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West Virginia Senators Capito, Justice vote no on reinstating federal public lands staff and support for wildland firefighters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb. 21, 2025 CONTACT: Olivia Miller, Program Director, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, olivia.miller@wvhighlands.org, (304) 704-2997 WASHINGTON — Late Thursday night, Senators Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Jim […]
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Environmental Groups Sue to Challenge Mountaintop Removal Mine on Coal River Mountain
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Contact Vernon Haltom Executive Director, Coal River Mountain Watch 216-338-6003 vernon@crmw.net Willie Dodson Coal Impacts Program Manager, Appalachian Voices 276-870-5843 willie@appvoices.org Bianca Sanchez […]
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STATEMENT: Coal company’s bankruptcy filing reflects growing pressure to end reckless mining in West Virginia
Rocky Run Surface Mine in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Photo courtesy of Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 18, 2025 CONTACT Olivia Miller, Program Director, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, […]
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Conservation groups condemn recent mass firings at US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 16, 2025 CONTACTOlivia Miller, Program Director, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, (304) 704-2997, olivia.miller@wvhighlands.orgAndrew Young, Staff Attorney, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, (434) 202-4397, ayoung@abralliance.org “Here is your country. Cherish […]
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Federal regulators shut down illegal WV coal haul road—Interior quietly reopens it at company’s request
Coal trucks travel along Haulroad #2 in the Monongahela National Forest. (Photo courtesy Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance Air Force) By Olivia Miller, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy While writing this story, we […]
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Federal regulators issue notice to DEP for failing to enforce environmental protections at Greenbrier County coal mines
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A notice issued by federal coal mining regulators today outlines the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s failures to address persistent problems at a set of South […]
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West Virginia DEP Suspends Bluestone Coal’s Mining Permit for Poca Surface Mine
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has suspended the mining permit for Bluestone Coal Corporation’s Poca surface mine in Wyoming County. The nearly 600-acre mountaintop removal […]
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After decades of advocacy, 2,700 acres of Blackwater Canyon now in public ownership
THOMAS, W.Va.—The West Virginia conservation group Friends of Blackwater announced yesterday the successful culmination of a 25-year campaign to ensure the full protection of Blackwater Canyon in Tucker County as […]
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Environmental groups sue South Fork Coal over damages near Cranberry Wilderness
RICHWOOD, W.Va. — The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Appalachian Voices sued South Fork Coal Company today for ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control […]
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Conservation groups ask nation’s top coal mine regulator to shut down illegal coal haul road in Monongahela National Forest
RICHWOOD, W.Va. — Today, 11 conservation organizations urged the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to take immediate action to close an illegal coal haul road in the […]
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