Earthbytes

Historic Petition to Protect Tennessee's Mountain Tops Clears First Hurdle

Woohoo! The North Cumberland Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petition (LUMP) filed by Tennessee's Governor Phil Bredesen on October 1st now has the blessing of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to move on through the system.

In letters to officials in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Earl Bandy, director of the Knoxville Field Office of OSM, declared that the petition was "administratively complete."

Here's the text of a press release that went out from Statewide Organizing for Community ePowerment (SOCM):

Lake City, Tenn. (Nov. 23) – Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, formerly Save Our Cumberland Mountains, is commending the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) and Gov. Bredesen for its decision to deem the North Cumberland Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petition (LUMP) as “administratively complete.”  Today, the petition to protect public land in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan and Scott counties from surface coal mining operations has cleared its first major procedural hurdle. A process of evaluation and public comment will lead to a final determination by OSM.

“If approved, surface mining would be prohibited within the area designated under the North Cumberland LUMP, protecting many of Tennessee’s mountaintops and helping to keep some of the state’s world-class, biodiverse ecosystems intact.  Such protections are important because over the long term, it is healthy land, air and water that support thriving communities and economies,” said Cathie Bird, SOCM E3 Committee Chair.

“SOCM commends Governor Bredesen for a well-crafted petition that not only has so far passed muster, but contributes toward a healthy future for people, business and the environment in Tennessee. This is an historical step that represents a turning point in coal production in Tennessee,” said Bird.

In 2000, after years of exhaustive work by SOCM members, OSM granted a LUM to protect the Fall Creek Falls State Park and its watersheds. SOCM will continue to closely monitor the progress of the North Cumberland LUMP.

SOCM is a 38-year-old social, economic and environmental justice issues group.

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Many of SOCM's members -- including me -- will be directly impacted by the outcome of OSM's ultimate decision on the North Cumberland LUMP. The Royal Blue unit of the North Cumberlands Wildlife Management Area is one of my closest neighbors. I was standing within Royal Blue's boundaries when I heard the call from Nature (no, not THAT kind of call) to speak for protection of the natural communities here.

In that light, I am very appreciative of Governor Bredesen's efforts, as well as those of Senator Lamar Alexander, who supports the North Cumberlands LUMP and sponsored (with Sen. Cardin of Maryland) the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) that calls for protection all of Appalachia's mountains and streams.

Senator Alexander to Salazar, Pizarchik: protect the Northern Cumberland Plateau from surface mining

And now, via the Knoxville News-Sentinel, some really good news from (and for) Tennessee's mountains:

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee met Thursday with U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Office of Surface Mining Director Joseph Pizarchik to ask that the U.S. Department of the Interior move to protect land in the Northern Cumberland Plateau from coal surface mining.

via www.knoxnews.com

Groups to Manchin: Stop Standing in the Way of Clean Water in Appalachia

A bunch of scary people are on their way to Congress, and, in my opinion, that includes Governor Joe-soon-to-be-Senator Manchin of West Virginia. If he's okay with undermining the EPA's protection of his own state's waters as Governor, what can we expect from him in a Senate seat?

On October 6th, Gov. Manchin (claiming to speak in the spirit of Sen. Robert C. Byrd who, before his death, had actually become quite outspoken about the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining and the future of coal in West Virginia) announced that his state had filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration's Environmental Protection Agency to challenge new guidance on efforts to better protect Appalachian streams from this form of mining.

According to Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo, Manchin then did a reading from the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I assume this was Manchin's way of affirming state's rights, but I'm wondering if it was also a more subtle attack on the idea that the federal government can regulate what happens in waters of the United States in the first place. After all, the bulk of EPA's involvement in mountaintop removal mining permits (and the majority of recent squabbles between the coal industry and the EPA) has more to do with its duties under the Clean Water Act. (For another example, see the Spruce No. 1 Mine page at EPA website and read the recent proposed determination.)

I've read the civil complaint filed by West Virginia's Department of Environment and Conservation. In the second paragraph of the Introduction, I find it a little annoying that Manchin and Company seem to feel they need to defend Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania (citizens and streams? coal companies and politicians?) against alleged interference by the EPA as well. I, for one, very much appreciate the turn back towards science, environmental justice and enforcement of the law being taken by Administrator Jackson at the EPA.

