Tagged: coal

Over the past two years, the EPA has filed specific objections to 36 surface mining permits previously approved by the state of Kentucky to mining companies that wanted to dump waste into streams in Eastern Kentucky. This week, there were public hearings on the EPA's objection to the permits in both Frankfort and Pikeville, and the EPA is accepting written comments until June 21.

One of the nation’s largest coal companies has announced it will be closing several mines and preparation plants in Eastern Kentucky.

Alpha Natural Resources will stop mining coal at four mines in Martin and Pike counties and idle two preparation plants. The company has enough jobs at other locations to reassign 286 employees, but about 150 will lose their jobs.

Alpha spokesman Ted Pile says the move is necessary.

Three Kentucky coal-fired power plants are named among the biggest polluters in the nation in a new report.

The Environmental Integrity Project analyzed the fifty-one U.S. power plants that emit the highest levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which have been linked to premature deaths from heart and lung disease.

The federal government has filed a lawsuit against seven Eastern Kentucky coal companies, alleging the companies discharged waste into nearby valleys and streams without a permit.

A common misconception about coal in America is that it accounts for most of the nation’s electricity generation.

Coal’s importance to the nation’s energy mix is indisputable. But that influence is on the decline, and is dropping fast. Even so, the new data has yet to be embraced by politicians intent on reinforcing Kentucky’s coal industry.

Here’s Western Kentucky state Representative Brent Yonts at a recent public hearing in Frankfort.

UPDATE 1:11pm: Seven protesters have been arrested from Hal Rogers' office. Activists in West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall's office and Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith's office were also arrested. According to the group's Twitter feed, those in the office of Tennessee Congressman Jimmy Duncan were given a warning.

Environmental activists are in Washington, D.C. this week for the 7th straight year, lobbying members of Congress to put an end to mountaintop removal.

The Environmental Protection Agency is weighing public comments and considering whether to cement its objections to 36 Kentucky coal mine permits. The agency heard from both the coal industry and environmental activists in a hearing in Frankfort on Tuesday.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul is joining the chorus of conservative voices criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency during this week's hearings on Kentucky mining permits. 

Many state officials are planning to speak out at today's meeting in Frankfort and Thursday's meeting in Pikeville. The Frankfort meeting is set to take place in a few hours and rallies for and against expanded mining are already underway.