Archive for February, 2014
On February 11th West Virginians faced yet another coal slurry spill into their waters. Charged with enforcing surface mine regulations under the Surface Mine Reclamation and Control Act (SMCRA), the Dept. of Interior (DOI) has been conspicuously absent and silent regarding these spills. DOI offered no comment on the recent 100,000-gallon coal slurry spill into a West Virginia creek that flows into the Kanawha River on Feb. 11th nor on the coal slurry spill in McDowell County on Feb. 19th. The Citizen Action for Real Enforcement (CARE) Campaign is asking “Where is Secretary Jewell”?
State regulators in West Virginia routinely fail to hold the coal industry accountable for its pollution. The West Virginia CARE Campaign has petitioned the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to intervene in the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to ensure safe water, air and communities for West Virginia residents. The 18 CARE Campaign partners and allied groups collected over 50,000 signatures in support of that legal petition. Individuals across the country signed on to demand that the DOI and OSM institute real enforcement in West Virginia.
Rob Goodwin, a technical expert at Coal River Mountain Watch, has been investigating the West Virginia DEP. “The West Virginia DEP has allowed the ground water and much of the surface water resources in this state to be destroyed by coal – forcing everyone to be hooked up to a huge corporation-owned water system where they have no rights or control over where their water comes from.”
Since Secretary Jewell took office in April of 2013, she has yet to meet with mine-impacted citizen groups across the country. In addition to supporting the OSM intervention into the W.Va. DEP program, the CARE Campaign partners hope the Secretary will meet this spring with the Citizens’ Coal Council and impacted communities from around the nation.
How can you help WV, you ask? In addition to attending the event in DC on Thursday– Water distribution volunteers are still welcome & needed at the WV Clean Water Hub. Monetary donations are being accepted via the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation.
Join us to ensure real enforcement in West Virginia!
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It has now been over 40 days since 300,000 people were left unsure about the safety of their water due to chemical spill in Charleston, WV. The spill has caused a lot of confusion, anger, and sent an estimated 400 people to the hospital – but it has also inspired some remarkable community organizing.
The WV Clean Water Hub is a community-organized effort that has been supported by volunteers as well as grassroots groups in West Virginia — including Aurora Lights, Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, RAMPS and more — to identify communities in need of clean water and supplies, and to connect affected communities with volunteers and donors.
This inspiring effort is an example of the ways neighbors step up to help their neighbors in Appalachia. It is also a stark reminder of the far-reaching impacts of this preventable disaster caused by industry negligence and lax regulations.
Here are some stories collected from The WV Clean Water Hub and activists working for clean water over the past weeks. The Hub is still making deliveries – learn how you can help below!
An Expanded Idea of Leadership
Jen Osha Buysse
The stories that get me the most are the stories of mothers with children who are sick and asking why the state is not considering it an emergency. Why is the government providing less emergency water every day, even though every day we’re learning new, disturbing issues with the water situation?
We’ve been gathering a lot of liquid baby formula and diaper wipes for the families with young children. We have an incredible group of people working together in unaffected areas to support those affected — local unions, daycares, schools. One local pediatrician donated baby supplies and landscape companies have offered their trucks.
I have spoken with many families who haven’t been able to work in the weeks since the chemical spill. They can’t just not buy water, but they can’t buy food or pay heating bills in the freezing weather. They don’t want to ask for help, but their income has been cut off.
Everyone can find a way to use whatever skills they have during this ongoing emergency. Someone has a truck, someone knows parents at a school they can organize – we’ve had to expand our idea of what leadership consists of, and I’ve witnessed all these incredible people working together to fill truck after truck.
This crisis is far from over and we must all work together to settle into a sustainable level of support that we can maintain as long as needed.
Jen Osha Buysse is an emergency relief organizer, co-founder and board chair of educational nonprofit Aurora Lights. She is a busy teacher and mother living in Morgantown, W.Va.
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Update from KFTC.org
Hundreds of KFTC members and friends braved the cold and warnings of winter storms to march and rally in Frankfort, KY for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth’s ninth annual I Love Mountains Day on February 12.
Folks gathered at the Kentucky River and marched up Capitol Avenue to the familiar chants of “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” and “Whose mountains? Our mountains!”
Speakers drew parallels among communities in eastern Kentucky and other communities in Central Kentucky, Louisville, West Virginia and North Carolina that are dealing with the impacts of fossil fuels.
“We may live in different hollers, but we share the same story of environmental injustice,” said keynote speaker Teri Blanton, a Harlan County native and longtime KFTC leader who is a member of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the EPA.
“It’s time for us to write a new story,” Blanton said. “Let’s create a new energy revolution in this state, a New Power revolution.”
