RAN activists have spent two days locked-down to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding justice for the people of Appalachia by enforcing the Clean Water Act and ending mountaintop removal mining (MTR).

Specifically we requested that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visit Appalachia to witness this American tragedy firsthand by taking a citizen-guided flyover of a mountaintop removal mine site.

While the EPA has not committed to taking the flyover, we are encouraged by their positive comments.

Almost every person who passed through our ‘Purple Mountain’s Majesty’ and underneath the banner “EPA: Pledge to End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in 2010” has been incredibly positive about our action. EPA employees, tourists and DC residents all demonstrated their support on the issue.

Photo by Chris Eichler

In addition to the many comments from passing EPA employees that “we are doing a great job” and “please keep doing what you’re doing”, Lisa Jackson personally tweeted her response. Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”

This conversation extended to Lisa Jackson’s facebook page, now full of comments calling for Lisa to visit Appalachia and examine the impacts of MTR for herself. Many of these came from coalfield residents, using the opportunity to directly communicate with the EPA about their plight.

We have also been told about an internal memo that circulated the EPA headquarters yesterday, explaining that we were a nonviolent, peaceful protest and that staff should not be concerned by our presence drawing attention to an issue that the EPA is working to address.

However, while we’re encouraged by the implicit support from inside the EPA, now it’s time for that to be delivered through real action.

Having firmly placed mountaintop removal coal mining back onto the EPA’s radar, we will ensure that Administrator Jackson cannot ignore this critical issue until mountaintop removal is abolished.

UPDATE: 7:00am, Friday March 19–After 24 hours activists are still locked down in front of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC demanding justice for the people of Appalachia and protection for our historic mountains and precious water resources.

MTR Activists Lock Down At EPA

Photos by Chris Eichler

Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA: “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They’ll Bring the Mountains to Her”

At 7:00 am this morning, a dozen brave activists released a 25-foot banner on the lawn of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. The message on the banner calls on the EPA to pledge to end mountaintop removal coal mining in 2010. But there’s a catch—the banner and two of its holders are suspended from two freestanding tripods 20-feet above the air, and after seven hours they are still hanging there with no sign of coming down.

Today’s protest is an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains and contaminates drinking water all for a tiny amount of coal. Activists in today’s protest say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which, shockingly, she has never done before.

After seven hours, Administrator Jackson has made no such commitment. However, a few hours ago she tweeted her response to the protest gathering attention outside her window. As Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”
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Hi Res Pictures

Activists Risk Arrest with Elaborate Protest at EPA HQ; Demand Immediate Action to Stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA; Say “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They Will Bring The Mountains to Her”

WASHINGTON— In an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), activists early this morning erected two 20-foot-tall, purple tripod structures in front of the agency’s headquarters. A pair of activists perched at the top of the tripods have strung a 25-foot sign in front of the EPA’s door that reads, “EPA: pledge to end mountaintop removal in 2010.” Six people are locked to the tripods and say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which she has never done before.

This is the latest in a series of actions and activities aimed at pressuring the EPA to take more decisive action on mountaintop removal coal mining. Today’s tactic is modeled on the multi-day tree-sits that have been happening in West Virginia to protect mountains from coal companies’ imminent blasting. Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains to scoop out the small seams of coal that lie beneath.

“We’re losing our way of life and our culture,” said Chuck Nelson, who worked as a coal miner in West Virginia for three decades and came to DC to support today’s protest. “Mountaintop removal should be banned today. The practice means total devastation for communities, the hardwood forests, the ecosystems, and the headwaters. Why should our communities sacrifice everything we have?” More »

Last week I went to Washington DC, along with 200 other folks from 27 US states.

We were all there to tell Congress to end mountaintop removal and pass the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696).

Citizens directly impacted by mountaintop removal were joined by concerned Americans from as far away as Oregon, Maine, California, Minnesota, Michigan, and Colorado in an incredibly powerful act of solidarity.

Expertly coordinated by the Alliance for Appalachia, this was the biggest-yet lobby event on mountaintop removal.

We also took the opportunity to meet with staff from the various agencies involved in mountaintop removal permitting and regulation.

As I was leaving a meeting at the EPA, this image caught my eye. The poster reads “Blowing up mountains contaminates water and poisons people. EPA pledge to end mountaintop removal coal mining.“

This week I’m at Mountain Justice Spring Break with folks from all over Appalachia and the east coast. Ex-coal miners, college students, people from Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, California, West Virginia and lots more are here. Here’s the scoop from Marley Green…

85 Supporters of Mountain Justice gather at Natural Tunnel State Park for Spring Break

Duffield, VA – About 85 young participants from coal communities in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, as well as students from colleges and universities across the country, are convening this week at Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, Scott County, Virginia, to participate in Mountain Justice Spring Break (MJSB), a program of Mountain Justice. The week-long program features workshops on supporting local campaigns to stop mountaintop removal coal extraction. The event began Friday, March 12 and will end Saturday, March 20, and will include working closely with coalfield residents.

“We’re here, and we’re all working together with the community to stop mountaintop removal coal mining and support sustainable economies,” said Jessie Dodson of Richmond, Virgina, an organizer of MJSB. “Coal companies like A&G are destroying our communities by polluting our water and air and making people sick.”

