Tag: coal
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Illinois Strip Mine Showdown is Last Best Hope
When besieged residents, already choked by toxic coal dust, face off with Peabody Energy officials on Feb. 18, in Harrisburg, at an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) hearing for a five-year strip mine expansion permit, more than 1,019 paltry acres will be at stake. As President Lincoln once invoked in a moment of crisis, the courageous residents in…
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Why Environmental Justice Needs More Attention 20 Years After President Clinton’s Monumental Executive Order
Twenty years ago today, the U.S. government acknowledged the need for environmental justice for the first time in our nation’s history. President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.” From that moment on, federal agencies were charged with “identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and…
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Breaking: Third Coal-Related Spill in the Last Month Contaminates West Virginia Waterway
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investigating a coal slurry spill, reported to be of “significant” size, from a pipe that ruptured early this morning at the Kanawha Eagle Prep Plant in Kanawha County, WV. The slurry spilled into Fields Creek and has apparently begun to reach the Kanawha River, about 3.5 miles away. [caption id=”attachment_321038″…
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One Month After West Virginia Chemical Spill Major Data Gaps and Uncertainties Remain
By Richard Denison Yesterday marked exactly a month since what is now said to be 10,000 gallons of “crude MCHM”—mixed with what was later found to have included other chemicals—spilled into West Virginia’s Elk River, contaminated 1,700 miles of piping in the water distribution system for nine counties, and disrupted the lives of hundreds of…
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Speaking Out in Support of Strong Carbon Pollution Standards
Thanks to Ronnie Citron-Fink and the great work of Moms Clean Air Force for encouraging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt strong carbon pollution standards for new power plants. Here’s a slideshow of photos from the press event and Citron-Fink’s testimony that she presented to the U.S. EPA last week: [blackoutgallery id=”320731″] I’ve traveled from…