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We're sorry, this alert is no longer available. If you would like to learn more about ways you can take action, please visit Stop Mountaintop Removal.The short explanation of this alert was:
They blew the top off West Virginia's Cherry Pond Mountain a few weeks ago, and pushed it into streambeds to get the coal. Appalling? Yes. But hundreds of thousands of acres of mountains and forests and more than 2,000 miles of streams have already been destroyed by this vicious form of strip mining.
What makes Cherry Pond different is the timing.
Cherry Pond is just the most recent victim of mountaintop removal mining. A panel of federal judges may turn dynamiters loose across Appalachia. On February 13, they ruled against our coalition and said: The Clean Water Act—as written—won't protect streams in this ancient mountain range.
About 100 mountaintop removal mining permits were on hold pending this case. The ruling potentially opens the floodgates for more destruction in Appalachia. These permits will destroy 432 valleys and 213 miles of streams in Kentucky and West Virginia alone. We need your help to change the rules and silence the explosions.
Tell President Obama to prevent this irreversible destruction and work quickly to undo changes in Clean Water Act rules that allow industries to bury streams and other waters under their wastes by calling it "fill" material.
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| Mountaintop removal blasting at Kayford Mountain. Photo courtesy of Mark Schmerling. |
Mountaintop removal mining destroys entire forests and threatens nearby communities with floods and poisoned drinking water. It's been described by locals as "strip mining on steroids." No one should ever again have to hear the sound of a mountain torn apart by mountaintop removal mining, with coal companies bent on quick profit whatever the cost.
Thirty-six years ago, a coal slurry impoundment dam in Logan County, West Virginia burst, sending 132 million gallons of black water into Buffalo Creek Hollow, killing 125 people, injuring 1,121 and leaving over 4,000 people homeless. The tragedy made abundantly clear the dangers of allowing coal companies to sacrifice Appalachian headwater streams as garbage dumps for their industrial waste.
But the court says current law does not stop them. So, please, join with us. Ask President Obama to undo rule changes to the Clean Water Act and end the Bush administration's attack on our mountain communities. Act quickly—because once the mountaintops and headwater streams are gone, they're gone for good.
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