EPA faces protests over Mountain Range Destruction

August 7, 2009 --The federal Army Corps of Engineers issued a Clean Water Act permit for CONSOL Energy Inc.'s Peg Fork Surface Mine near Chattaroy in Mingo County. The Peg Fork Surface Mine was one of six pending permits that EPA had reviewed in mid-May and said that opposed because "they all would result in significant adverse impacts to high-value streams, involved large numbers of valley fills, and impact watersheds with extensive previous mining impacts." The Obama administration's EPA quietly approved the permit without announcing the move publicly, despite his promises of greater transparency.

Tuesday, August 18, folks in our region can go to Philly and let folks know that we want them to stop destroying the mountains. This is part of a national campaign which kicks off August 14 at EPA Headquarters in DC at noon. Come join us at the EPA Region 3 Office to hand out information and make some noise about MTR. Not enough people know about this alarming practice. You can find directions to the office at http://www.epa.gov/region03/direct.htm

There will also be protests at the EPA regional offices across the country while we take care of Philly.


* Boston MONDAY 8/17 at noon!
* New York MONDAY 8/17 11am - 1pm!
* Atlanta TUESDAY 8/18 11am-2pm, carpool from Knoxville contact tanyabturner@gmail.com
* Dallas WEDNESDAY 8/19 11am -1pm, carpool from Denton contact undoubtedlythomas@yahoo.com
* Kansas City- meeting WEDNESDAY 8/19 2:30- 5:30pm
* Denver
* San Francisco
* Seattle
* Chicago

And if you cannot attend, PLEASE participate in a "fax attack" to the water protection division at (215) 814-2302, email "Brian Trulear or, if you live in the region, you can call toll free 1-800-438-2474 (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.) And you can also do a twitter attack by replying to @EPAregion3.

Get everyone you know to do the same. (We still need someone to set a date for Denver, Chicago, Seattle and SF. If a city is missing, we still need someone to choose a date and show up : ) You can find out your region by clicking on your state on this map: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/regions.htm. From there, the link for contacts will tell you how to call.

Showing support is VERY helpful. Let the EPA know that our numbers are much larger than the people who could make it out to their lawn.Folks are tired of coal companies going after thin seams of coal while killing wildlife and plants and sickening those who have lived here sometimes for hundreds of years, through the poisoning of our water and air with carcinogens and heavy metals.