Thursday, July 3, 2008
West Virginia coal operator Hugh M. Caperton and
Harman Mining, his company that was forced into bankruptcy, petitioned
the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon to accept its appeal of a
West Virginia Supreme Court ruling.
Caperton and Harman are challenging two state Supreme
Court actions that overturned a $50 million Boone County jury verdict,
now worth $76.3 million, against A.T. Massey Coal Co. for hijacking a
coal supply contract Harman had to deliver coal to LTV steel mills in
Pittsburgh.
The "appearance of bias" by Justice Brent
Benjamin, the petition argues, has national implications that could
affect supreme courts in 39 states that elect judges.
Coal companies dump mountaintop
removal mine waste into nearby valleys. As more mountains are
decapitated, more valleys will be needed and then more valleys again.
There is nothing to worry about since, as any fool can see, our mountains
and valleys are, like the oceans, infinite. There will always be another
mountain, another valley into which waste can be thrown "away."
And once the Gazette's favored coal company billboard slogan "clean
coal" rescues us from global warming we can destroy every mountain
with coal in it and not worry because, as fools assume, the mountains are
infinite, the valleys are forever.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
According to the American Lung Association,
24,000 people
a year die prematurely because of pollution from coal-fired power
plants. And every year 38,000 heart attacks, 12,000 hospital admissions
and an additional 550,000 asthma attacks result from power plant
pollution.
“Fossil fuels don’t make us sick.
Fossil fuels make us wealthy. And wealthier is healthier. Wealthier is
cleaner.”
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
W.
Va. Supreme Court Reinstates 2001 Flood Lawsuits – ruling allows 500
residents to seek damages.
Generally, the suits claim that mountaintop
removal miningand logging left forests
unable to soak up excessive rain and caused streams and rivers to
overflow. The list of defendants includes some of the coal industry's
largest companies, among them St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc. and
Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co.
Mountain
Madness – New Coal Plant approved in Virginia, may fuel mountaintop removal mining.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
BLASTING ADVERTISEMENT – from The
Logan Banner: Southern West Virginia
Notice is hereby given that Hobet Mining,
LLC, P.O. Box 305, Madison, WV 25130, phone (304) 369-6780 intends to conduct
blasting activities on the following surface mining permits:
Permit S-5003-96 located at or near Lukey Fork and Connelly Branch of Mud
River and Fawn Hollow of Big Ugly Creek of the Guyandotte River, Boone
and Lincoln Counties, West Virginia,
Permit S-5011-01 located at or near Mullins Branch of Mud River, Lincoln
County, West Virginia,
Permit S-5016-92 located at or near Sugartree Branch and Stanley Fork of
Mud River and Boone Block Hollow of Jack Smith Branch and Spruce Lick of
Big Horse Creek of Little Coal River, Boone County, West Virginia.
Permit S-5004-04 located at or near Lukey Fork of Mud River and Fawn
Hollow of Big Ugly Creek of the Guyandotte River, Boone and Lincoln
Counties, West Virginia,
Permit S-5003-06 located at or near Unnamed Tributaries of Berry Branch
of/and Mud River
Permit S-5008-06 located (at or near Berry Branch of Mud River)
Permit S-5003-07 located (at or near Sugartree Branch of Mud River and
Jack Smith Branch of Big Horse Creek of the Little Coal River),
Permit S-5002-03 located at or near Berry Branch of Mud River, Lincoln
County, West Virginia.
All blasting shall be conducted in accordance with the following schedule
of dates and times, unless emergency conditions dictate unscheduled
detonation. Blasting will be conducted
between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (approximate daylight hours) during May
15, 2008 through May 15, 2009. Public
access to the area prior to blasting will be controlled by personnel
employed by the permittee, who will be posted at key positions at least ten
(10) minutes before each blasting activity.
The pre-blast audible warning shall sound three (3) minutes prior to
blast. A warning signal audible to a range of one-half (1/2) mile from
the blast site will be given consisting of three (3) short signals for
five (5) seconds duration with five (5) seconds between each signal.
The “ALL CLEAR” signal shall consist of one (1) long warning signal of
twenty seconds duration. No blasting shall be conducted on Sundays.
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