Supporters are making trips to see mountaintop removal coal sites in the region, as well as lending a hand with area service projects such as weatherization. Participants hope that the weatherization will reduce the impacts of rising energy costs. Mountain Justice supports these efforts as part of the move toward a more sustainable community and economy. More »

Satellite photos recently released by NASA illustrate the real impacts of mountaintop removal (MTR) mining in Appalachia.

They were taken between 1984 and 2009 at the Hobet mine site in Boone County, West Virginia.

You can see through the time lapse the scale of the deforestation that has taken place, followed by the leveling of the mountain tops and filling of the valleys.

This is the same Hobet mine that was recently awarded a permit to expand by the EPA.

We urge EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to examine this practice firsthand, and take a citizen-led flyover of Appalachia before she considers issuing any further MTR mining permits.

Mike Roselle, co-founder of RAN and Earth First!, now works in southern West Virginia with Climate Ground Zero campaigning against coal companies to end mountaintop removal. Last Thursday, he was released after two weeks in a West Virginia jail for sit-in at Massey’s HQ. Here’s his story:

How did they get in here?, Part One.
As the sun came up I was squatting in the brush looking down on our destination. It was snowy and cold, and we had hiked the two and a half miles up the holler and over a ridge, and now we could see the Marfork Coal Company headquarters below at the bottom of a tree covered slope that fell about a thousand feet before ending at the edge of a large parking lot. We saw two workers arrive, both female, and then two men, who all went inside the office to open it up as we had watched them do on earlier occasions. This time, however, as we readied to descend the slope, two of them reappeared in the parking lot with snow shovels and began clearing snow off the helicopter landing pad on the far side of the parking lot. They did this quickly, and after applying salt to the pavement, they hurried inside and all was quiet. Taking the lead, Tom went down carefully picking his way through the snow and underbrush. Joe and I sat down and slid on our asses, which was a quicker if less dignified and soon we were on the steps leading into the lobby of Marfork’s main office, a fortress protected by a bridge over the river, a guard shack and several layers of chain link and barbwire. More »

We’ve got some friends in New York joining the campaign to end mountaintop removal.

Today, I got the following email from Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping:

Our new song “Mountain-top” begins with this re-questioning from Dr. King’s last sermon:

Have we been to the mountain-top?
Did we do all we could do?
JP Morgan rains down rock
Exploding loans from the Devil came due…

We are joining thousands of activist citizens who have opposed the removal of peaks in Appalachia for “dirty coal” mining. In resisting Consumerism, there is always an earth-justice motive, right in front of us. We remember leading Iceland citizens into their own super malls to oppose the big dams and aluminum smelters; and we recall opposing the super ferry in Kauai; and also singing to tree-sitters up in the redwoods. More »

Today the EPA’s two regional offices that have jurisdiction over new mountaintop removal coal mining permits got visits by RAN activists. Atlanta’s Region 4 office oversees new MTR permits in Kentucky and Tennessee, while Philadelphia’s Region 3 office is responsible for new permits in Virginia and West Virginia. Read about Philadelphia’s protest here.

Carrying banners and signs and wearing giant puppet costumes, over 60 activists rallied outside Atlanta’s Federal Building which houses the EPA’s regional office and demanded that Region 4 Regional Administrator, Stanley Meiburg, take a stand against mountaintop removal coal mining.

We heard from speakers, chanted anti-mtr chants, and acted out a skit in which the EPA and King Coal are set to get married, until (a fictional) Regional Administrator Meiburg steps in to stop the ceremony and stand up to defend air and water quality from the coal industry’s destruction.

After the skit a couple of us went inside the Federal Building to bring our anti-mtr message directly to the EPA. We were able to meet with Mr. Meiburg himself and we talked at length about our concerns about mountaintop removal. Meiburg agreed to bring together decision makers from Region 4 regarding MTR to meet with RAN and our Appalachian allies in the near future. We will be working hard to make sure that meeting happens soon and that Region 4 hears our message loud and clear – stay tuned!

All in all, today’s protest was a great success, thanks to all the great Southern activists who came out to make their voices heard!

-Annie

Philly EPA Considering 16 New Mining Permits

This morning activists in Philadelphia descended upon their Regional EPA branch to put an end to Mountaintop Removal mining (MTR). Decisions made here in Philly have devastating consequences for Appalachian communities and our country as a whole.

Activists prepared to enter the building and risk arrest by sitting-in until they were granted a meeting with officials inside, and after a successful engagement and demands met, the rally of 40 people exited.

In recent months, the EPA has wavered in their position on mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR); in particular with the recent approval of the high profile Hobet 45 Mine permit. Philadelphia’s EPA has oversight of MTR permits for Virginia and West Virginia, which includes the Hobet 45 Mine. Philadelphia’s Region 3 EPA is considering 16 upcoming MTR permits and is responsible for the enforcement of the Clean Water Protection Act at existing MTR sites, which makes it a critical agent in ending the mining practice.

This has become a national issue. Appalachians can’t wait any longer, and Philadelphia activists met this urgency with action.

Meanwhile, there is a simultaneous rally at EPA’s region 4 in Atlanta GA, also responsible for MTR permitting.

Every day, across Appalachia, the coal industry literally blows the tops off of historic mountains, impoverishing communities, poisoning drinking water, clear-cutting entire forests, wiping out the natural habitats of countless animals, and sacrificing the heritage and the health of families across the region. The EPA estimates that more than a million acres of American mountains across Appalachia have already been lost to MTR, and yet they allow it to continue.

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