Yesterday a State of Emergency was declared in Southern West Virginia after flooding ravaged the area.
Thousands were without electricity on Sunday and there are reports of more than 100 buildings flooded in Logan County.
Local residents have been quick to make connections between this flooding and mountaintop removal mining – these are some of the most heavily strip-mined counties in Appalachia.
Mountain community residents have long complained about drastic increases in flooding following mountaintop removal operations. The coal industry maintains such floods are “Acts of God.”
Researchers at the University of Kentucky recently concluded: “there is a clear risk of increased flooding (greater runoff production and less surface flow detention) following [mountaintop removal and valley fill] operations.”
It is clear to me that flooding will only get worse if coal companies are permitted to continue to blast these mountains for coal. And right now they are pressuring the EPA to expand their operations.
The EPA is currently considering Coal-Mac Inc.’s application to create a brand new mine site at Pine Creek, also in Logan County, West Virginia.
We need your help to stop the further degradation of the Appalachian Mountains, the contamination of precious streams and drinking water and the exacerbation of the climate crisis.
Please take action and tell the EPA to act to mitigate flooding in Appalachia by rejecting the Pine Creek mine permit.