a judge's ruling blocking permits for a rival to mine
coal in Central Appalachia will drive coal prices higher.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers revoked four
permits that allowed Massey Energy Co. to mine coal from
mountaintops in Central Appalachia. The judge ruled the
engineers that studied the sites failed to prove the mines
wouldn't harm the environment. AP April 9, 2007
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Mountaintop Rescue
Mountaintop mining is a cheap and ruthlessly efficient way to
mine coal: soil and rock are scraped away by enormous machines
to expose the buried coal seam, then dumped down the
mountainside into the valleys and streams below. NTtimes, March
29, 2007
State Articles:
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State
adds fish advisory for selenium West Virginia
regulators have begun warning state residents not to eat fish
from certain waterways because of high levels of selenium
pollution. Charleston Gazette, December 21, 2007.
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Manchin
joins Massey, industry in mine ruling appeal Gov. Joe
Manchin has joined with Massey Energy and the rest of the coal
industry to fight two federal court rulings that require more
scrutiny of proposed mountaintop removal mines. Charleston
Gazette, December 7, 2007
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Mountaintop Removal Permit Challenged Environmental
groups in Appalachia have filed a lawsuit against the federal
government, challenging a permit that allows International Coal
Group to expand a mountaintop removal operation in eastern
Kentucky. AP, Forbes.com, December 7, 2007
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Board
hears citizen concerns about coal mine selenium Pauline
Canterberry has lived around the Coal River for 67 years.
Canterberry swam and fished, and watched whippoorwills,
kingfishers and bluejays. “When I was growing up on Coal
River, I knew every swimming hole there was,” Canterberry said.
“I used to fish until about 10 years ago. I quit. I’m definitely
not going to eat anything out of it now.” Charelston
Gazette November 16, 2007
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ICG Mine
Draws complaints Beth Baldwin and her husband had just
about finished the foundation on their new Taylor County home
when they heard the news. International Coal Group had
proposed a new underground mine nearby. ICG’s longwall mining
machine would tunnel under the Baldwin’s house near Knottsville.
Charleston Gazette, November 14, 2007
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Boone
County mountaintop removal project blocked; Ruling might cost 39
miners their jobs at Castillo A federal judge on
Thursday blocked a coal operator from starting a new valley fill
at a mountaintop removal mine in Boone County. U.S.
District Judge Robert C. Chambers issued a preliminary
injunction that stops new mining at Jupiter Holdings LLC's
Callisto Surface Mine near Bob White. Charleston Gazette,
October 12, 2007.
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Presumed
toxic dangers overblown, official says: Enviro board member
criticizes attack on selenium Environmental Quality
Board member Bill Gillespie says too much was made over the
dangers of asbestos, DDT and Red Dye No. 2. And now, Gillespie
says, citizen groups are wrongly launching a similar crusade
over selenium runoff from West Virginia strip mines. Charleston
Gazette, October 2, 2007.
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Boone
mine permit wrangling continues HUNTINGTON — Maria
Gunnoe has lived most of her life at her family homeplace, at
the mouth of Big Branch near Bob White in Boone County. Gunnoe
fished in the streams, played in the creeks and picnicked at
family reunions on nearby Cazy Mountain. The last few years,
Gunnoe has lived with flooding and water pollution that she
blames on Magnum Coal’s mountaintop removal operation up the
hollow. Charleston Gazette, September 27,2007.
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Judge
asked to block Boone mine permit Judge asked to block
Boone mine permit; A federal judge was urged Monday to block a
coal company proposal that would bury more than a mile of Boone
County streams. Charleston Gazette, September 18, 2007.
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Buckhannon man to help mine whistleblowers Last year,
Nathan Fetty watched his community suffer through the deaths of
12 miners at the Sago Mine disaster. Now, the Buckhannon
resident is going to do something to help coal miners across the
state deal with safety problems. Fetty is starting a new project
to provide free legal services to miners who have voiced safety
concerns and then been retaliated against. Charleston Gazette
September 9, 2007
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Coal
lawyers want appeal thrown out A challenge to water
quality waivers for dozens of mining operations should be thrown
out, coal industry lawyers told a state appeals board Thursday.
Lawyers for more than 25 coal companies urged the state
Environmental Quality Board not to hear an appeal concerning
water quality waivers for the toxic metal selenium. Charleston
Gazette, August 10, 2007.
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Law not
stopping mine damage, House told: Hearing held ahead of 30th
anniversary of surface mine act on Aug. 3 A
30-year-old federal strip mine law has not stopped coal
operators from blowing up mountains, displacing coalfield
communities, and burying hundreds of miles of streams, a
congressional committee heard Wednesday. Charleston Gazette,
July 26, 2007.
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Court
backs limit on PPG mercury emissions: DEP moving to loosen
firm's permit anyway
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W.Va.
environmental groups file to join suit against Massey
Three West Virginia environmental groups want to intervene in a
lawsuit filed by federal regulators over thousands of alleged
water pollution violations at Massey Energy operations,
Charleston Gazette, June 20, 2007
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Mine
ponds ruled illegal Judge deals second blow to coal
industry. Coal operators cannot evade the Clean Water Act by
building sediment-treatment ponds just downstream from strip
mine valley fills, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Charleston
Gazette, June 14, 2007.
