Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Press Release from Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr.

LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO PROHIBIT DUMPING OF INDUSTRIAL WASTE INTO RIVERS AND STREAMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 4, 2009
CONTACT: Andrew Souvall / Pallone (202) 225-4671
Abigail Shilling / Reichert (202) 225-7761
Stuart Perelmuter / Yarmuth (202) 225-5401

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ), Dave Reichert (R-WA), and John Yarmuth (D-KY) were joined by 114 of their colleagues in introducing bipartisan legislation today that would prohibit the dumping of industrial waste into rivers and streams.

The Clean Water Protection Act of 2009 protects the definition of ‘fill material’ in the Clean Water Act from being expanded to include mining wastes and other pollutants. The legislation restores the prohibition on using waste as “fill” that had been included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ regulations since 1977.

The legislation will create a statutory definition of “fill material” that expressly excludes waste materials and will clarify environmental law consistent with the purpose of the Clean Water Act- to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.

Since 1970, more than 470 mountains in central Appalachia have been blown to bits and a million and a half acres of hardwood forests have been destroyed due to mountaintop removal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported in 2003 that more than 1,200 miles of headwater streams were buried and polluted by the toxic waste from this destructive method of mining. The report also found that the impacts of mountaintop removal valley fills will ultimately have a “disproportionately large impact on the total aquatic genetic diversity of the nation.”

The health problems caused by exposure to these chemicals and heavy metals include cancer, organ failure and learning disabilities. In addition, there have been multiple cases of children suffering from asthma, headaches, nausea and other symptoms likely due to toxic contamination from coal dust.

“This bipartisan legislation is a simple way to protect water quality and the quality of life for those affected by mountaintop mining,” Pallone said. “It is unacceptable to allow the excess spoil from this type of mining to be dumped in mountain streams where it can pollute waterways, and in some cases potentially endanger the lives of area residents. The federal government should not continue to give massive mining companies a free pass to dump their waste into nearby streams, and should instead protect residents who have been negatively impacted by this activity for too long.

“We have a responsibility to be good stewards of our environment, and this legislation is a strong measure of good stewardship for our waterways, and the communities around them,” Reichert said. “Our children – and future generations – will be protected through this bipartisan legislation.”

“The damage being caused by mountain top removal is irreparable, and each day that we fail to act our water is poisoned, our land is destroyed, and our communities are harmed,” Yarmuth said. “We must enact the Clean Water Protection Act and put an end to the destruction that is devastating the natural resources for families and communities in Kentucky and throughout the region.”

Mountaintop removal is a mining method where the top of a mountain is blown off to extract thin seams of coal. It permanently destroys streams, forests and mountains. The broken rock, or “excess spoil” from this process is usually dumped into nearby valleys, creating “valley fills” that cover hundreds of acres of land and bury hundreds of miles of streams.

On February 13, 2009, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, overturned a federal judge’s ruling that required greater environmental review of permits for mountaintop removal in West Virginia. The Court ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can issue Clean Water Act permits for valley fills without more extensive reviews. This ruling was a reversal of a U.S. District judge’s ruling that the Corps was not requiring enough environmental review before issuing these permits.

The lawmakers believe that while this decision was a great victory for coal mine operators in Appalachia, it was a terrible defeat for the communities in that region. The ruling will permit mining companies to conduct devastating mountaintop removal coal mining without acting to minimize stream destruction or conducting strong environmental reviews. Today, dozens of permits could be expedited as a result of this ruling.

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Press Release from the Alliance for Appalachia

 
Clean Water Protection Act Introduced in Congress with 117 Cosponsors:
Act Would Protect Mountain Streams and Communities

CONTACT:
Rep. Frank Pallone, (202) 225-4671
For Additional Quotes or Interviews, Hi-Resolution Images and other information contact:
     Stephanie Pistello, (917) 664-5511 Stephanie@appvoices.org
     The Alliance for Appalachia TheAllianceForAppalachia.org

For a list of current co-sponsors visit:
TheAllianceforAppalachia.org/cwpa-cosponsors
iLoveMountains.org/action/write_your_rep

WASHINGTON, DC – The Clean Water Protection Act has just been reintroduced by Congressmen Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ), John Yarmuth (D-KY), and Dave Reichert (R-WA) with 117 Cosponsors, including 17 members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee into the United States House of Representatives. The bill will protect communities and water quality by outlawing the dumping of mining waste into streams.

