The flattening of Wise, Va.

Comment: Look at the following comment, "The terrible truth, it seems, is that those in charge do not care" which is Mt. Top Removal that has destroy communities, rivers, air and land! This is legal mining ! Virginia will treat uranium mining the same way, only news from our county will be positive comments about uranium mining. Virginia will turn her back on her people in our county, just as Virginia has turned her back on our families in Wise County. Virginia loves business over life! Demand Virginia to ban uranium mining and Mt. Top Removal!

Posted by Peebles on 23 Jul 2009

Coal is in the blood of the people of Wise County, Virginia.

With a population of around 41,000, the coal industry has provided steady income for an otherwise remote part of Appalachia. Situated in the southwest corner of the Commonwealth, the county boasts several small, tight-knit communities, a functional public school system, two colleges, and a thriving sense of mountainous spirit that hallmarks Appalachian living.

It is not far fetched to argue that the socioeconomic landscape of Wise County would be drastically different without the coal industry’s presence there. The bituminous rock has served as the stovepipe economic model of Southwest Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia since the industrial revolution, and has brought intense development and employment to the region. Nowhere else on earth has coal played such a crucial role in the evolution of a region, and nowhere else do people’s very blood ooze the stuff. It is a cultural icon.

But coal is destroying Southwest Virginia, the Appalachian Mountains, and threatening the planet itself. At the epicenter of this environmental catastrophe lies Wise, a county that is crumbling under the heavy hand of King Coal. While Dominion works to construct a brand-new power plant in the region, fueled by dirty, antiquated coal, mining corporations have worked to systemically level the region through the practice of mountaintop removal mining.

The result is not a pretty one.

Several mountains have already been leveled in Virginia, some of which are in Wise, while millions of tons of rock, dirt, and toxic material are shoved into neighboring valleys, preventing streams from flowing and contaminating valuable, fresh water.

Sludge ponds, a result of the extremely water-intense washing process, contain billions of gallons of useless, dangerous slurry, filled with heavy metals such as nickel, cadmium, lead, and arsenic.

The fragile walls that hold back these industrial cesspools are typically made of fill material, and are prone to failure (as they have several times in recent decades).

Mountaintop removal represents a triple threat to Appalachia, as mountains are destroyed, streams are interred beneath tons of rock and filth, and toxic contamination threatens the health of every community in the region.

Wise County has become a battlefield for the fight against mountaintop removal, and even as federal regulators crack down on the practice, the coal industry continues to push for continued, and expanded MTR operations in Wise.

Ison Rock Ridge extends into the town of Appalachia and is dotted with several communities on either side of the elongated mountain.

Most recently, big coal has tapped Ison Rock as the next notch on its long line of broken mountains that now significantly mar the landscape of Southwest Virginia.

Nearby communities have been hesitant, at best, to embrace the new project, as the mountain looms over several towns and villages, and threatens to create a shower of rock and dust, a byproduct of the blasting process used to get at the coal, that is unwelcome by any standard.

Already, large stones and increased logging activity have spurred a public outcry, so much that the developer has been forced to revise the permit several times and the coal-friendly government has worked to suppress any public concern over the project.

“This permit application is currently in its 9th revision- and this round the permit has changed dramatically. Federal and State law require that public comment be accepted for all permits, but the state agency in charge has denied our request to have a public hearing on this latest revision that creates an essentially new mine plan.” – Samsva.org

Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) has expended significant energy in trying to ensure that Ison Rock’s permitting process is forbidden from proceeding in this unethical fashion.

The organization has asked individuals to call Governor Kaine and implore him to put a stop to the destructive practice of strip mining our mountains.

Folks who have lived on the slopes of Ison Rock for years are now threatened by the dangers of massive blasting nearby, unseating thousands of tons of rock, a practice that no one should live near.

Mountaintop removal mining threatens a way of life that, while formed around coal, has stretched far beyond the industry’s exploitation of a most finite of resources.

Appalachia represents a way of thinking – slow, deliberate, and respectful – an existence that does not mesh with the continued obliteration of the region.

If this permit is allowed to move forward, more deaths will come at the hands of the coal industry and MTR.

The terrible truth, it seems, is that those in charge do not care.


http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=1728

Deeds, McDonnell discuss energy, roads

Comment: We need to attend every meeting the Gubernatorial hopefuls R. Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell to demand their stand on Uranium Mining in the State of Virginia! The Pub always mentions Nuke Plants and Coal; well Virginia wants true green energy, not the kind that glows in the dark and not the kind that will kill the Chesapeake Bay!

RAY REED MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: June 27, 2009

LYNCHBURG -- Gubernatorial hopefuls R. Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell, in their first back-to-back appearances on the same stage, told Boys State attendees in Lynchburg yesterday that they could improve transportation in Virginia without raising taxes.

Deeds, a Democrat, said he would seek to pay for better roads by promoting business growth that would increase state revenues, but ultimately that growth depends on better roads.

"I have no plan to raise taxes," Deeds said twice.

McDonnell, a Republican, said he'd try to finance roads by "cutting spending on things that are not a priority."

Both candidates, who have served as prosecutors in criminal courts, drew applause when they told the 800 high school students that they support the death penalty for certain crimes.

Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, said "when a person commits a crime that sets him apart from society, you forfeit your life." But people shouldn't be "gleeful" about the penalty's use, Deeds said.

McDonnell, a former state attorney general, said, "I support the death penalty" for crimes that are premeditated and heinous, although "it is the ultimate penalty."

Deeds, responding to a student's question about his qualifications, said he has 22 years in elected office, 18 of them in the General Assembly.

"At the end of the day, the questions can't be about left or right, and you have to be right for every part of the commonwealth," Deeds said.

"I've got what it takes," he said, to applause.

After his speech, Deeds said crowds on the campaign trail have responded most strongly to messages about strengthening the state's economy. "People want to have hope, and that when things improve it will include them," Deeds said.

McDonnell gathered his share of applause as well, starting with his idea to make Virginia the energy capital of the East Coast, starting with offshore drilling in 2011.

He also said Southwest Virginia coal deposits, the state's nuclear-energy companies, and the spaceport on Wallops Island are other key parts of the state's energy potential. Deeds mentioned green energy as a potential new fuel source.

Both candidates told the young audience that they plan to curb college tuition costs by using more state funds to operate universities.

"I have a four-year plan to stabilize tuition costs," said Deeds, adding that tuition for Virginia students has risen 78 percent in eight years. Those plans include "putting a big chunk of money into needs-based financial aid."

McDonnell, also noting that Virginia has lowered the share of tuition costs it covers with state funds, said he has a goal to award 120,000 more degrees in the next 15 years than state education officials now expect.

McDonnell didn't say how he'd find more tuition funds in the state budget.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/GOVS27_20090626-221605/276662/