I'm happy to share the news today that several Appalachian organizations filed a motion to intervene in Manchin's lawsuit in defense of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency's (EPA) new Clean Water Act guidance and its interagency review process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).

All of the intervening groups have members directly affected by mountaintop removal mining across Appalachia: the Sierra Club, Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, and Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment. [Disclosure and transparency note: I am a member of the last one listed, SOCM, but speak for myself on this blog.] The Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment is representing the groups.

The groups' press release (Appalachian and National Organizations to West Virginia's Manchin: Stop Standing in the Way of Clean Water in Appalachia) was published today at CommonDreams.org.

After 38 years with a Clean Water Act, waters of the United States are still in peril

Saturday, October 23rd, will be the 38th anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA). As I'll be attending the annual meeting of SOCM (Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment) that day, I thought I'd blog on CWA and take another opportunity to encourage folks to celebrate this important law by taking action to protect waters of the United States.

One thing that has always struck me about the Clean Water Act is its history. The law in force today can really be viewed as one in a long series that began as far back as 1899 with the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act.

It's significant for us in 2010 to understand that the early efforts of Congress to protect waters of the U.S. was motivated not from progressive, proactive stewardship of water resources but from a reaction to observable deterioration of water quality, particularly in navigable waters.

Since 1972, the Clean Water Act has helped in many ways to repair damaged waters and protect them from further destruction. But there are many studies and cases showing that deterioration of our rivers and streams continues.

John DeCock, president of Clean Water Action,had a great article today at Huffington Post that speaks to the complexity and magnitude of the challenge that ongoing damage to the world's waters has become:

The global water cycle is broken and is contributing to and being affected by chemical pollution, unheard of and accelerated biodiversity loss, nutrient issues, the hardening of the landscape and desertification, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, estuary and freshwater ecosystem collapse and climate change.

The way we decide -- or allow someone else -- to address these challenges will have significant consequences for future generations, not to mention our own. Unfortunately, "someone else" may not have our best interests at heart. The Clean Water Act and the EPA have been under attack for many years by corporate interests who'd love to see the protection of our water weakened instead of strengthened. Just this month, West Virginia's Governor Joe Manchin filed a lawsuit against EPA to challenge implementation of a 2010 guidance document related to mountaintop removal mining. This state action followed a similar suit filed by the National Mining Association against EPA in September.

These attacks further complicate the threats outlined by John DeCock. Below his article is a series of slides and videos that illustrate significant threats to water, such as surface coal mining, hydrofracking and disposal of toxic coal ash.

There was another great article in Huffington Post today by Peter Hawes who writes about pollution of the Emory River in Tennessee following the TVA coal ash pond rupture in Roane County.

Next Thursday, October 27th, the EPA will hold a public hearing in Knoxville, Tennessee to hear testimony on their proposed coal ash regulations. It was the Roane County disaster that moved the EPA into high gear on the coal combustion residue disposal question.

When I checked today, the pre-registration page still shows available speaking slots open for your testimony between 6 and 9pm. You can also find this page by clicking on the red and black sidebar image under Knoxville Hearing.

Another way to help protect waters of the United States is to support the Clean Water Protection Act and the Appalachia Restoration Act, both being considered now by Congress. These bills address dumping mine waste into streams -- a coal mining practice that has buried miles of precious headwater streams in Appalachia.

To find out more about mountaintop removal mining and valleyfills please visit iLoveMountains.org. In the right hand sidebar on their home page you can choose from several action links that will help stop this practice that is destroying communities of people and nature in Appalachia.

 

Environmentalists Intervene in Suit on Mountaintop Mining - NYTimes.com

Great article at the New York Times on a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against EPA by the National Mining Association:

On Thursday, the environmental groups filed a motion to join in the suit, arguing that the interests of their members will be strongly affected by the outcome. A victory by the mining companies, their motion argues, would cripple the ability of the government to regulate destructive mining activities and “would likely result in ill-considered permit decisions of dubious legality,” possibly causing irreparable harm to the environment.