“The Clean Water Protection Act is the first broad Congressional initiative aimed at reversing the Bush Administration’s eight-year effort to savage our national waterways and the popular laws that protect them,” Robert F. Kennedy, Jr said, explaining his support of the bill.

The Clean Water Protection Act was introduced to address a 2002 Bush administration executive rule change that altered the long-standing definition of “fill material” in the Clean Water Act. The new definition permits mining waste to be used to fill streams, allowing companies to blast apart mountains for coal and place the resulting millions of tons of rubble, or “excess spoil” into nearby valleys, creating “valley fills” that cover hundreds of acres of land and bury hundreds of miles of streams.

“Congress meant for the Clean Water Act to protect our nation’s water resources; the Administrative rule change endangers those resources,” said Rep. Pallone, the author of the legislation. “The dangerous precedent set by the Bush Administration’s rule change undermines the Clean Water Act.”

The Clean Water Protection Act has taken on an increased urgency following a widely critiqued 4th Circuit Court decision February 13th that allows companies to conduct mountaintop removal without acting to minimize stream destruction or conducting adequate environmental reviews.

“We’re hopeful the Obama administration, which has said they are opposed to mountaintop removal coal mining, will be responsive to the public outcry against mountaintop removal,” said Ann League, of Save Our Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee. “The 4th Circuit Court decision makes it even more urgent that the president and Congress move quickly to stop this destruction.”

At the close of the 110th Congress, 153 co-sponsors had signed the Clean Water Protection Act. Members of the regional coalition The Alliance for Appalachia are confident that the bill could pass the House in the 111th Congress.

“On one side of the debate, you have a majority of the public who wants to end mountaintop removal, you have a President that agrees, you have a rich and vibrant grassroots movement within the Appalachian coalfields working to protect their communities, and you have a Congress that is promoting clean energy and environmental issues,” said JW Randolph of coalition member Appalachian Voices. “On the wrong side of the debate are less than a handful of senior congressmen and senators who are promoting devastating Bush-era rules.”

“Washington is finally starting to pay attention to our struggles in Appalachia,” said Carolyn Van Zant, a West Virginia volunteer with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, who traveled over seven hours to Washington at the end of January to encourage legislators to support the bill. “Over 470 of our mountains have been destroyed, and over 1,400 miles of streams have been buried. My county, Mingo County, has some of the poorest health and highest poverty in the United States. Mountaintop removal is ruining our community with blasts and flooding – and it is literally making us sick.”

“We live in a so called free country–but our basic needs are not being met. In the US today, clean water is a luxury – a luxury my family does not have access to,” said Erica Urias, a member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.

The Alliance for Appalachia is a regional coalition of 13 groups in 5 states working to end mountaintop removal coal mining and support the creation of a just, sustainable economy in Appalachia. Members include: Coal River Mountain Watch, SouthWings, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, The Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Appalshop, Heartwood, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development and Appalachian Voices.

Visit TheAllianceforAppalachia.org for more information.

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

So its been a very interesting couple of days. As promised in the blog title, I’ve got good, bad, then good news to report.

Most importantly, we JUST found out that Bank of America, one of the biggest backers of mountaintop removal coal mining companies, revised their policy on coal. Get this, they will no longer be funding mountaintop removal operations! Yeah, we couldnt believe it either! This is a huge falling domino in a 30 year campaign to end destruction of Appalachian mountains.

To everyone at Bank of America, thank you for doing the right thing. We applaud you.

So, some bad news. Yesterday, we found out that the EPA signed off on an 11th hour Bush Administration proposal to weaken the stream buffer zone rule, which regulates waste disposal at surface mines. But not to worry. There is a ground swell of opposition to the change, in Congress and around country, and President-elect Obama will have the power to roll back the rule once he’s in office.

Last, but not least, more good news. During the campaign, President-elect Barack Obama pledged to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

“We’re tearing up the Appalachian Mountains because of our dependence on fossil fuels,” Obama said in Lexington, Kentucky in August of 2007. “We have to find more environmentally sound ways of mining coal than simply blowing the tops off mountains.”

Today, we launched a major campaign asking President-elect Obama to deliver on his campaign pledge - and to do so within the first 100 days of his presidency. And After only 12 hours, 1,700 people sent letters to Mr. Obama. He’s heard us loud and clear.