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Permit
switch, secrecy ended mine challenge Two weeks ago,
environmental activists Cindy Rank and Vivian Stockman took a
drive through the Logan County hills with Paul Vining, the
president of Magnum Coal. Charleston Gazette, May 27, 2007
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DEP
selenium waivers for mines challenged Three West
Virginia environmental groups have challenged the Manchin
administration’s move to give 76 mining operations waivers from
the state’s limits on the toxic metal selenium. On Friday,
lawyers for the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Ohio
Valley Environmental Coalition and Coal River Mountain Watch
filed their challenge with the state Environmental Quality
Board. Charleston Gazette, May 6, 2007.
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Fight
renewed over streamlined mine permits While one
mountaintop removal court ruling is appealed, lawyers for
citizen groups and the industry set the stage on Wednesday for a
renewed battle over streamlined permitting of mining valley
fills. Lawyers for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
allege that federal regulators have wrongly returned to the use
of “nationwide” or “general” permit approvals for valley fills.
Charleston Gazette April 26, 2007
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Parts of
mining ruling suspended A federal judge on Tuesday
suspended parts of his ruling that blocked four Massey Energy
mountaintop removal mining permits. U.S. District Judge Robert
C. Chambers ruled that Massey can continue to dump waste rock
and dirt into valley fills already started at three of the four
operations. “Most of the substantial harm plaintiffs complain
about has already occurred,” Chambers said. “It cannot be
undone.” Charleston Gazette, April 18, 2007
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Massey
seeks stay of ruling Massey Energy asked a federal
judge on Tuesday to suspend a ruling that blocked four of its
mountaintop removal mining permits. Lawyers for Massey also
notified U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers that they would
appeal his decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Richmond, Va. Charleston Gazette, April 11, 2007
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Judge
blocks Massey plan to continue mining A federal judge
on Friday rejected a Massey Energy plan to continue mining on a
mountaintop removal permit that was rescinded last month.
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers ruled that Massey's
Aracoma Coal Co. could not legally clear, grub and mine on one
of four permits blocked by his March 23 decision. Charleston
Gazette, April 07, 2007.
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Lawyers
argue over scope of mine ruling HUNTINGTON — More mining
permits will probably land in front of a federal judge, as
lawyers for the coal industry and government regulators try to
sort out the latest mountaintop removal court ruling.
Citizen group lawyers want U.S. District Judge Robert C.
Chambers to add several permits to the case, a move that
industry and Bush administration lawyers oppose. Charleston
Gazette, April 6, 2007
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No
decision on appeal of latest mountaintop mining ruling
HUNTINGTON -- The Bush administration has not yet decided if it
will appeal the latest federal court ruling to more strictly
regulate mountaintop removal coal mining. "It's still very
much under consideration," said Cynthia J. Morris, a lawyer for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Morris joined lawyers
for the coal industry and citizen groups Thursday at a hearing
to discuss the long-term implications of a March 23 ruling by
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers. Charleston Gazette,
April 5, 2007.
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Legal
action sought on funds for state mine cleanup program
Citizen groups started two major legal actions Wednesday to
force the Manchin administration to properly fund the cleanup of
abandoned coal mines that are polluting streams with acid
drainage. Charleston Gazette, March 29, 2007
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Environmentalists hope ruling ends mountaintop removal mining
Environmentalists on Monday hailed a federal court victory over
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the possible death knell of
mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Lexington Herald
Leader March 26, 2007
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4 mining permits blocked; U.S. judge
cites ‘alarming cumulative stream loss’ in decision A
federal judge blocked permits for four mountaintop removal mines
late Friday, in a major ruling that could force much tougher
regulation of West Virginia's coal industry. Charleston Gazette
March 24, 2007
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Mine cleanup fund could be empty by
2012, report says A fund meant to clean up abandoned
coal mines could face a financial crisis within five years,
according to a state Department of Environmental Protection
report. Charleston Gazette March 7, 2007
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Mines might get more time on selenium Four
years after federal regulators reported troubling levels of
selenium leaching from mountaintop removal mines in Southern
West Virginia, the Manchin administration is proposing to give
dozens of operations three more years to stop the pollution.
Charleston Gazette, March 4, 2007
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Groups ask judge to stop strip mine
Three environmental groups on Tuesday asked a federal judge to
block Arch Coal Inc. from operating on the largest strip mine
permit in West Virginia history Charleston Gazette, January 31,
2007.
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Corps gives final OK to record strip mine in
Logan Federal regulators have given final approval to the
largest mountaintop removal-mining permit in West Virginia
history. Charleston Gazette, January 30, 2007.
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Battle continues for DEP, Massey
Massey Energy lawyers on Tuesday took on state regulators again
in longstanding battles over a storage silo and a coal
stockpile. Massey challenged Department of Environmental
Protection orders blocking construction of a coal silo near a
school and requiring the company to cover a new stockpile
adjacent to the town of Sylvester. Charleston Gazette, January
10, 2007
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