ProgressOhio

All Things Considered, March 31, 2009 · A federal judge in West Virginia issued a ruling Tuesday that dealt another blow to the controversial mining practice known as mountaintop removal.

The process involves blasting away the tops of mountains to expose coal seams underneath. The resulting tons of rock and dirt are typically dumped into valleys and streams.

U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in Charleston blocked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from issuing so-called "nationwide" permits, which streamline the process of getting permission to mine. Goodwin also ruled that more detailed plans for each individual mine must be submitted before permits are approved.

The court's decision comes as the Obama administration is promising change in federal policy on mountaintop removal mining. That has coalfield residents gearing up for a fight.

Environmentalists, miners and industry officials are all trying to figure out what the administration's promised change will mean.

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency issued letters raising "serious concerns" about two proposed permits for mountaintop removal mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. This sort of questioning was unheard of during the Bush administration, according to both supporters and opponents of the practice.

A Question Of Clean Water >>

Massey Energy is the biggest offender

OSU President Gordon Gee is talking out of both sides of his mouth.

While serving as co-chairman of a newly formed partnership of public research universities pushing to reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil, develop renewable energy, and to facilitate the move to the new green economy, he is being paid nearly $200,000 a year for serving on the board of Massey Energy, a coal company with one of the nation's worst environmental records.

Massey Energy's shameful record:

• behind one of the single worst environmental disasters in the region’s history, according to the EPA.
• biggest Dept. of Justice settlement in the coal industry’s history, for safety violations which lead to a deadly mine disaster.
• largest fine in EPA history for violations of the Clean Water Act.

In a news story which ran nationwide this week, ProgressOhio called on Gordon Gee to sever his ties with Massey.

He is not just a college administrator – he is the public face of our state’s largest university and a newly named leader in the renewable energy and green jobs movement.

Tell Gordon Gee it's time to put his money where his mouth is and resign from the Board of Massey Energy.