Thanks again for everyones support. Till next time, onward and upward!

- - Benji Burrell, Technologist
iLoveMountains.org

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Contact:
Joel Finkelstein or Kate Geller, (202) 822-5200
Benji Burrell (804) 662-0964

BOONE, NC - Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today launched a new series of online videos showing the looming danger to some of America’s most special places: the Appalachian mountains, which are home to a vibrant and indelible culture, stunning biodiversity and enormous economic potential. The videos, at iLoveMountains.org, tell the stories of individuals and communities facing a future where their natural heritage is at risk of being blown up by mountaintop removal coal mining.

“We can find better ways to generate electricity without destroying communities,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices, which created the videos. “Though too many mountains have been lost, there are many more that can still be saved - and their stories need to be told. Justice must be served to the communities of Appalachia.”

Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, destroys any chance of economic development, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage - while only making the climate crisis worse. Features of this new campaign include:

America’s Most Endangered Mountains Videos
http://www.ilovemountains.org/endangered
The interactive map showcases 10 mountain communities facing a future where their natural heritage is at risk of being blown up by mountaintop removal coal mining. The stories featured in the videos show the reality on the ground in the Appalachian coalfields. Viewers are encouraged to spread the word and support the featured community, with videos that are easily emailed or embedded on any blog or webpage. Like the updated Appalachian Mountaintop Removal Layer in Google Earth, this map incorporates the latests videos, maps, and coal tracking tools from iLoveMountains.org.

The Blogger’s Challenge
http://www.ilovemountains.org/bloggers-challenge
The ultimate resource for bloggers interested in writing about mountaintop removal coal mining which includes embeddable video, coal tracking widgets, news and blog post headline tickers, and customizable “Spread the Word” widgets. These tools will encourage and incubate a community of concerned bloggers who spread the word, collaborate, and take action. The Blogger’s Challenge page also includes a “Blogger’s Impact” map, which shows where the campaign has spread around the country as a result of the challenge.

Updated “Appalachian Mountaintop Removal” in Google Earth
http://www.ilovemountains.org/google_earth_tutorial/
The most advanced content in the Google Earth’s Global Awareness layer now includes the latest videos, mapping, and coal tracking tools available on iLoveMountains.org. In 3-D and with out leaving home, one can take a high resolution tour of a mountaintop removal and see high resolution overlays of mountains before and after mining. The “My Connection” coal tracking tool lets Americans from Maine to California enter their zipcode and see how their electricity is connected to mountaintop removal. With video, stories, and photos, the “Endangered Mountain Videos” and the the “National Memorial for the Mountains” showcase communities threatened or devastated by mountaintop removal mining.

“For too long politicians have written off mountaintop removal coal mining as solely an environmental issue, but these videos show that it is so much more,” said Hitt. “The electricity that comes into your home when you flip your light switch may come at the cost of a community’s health, its economy, and even its culture. And that means it’s up to you to do something about it.”

The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 140 co-sponsors - dozens more than in the last Congress, with months still to go.

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

Contact: Joel Finkelstein, (202) 822-5200

BOONE, NC and WASHINGTON, DC - Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today opened a new front in the fight against destructive coal mining, filing suit in Washington, D.C. District Court to stop federal investment in new power plants that would enshrine coal for another generation.

The suit, filed by the North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and Canary Coalition, states that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of subsidizing coal plants without knowing the true environmental costs - including impacts of ultra-destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included $1.65 billion in tax incentives for new coal plants, $1 billion of which has been allocated to nine projects around the country.

“The fact is that there’s no such thing as clean coal as long as our mountains are getting clear-cut, blown up and bulldozed down,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices. “Right now, the electricity that powers your home may well come from mountaintop removal coal. We need fewer coal plants, not more.”

Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage - while only making the climate crisis worse.

“Members of the Canary Coalition and all people who live, work or vacation in western North Carolina are feeling the impact of existing coal-burning power plants on our health and the environment,” said Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition. “Asthma related to ozone pollution is the largest cause of absenteeism in our public schools. Emphysema plagues the elderly in this region. Heart and lung disease related to fine particulate sulfur dioxide has been documented by the American Lung Association. We are threatened by tropical diseases migrating north due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The status quo of air quality in western North Carolina is unacceptable. Building and operating a new coal-burning power plant such as Duke Energy’s planned expansion at Cliffside is unacceptable.”

