FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 11, 2010

Hundreds Converge in Richmond for a Senate Hearing
on Ending Destruction of Streams from Mountaintop
Removal Coal Mining

Contact:

Kathy Selvage, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (Wise County) 276-219-2721

Tom Cormons, Appalachian Voices, 301-910-8973

Kayti Wingfield, Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition, 540-470-0643

RICHMOND—Hundreds of Virginians attended a special hearing this afternoon before the Virginia Senate’s Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee on an historic “Stream Saver” bill. Introduced by Senator Patricia Ticer, Senate Bill 564 is the first bill ever introduced in the Virginia General Assembly that would end the practice of burying Virginia headwater streams with waste from mountaintop removal coal mines and other strip mines.

Supporters of the bill wore blue ribbons and stickers to symbolize the 151 miles of streams in southwest Virginia that have already been destroyed by valley fills from strip mining.” Eleven Virginia conservation and other public interest groups support the bill.

“We must work together to achieve a just transition from a singularly focused economy that is destroying the air we breathe, the water we drink and the mountains we love and move toward a thriving, diverse, clean energy economy,” said Senator Ticer.

Almost a dozen people traveled from the coalfields today to address the committee, including former coal miner and retired federal mine inspector Larry Bush, from Wise County, where more than 25% of the land has been strip mined.

“Our whole way of life here in southwest Virginia is being destroyed by strip mining and has been for a generation. I don’t understand why it’s been allowed to go on for so long. Our waterways are our most precious resource and we made the trip to Richmond to make sure our legislators know that,” Bush said.

Cabell West of Richmond, president of the 3,000-plus member Garden Club of Virginia, which unanimously passed a resolution last month in support of SB564, also addressed the committee. “I remind you that you have pledged to uphold the Virginia State Constitution. Article XI of our constitution reads: it shall be the Commonwealth’s policy to protect its atmosphere, lands and waters from pollution, impairment or destruction for the benefit, enjoyment and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth’. For the sake of the people, please protect our headwater streams in southwest Virginia by passing Senate Bill 564 to correct this wrong.”

Mountaintop removal involves dynamiting mountaintops and ridges with explosives to access the coal seams below. As of 2001, 151 miles of Virginia streams had been destroyed by the practice, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest studies, and 67 mountains have been lost. A January article in the leading journal Science, detailed the damage to humans and the environment from mountaintop removal, and called for an end to the practice. Despite the scope of the problem in Virginia, this is the first time the issue has ever been brought before the General Assembly.

Dr. Matthew Wasson, an ecologist and director of programs at Appalachian Voices, testified before the committee: “Headwater streams buried under tons of mining waste are gone forever, with devastating consequences for water quality and the food web downstream. And the central Appalachian mountain forests that are among the most biologically diverse in the world won’t return for millennia on mountains that have been blasted apart,” Wasson said.

While southwest Virginia residents like Bush have been living with the devastation of mountaintop removal and valley fills for decades, the General Assembly hearing comes at a time when the impacts of mountaintop removal are gaining unprecedented attention. In solidarity with the Virginia citizens in Richmond, mountaintop removal opponents in Kentucky rallied at their state capitol in support of a similar “Stream Saver” bill today.

Sen. Ticer presented the committee today with an amendment making explicit that the bill would not affect underground coal mining, which accounts for the bulk of Virginia coal production. In fact, 77% of Virginia’s remaining coal is in underground reserves, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). However, total coal production in Virginia is down 59% from its peak in 1990 and the EIA projects that central Appalachian coal production will fall nearly 50% in the next ten years, highlighting the need to diversify southwest Virginia’s economy to include more sustainable industries.

The Stream Saver bill is supported by the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition, including the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Sierra Club, and the Southern Environmental Law Center. Other supporters include the Clinch Coalition, Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, the Garden Club of Virginia, Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, the Virginia Conservation Network, and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.

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Press:

1- AP STORY IN THE FOLLOWING OUTLETS:

Forbes (AP Story): http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/02/11/general-va-xgr-mountaintop-removal_7351035.html?boxes=Homepagebusinessnews

Mountaintop removal coal mining bills draw hundreds of supporters in Virginia … - CanadianBusiness.com *** AP Story

Bill Would Prohibit Dumping Waste into Streams - The Virginian-Pilot
***AP story

Bill would prohibit dumping waste into streams – The Daily Press
*** AP Story

2- WVTF PUBLIC RADIO STORY:

Mountaintop Removal Bill - 2.12.10

Opponents of mountaintop removal coal mining gathered at the state capitols of both Virginia and Kentucky yesterday (2/11/10), supporting bills that would keep coal companies from dumping the rock they blast from the tops of mountains into nearby streams. At the Richmond rally though, opponents to mountaintop removal were outnumbered by coal miners and industry supporters– many are worried State Senator Patricia Ticer’s legislation– known as the Stream Saver bill– could actually end surface mining in Virginia. WVTF’s Tim Thornton has more.

Listen

3- CHARLESTON GAZETTE BLOG:

Mountaintop removal foes rally in Ky., Va. - Charleston Gazette (blog) - Ken Ward Jr

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WVTF:Mountaintop Removal Bill - 2.12.10

Opponents of mountaintop removal coal mining gathered at the state capitols of both Virginia and Kentucky yesterday (2/11/10), supporting bills that would keep coal companies from dumping the rock they blast from the tops of mountains into nearby streams. At the Richmond rally though, opponents to mountaintop removal were outnumbered by coal miners and industry supporters– many are worried State Senator Patricia Ticer’s legislation– known as the Stream Saver bill– could actually end surface mining in Virginia. WVTF’s Tim Thornton has more.

Listen