The move was brought by the Sierra Club, which has branches in the affected states, and regional groups active in the mining debate, including the West Virginia Highland Conservancy, Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment. The presiding judge will have to decide whether to allow the groups to take part in the court proceedings.

via green.blogs.nytimes.com

For Many in Appalachia, the Coal Ash Problem Starts "On Coal River"

The coal ash sludge that burst out of a TVA waste pond and routed unsuspecting Roane County citizens from their homes brought a huge toxic problem into the face of an entire nation. The bad news is that the problem with coal ash is not born in ponds like the one at the Kingston Fossil Plant, or even in the fiery breakdown of coal that sends poisonous gases and particulates up the stacks and into the air we all breathe.

The problem with coal ash is born anywhere that human beings decide to mine coal. And if that mining is done by blowing up mountains, that birth is not only traumatic for Mother Earth but for communities of people who live there.

Such a place is the Coal River Valley of West Virginia.

On October 20th, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) and Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville (SPEAK) will host a screening of a most remarkable documentary about citizens of Coal River Valley who are literally fighting for their lives and that of their neighbors and communities against the disruptive impacts of surface coal mining.

On Coal River is a story that needs telling...and re-telling. And because the coal that comes out of Coal River may be coming to a power plant near you and me, it's a story we need to hear so that we can more fully understand the coal ash problem.

Please see this film, and please let your voice be heard on the coal ash problem at the EPA's Knoxville coal ash rule hearing on October 27th (see info links in the sidebar).

Here's the trailer from On Coal River:

 

 

 

Have you seen the Electricity Fairy?

Electricity Fairy will be one of many films shown at the Southern Appalachian International Film Festival, October 27-31, 2010 in Kingsport, TN.

 

Breaking: Gov Bredesen requests that OSM protect Cumberland ridgelines from mining

On October 1, 2010, the state of Tennessee filed a Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition with the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining. The petition signed by Governor Phil Bredesen requests the Office of Surface Mining find ridgelines on land managed for public use on the Northern Cumberland Plateau unsuitable for coal surface mining. Much of the property covered by the petition is part of Tennessee’s landmark 2007 “Connecting the Cumberlands” conservation initiative and is located in Anderson, Campbell, Morgan and Scott counties.

via tn.gov

See the press release here. See the Lands Unsuitable for Mining Petetion here.

Independent Science Advisory Board Draft Review Supports EPA Science on Mountaintop Mining Impacts

An EPA press release yesterday announced that the Science Advisory Board (SAB) has reviewed EPA's draft report “A Field-Based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity in Central Appalachian Streams.” The draft was released in April 2010 and used field data to come up with an aquatic life benchmark for conductivity that is intended to protect 95 percent of aquatic species in streams in the Appalachian region influenced by mountaintop mining and valley fills:

On September 28, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) independent Science Advisory Board (SAB) released their first draft review of EPA’s research into the water quality impacts of valley fills associated with mountaintop mining. In their draft review, the SAB supports EPA’s scientific research and agrees with EPA’s conclusion that valley fills are associated with increased levels of conductivity (a measure of water pollution for mining practices) in downstream waters, and that these increased levels of conductivity threaten stream life in surface waters.

“This independent review affirms that EPA is relying on sound analysis and letting science and only science guide our actions to protect human health and the environment,” said EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Water Pete Silva. “We will continue to follow the science and solicit input from all stakeholders as we safeguard water quality and protect the American people.”

Following the completion of the external peer review and review of public comments, the report will be revised and published as a final report. You can view the press release here, and the draft conductivity paper here.

APPALACHIA RISING TODAY!

After two days of conferencing, the pièce de résistance: A march to end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining. A march to end the disappearance of entire Appalachian communities. A march to end the obliteration of headwater streams. A march to end the government sanctioned war against nature and people in Appalachia.

And from Kevin Gosztola, a great article at OpEdNews that I think is right on:

Why FBI Raids Against Antiwar Activists Should Matter to Activists Fighting King Coal

How interesting is it that just prior to a massive convergence of anti-mountaintop removal activists other progressive activists were targeted for their activism. Those fighting for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining may not take positions on Palestinian or Colombian issues (although a letter from Colombians expressing solidarity with those gathered for Appalachia Rising was read Saturday evening), but they do favor the protection of civil liberties because those liberties protect their right to assemble and organize.

via www.opednews.com