Of the nine experimental coal facilities that have received tax incentives, none have conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) looking at the impact of coal on the environment - as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The nine facilities include a Duke Energy projects in Edwardsport, IN and in Rutherford and Cleveland Counties, NC; a Mississippi Power Company project; an E.ON U.S. & Louisville Gas and Electric project in Bedford, KY; a Carson Hydrogen Power project in Carson, CA; a TX Energy project in Longview, TX; a Tampa Electric project in Polk County, FL (that is currently delayed); and two anonymous coal gasification projects.

The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 129 co-sponsors - dozens more than last Congress, and only halfway through this session.

Saturday, November 3rd, 2007

iLoveMountains is being recognized nationwide as one of the most innovative advocacy sites on the web.

* CNET pointed to the National Memorial for the Mountains as an example of the tremendous power of Google Earth to change the real world.

* A blogger on NetSquared included iLoveMountains in his 2006 list of Best Internet Marketing for a Cause.

* In December, the iLoveMountains.org website was discussed on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, and she posted a link for her listeners.

* Worldwatch Institute has helped spread the word by covering mountaintop removal and iLoveMountains.org.

In their article “Hi-Tech Advocacy in Action” the editors of FundraisingSuccess magazine featured iLoveMountains as one of the best examples of using the web to involve and connect with thousands of new supporters. According to the article:

Thanks to cutting-edge technology, online advocacy campaigns are not only possible, but they can bring an issue located hundreds or thousands of miles away right to constituents’ backyard in ways that direct mail can’t.

The “I Love Mountains” campaign is a perfect example of this. A collaboration by local, state and regional organizations across Appalachia working together to end mountaintop removal, a type of coal mining where the tops of mountains are removed and mined for coal, I Love Mountains is operated through iLoveMountains.org, a site produced by Boone, N.C.-based environmental organization Appalachian Voices. It uses cutting-edge technology to inform and involve visitors in their efforts to save the mountains.

How does it do this? One of the coolest involvement features of the site is the pledge sign-up. When visitors fill in their name and contact information pledging to help stop mountaintop removal, they’re taken to a “personal impact page” that displays each person who has pledged as a dot on a map of the United States. A pledger can pass the word on to friends and invite them to pledge, and then their page will chart the number of friends that have been invited to support the campaign, and the number of friends their friends have invited. The personal impact page also shows the top 10 most active participants and the number of friends they’ve passed the word on to. These names link to each pledger’s personal impact page and, from there, connect to the personal impact pages of any of the friends they’ve invited.

“You can actually see the network of your influence spreading throughout the country” Mary Anne Hitt, executive director of Appalachian Voices, says.

National Memorial for the Mountains Earns Nationwide Coverage

An Associated Press Story on the National Memorial for the Mountains printed on November 4th has been picked up by newspapers and television station websites across the country. The story was written by Kentucky-based AP Writer Samira Jafari and puts the devastation caused by mountaintop removal in a human context. The story leads from the perspective of Benny Campbell, a resident of the Kentucky coalfields:

Benny Campbell experiences mountaintop mining day and night. His bed is rattled by the blasting. Gray dust blankets his porch and car if a few days go by without rain. His electricity goes out repeatedly when the coal miners accidentally knock down power lines.

But the worst thing of all, he says, is that the mountain peaks that once loomed over his lifelong eastern Kentucky home have been flattened by dynamite and bulldozers.

“When I was young, it was a really pretty place,” said Campbel, 53, who lives in a hollow called Bull Creek near Vicco. “Now it’s just a rock pile. You can’t do nothing with it.”

The story goes on to tell how iLoveMountains.org uses new technologies - particularly Google Earth - to lift the cloak of secrecy that has allowed mountaintop removal to continue.

Now environmentalists have found a way to let the rest of the world see what mountaintop coal mining has done to Appalachia: They have started a Web site that uses the Google Earth database to enable people to see aerial reconnaissance photos of the scarred countryside.

“The point is mountaintop removal has gone on under a cloak of secrecy,” said Mary Anne Hitt, executive director of Appalachian Voices, one of a half-dozen environmental groups involved in the Internet campaign. “Unless you have the experience of flying over the region in a small plane, it’s hard to understand the scale of mountaintop removal.”