Blanton called on elected leaders to:
- Invest in a new economy and a just transition in eastern Kentucky.
- Protect the health of people in eastern Kentucky and stop the destruction, beginning with passing the Stream Saver Bill.
- Pass the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, which would establish benchmarks for renewable energy and energy efficiency and create 28,000 new jobs in Kentucky over the next ten years.
- Support the EPA and other regulatory agencies charged with protecting the land and people.
- Pass Senate Bill 14, which would limit the use of eminent domain in cases such as the proposed Bluegrass Hazardous Liquids Pipeline.
“We have to create the democracy that we all deserve,” Blanton said.
To read more about the powerful day of action, hear beautiful quotes from speakers and see some of the great media coverage, check out KFTC’s blog!
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by Ricki Draper and Dan Cohn
Hands Off Appalachia (HOA) is an urban-based campaign that targets the funding of mountaintop removal. A small handful of banks are responsible for the majority of the loans, bond underwriting, and other credit extended to companies like Patriot, Arch, Alpha, and James River Coal Company. The financial backing enables coal companies to continue devastating the mountains, especially through the recent tough coal markets.
For the past two years, we at HOA have been confronting UBS, a Swiss-owned wealth management company, who is one of the top funders of MTR companies. The campaign began in Knoxville, TN, and has focused on mobilizing cities in the south against MTR and applying enough public pressure that UBS is forced to stop funding mountaintop removal. Recently, HOA has been expanding our campaign into the northeast to bring more pressure to bear on corporate decision-makers at UBS’s North American Headquarters in Stamford, CT.
Following our Fall Action Camp in Connecticut last November, 14 people were arrested on November 25th during a day of powerful non-violent direct action demanding that UBS stop funding MTR. You can read more about those actions here!
On the way back to our second court date earlier this month, HOA held speaking events in eight cities to continue to shine a light on UBS’s dirty business. We stopped in Worcester, MA; Washington, D.C.; Swarthmore, PA; Boston, MA; Waltham, MA: New Haven, CT; Bedford, NY; and Frederick, MD.
Kyle Gibson presents the True Cost of Coal poster created by The Beehive Collective.
Sharing the stage at many speaking events, it was amazing to see how our work addressing the coal industry in Appalachia intersects with the various struggles for clean water and healthy communities throughout the country. We learned more about the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline in DC; how students are organizing on their campuses at Swarthmore, Brandeis, and MIT around divestment as a tool for ending extreme energy extraction; how folks in New Haven are building resistance against the TransPacific Partnership; and we also learned about the struggle against hydrofracking in Maryland. While conditions grow more dire and disasters more frequent, it was heartening to hear about many forms of resistance to industry and corporate power.
Because our actions in November drew activists from as far away as West Virginia and Missouri, we want to make the most of every visit to UBS’s headquarters. When we go back to court for a pre-trial hearing on March 20th, we will hold another series of speaking events and benefits! Be on the lookout for another tour schedule soon. If you would like to bring us to your town, please email us at HandsOffAppalachia@gmail.com!
In the meantime, HOA is working hard to replenish the Mountain Justice Legal Defense Fund. It took a lot of money to bail 14 people out of jail in time for the holidays, and our bail money is still tied up in the Connecticut legal system. If you are able, please consider donating the MJ Legal Defense Fund online here in order to support people who put so much on the line to stop the crime of mountaintop removal.
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Feb 11 is the twentieth anniversary of President Bill Clinton’s Environmental Justice Executive Order. This order was a critical milestone––official acknowledgement of environmental racism and the disproportionate impact that frontline communities of color and low-income communities face from toxic pollution.
Frontline communities continue to lead the fight for environmental justice and a powerful new alliance is emerging to confront one of the greatest environmental injustices of our times: the destabilization of our climate. The Alliance for Appalachia is excited to participate in this effort along with our member groups. We want to share with you a powerful short film about an exciting new initiative: the Our Power Campaign!
Last summer, members of The Alliance for Appalachia, including OVEC and KFTC, visited the Black Mesa Water Coalition, which hosted communities from around the country who are fighting the devastating impacts of coal from the mountaintops of Appalachia to the mesas of Navajo Country. They were joined by leaders from allied communities who are sick of being exploited, poisoned and denied access to meaningful employment. These organizers shared experiences, strategized together and united around a common vision of Just Transition away from the Extractive Economy that is failing all our communities and threatening the future of our planet. Together we formed the Climate Justice Alliance and launched the Our Power Campaign.
Today we invite you for a front row seat into the beauty of this historic convening and the inspiring possibilities of the Our Power Campaign. Please, spare a few minutes to watch this short, powerful film and spread the word about this exciting new initiative by sharing the film widely: http://bit.ly/CJAmovie
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