Below is a list of media outlet websites currently running the story:

Blogs linking to iLoveMountains.org

• Society and Technology
• Net Squared
• Google Karten
• All Points Blog
• Worldwright
• FutureLawyer
• Ed Cone
• Matthew Gross Deride and Conquer
• Ecological Hope
• Graphics Culture and Bad Grammar
• Ecorazzi
• The Greener Side
• Jon’s Radio
• Google Earth Blog
• Sierra Club Compass
• Appalachian Greens
• We Love Mountains
• The Mahablog
• Blogging Poet
• Alternative Energy Blog
• Ogle Earth
• Exile on Jones Street
• From the Desk of Suzy Nees
• It’s Getting Hot in Here
• While the Earth Burns
• The Real Paul Jones

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

Google recently launched a new Google Earth Outreach project that featured our National Memorial for the Mountains, the centerpiece of iLoveMountains.org, as one of the nation’s most innovative nonprofit uses of Google Earth. Our mountaintop removal layer was one of 6 featured at the Google Earth Outreach launch in New York, along with layers from the Jane Goodall Institute, the UN Environment Program, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Holocaust Museum’s Darfur layer.

• Case study highlighting how we used Google Earth

  http://earth.google.com/outreach/case_studies.html

• Showcase of the best Google Earth layers

  http://earth.google.com/outreach/showcase.html

• Google Earth Outreach homepage

  http://earth.google.com/outreach/index.html

Several articles have been published recently about the Google project, in addition to the national AP article that was published in March when our layer first went live on Google:

• Feature article in the Sierra Club’s national Sierra Magazine, “Eyes in the Sky and On Your Desktop”

  http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200709/google.asp

• USA Today (online), “Environmentalists Warm to Google Earth”

  http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/cnet/2007-06-08-dogooders-google-earth_N.htm

• TechSoup.org, “Reach out with Google Earth Outreach”

  http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page7406.cfm

• NTEN (The Nonprofit Technology Network), “Appalachian Voices Fights for the Mountains”

  http://www.nten.org/blog/2007/06/25/appalachian-voices-fights-for-the-mountains

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

Very big news - Google has released new featured content in the popular Google Earth program that includes the mountaintop removal coal mining layer at the heart of www.iLoveMountains.org. The new featured content, which can be seen and explored by all 200 million users of Google Earth worldwide, includes the National Memorial for the Mountains, which uses Google Earth satellite imagery to reveal the devastating impacts of mountaintop removal mining in the Appalachian Mountains.

To learn more, read the press release below, and check out the post on the official Google Blog by Mary Anne Hitt, executive director of Appalachian Voices. In the post, Hitt writes,

The first time I flew over southern West Virginia and saw mountaintop removal coal mining from the air, I knew that if everyone could see what I had seen - mountain after mountain blown up and then dumped into streams in the neighboring valleys - they would think twice about where their electricity came from the next time they flipped a light switch.

Now it’s your turn to fly over the region.

To view the mountaintop removal layer in the new featured content for Google Earth (available for free download), go to the “Layers” sidebar in Google Earth, on the left-hand side of the screen. In the “Featured Content” folder, look for “Appalachian Mountaintop Removal” in the “Global Awareness” folder. More detailed instructions are available on the iLoveMountains Tutorial page where you can also download the full-featured version of the Memorial.

Monday, March 12th, 2007

————————————
Contact: Appalachian Voices
Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director | 828-262-1500 (w) | 540-239-0073 (c) |
Matthew Wasson, PhD, Conservation Director | 828-262-1500 (w) | 828-773-0788 (c) |
————————————

March 12, 2007

Boone, NC - Todayís release of featured content in the popular Google Earth program will include a new mountaintop removal coal mining layer created by nonprofit organizations in Appalachia. This month’s imagery and data release for Google Earth will include the National Memorial for the Mountains as one of the new Global Awareness layers in Google Earth, which will be available to all 200 million users of the application worldwide.

The National Memorial for the Mountains uses Google Earth to show the locations and tell the stories of mountains in Appalachia impacted by mountaintop removal, a form of coal mining that involves clear-cutting forests, blasting off the tops of mountains with explosives, and dumping the former mountaintop into valleys below, burying streams.

The new mountaintop removal layer in Google Earth features a high resolution tour of a large mountaintop removal site, 22 memorials that tell first-hand stories of families and communities impacted by mountaintop removal, and the locations of over 470 Appalachian mountaintops destroyed by mountaintop removal. Additional features include before-and-after views of mountaintop removal sites, a Google SketchUp model of the massive equipment used in mountaintop removal operations, and overlays of a large mine site over 36 U.S. cities.

To see the mountaintop removal layer in the Google Earth program (available for free download at http://earth.google.com), look for “Appalachian Mountaintop Removal” under the “Global Awareness” folder of the “Layers” sidebar.

The National Memorial for the Mountains is the centerpiece of www.iLoveMountains.org, a project of 7 grassroots organizations in Appalachia working together to end the devastation of the regionís mountains, homes and communities by mountaintop removal coal mining: Appalachian Voices, Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, and Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.

iLoveMountains.org and the National Memorial for the Mountains were produced by Appalachian Voices, an organization that brings people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains.

###

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Ed Wiley: 860-248-9512 or 304-928-0208
Heather Lascher Todd (Rep. Pallone): 202-225-4671
Coal River Mountain Watch: 304-928-0208
Mary Anne Hitt (Appalachian Voices): 540-239-0073

bWEST VIRGINIA GRANDFATHER COMPLETES 455-MILE WALK TO WASHINGTON TODAY SEEKING HELP FOR SCHOOL THREATENED BY MINING

Ed Wiley joined by thousands across America in calling for new school for kids of Marsh Fork Elementary, protection for all coalfield children

WASHINGTON, DC - West Virginia grandfather and former coal miner Ed Wiley today completed his 455-mile walk from Charleston, WV to Washington, DC, seeking help for a southern West Virginia school threatened by mountaintop removal coal mining. Supporters from across the nation joined Wiley for the last mile of his walk, from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol.

Wiley walked to Washington to bring attention to the plight of children at Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, WV, which is on the front lines of the controversial practice known as mountaintop removal coal mining. A 1,849-acre mountaintop removal coal mine surrounds the school area with more mining permitted. Marsh Fork Elementary sits just 225 feet from a coal loading silo that releases coal dust, with independent tests confirming the presence of coal dust in the school. A leaking earthen dam holding back 2.8 billion gallons of toxic coal-sludge is located just 400 yards above the school. The Pennies of Promise campaign was created to build a new school for the children of Marsh Fork Elementary. Wiley has walked to Washington to seek help from West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd.

“Senator Byrd is an honorable man and a true Appalachian who cares about the people of West Virginia,” Wiley said. “I hope he will stand with us to help the children at Marsh Fork Elementary School, because our children have been sacrificed long enough.”

Wiley’s arrival in Washington coincides with Mountaintop Removal Week, during which supporters from across America who have traveled to the nation’s capitol. These citizens have come to alert Congress to the dangers posed by the radical form of strip mining that involves blowing up the tops of mountains and dumping the rock into valleys below, burying streams. Mountaintop removal is spreading rapidly across Appalachia, particularly in the area around the Marsh Fork School.

Wiley was joined today by joined by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ); Lois Gibbs, the housewife from Love Canal who alerted the nation to the dangers of toxic communities and who is known as the mother of Superfund; Teri Blanton of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; and Mary Anne Hitt of Appalachian Voices.

They are calling on Congress to pass the Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 2719, a bill sponsored by Rep. Pallone that would prevent the dumping of mine waste into streams and would curtail mountaintop removal.

In addition to the event, a major new online campaign was launched today at www.iLoveMountains.org. The site features the National Memorial for the Mountains, an interactive, online memorial that uses Google Earth technology to show the locations and tell the stories of the over 450 mountains that have been destroyed to date. Visitors can watch a video featuring an interview with actor Woody Harrelson and download a new acoustic version of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind,” performed by music legend Willie Nelson. Harrelson and fellow actor Edward Norton are among the many supporters of Wiley’s walk to Washington.

“The Memorial is the first comprehensive source for penetrating the secrecy of these city-sized operations,” said Mary Anne Hitt, executive director of Appalachian Voices, the nonprofit organization that developed the site. “It features overlays that bring home the enormous scope of these mining operations: just one, for example, is comparable to the size of the entire Washington metro area.”