action alert from Coal River Mountain Watch. Take Action!
Tell the Office of Surface Mining to revoke Alpha’s Eagle II permit. online petition
In 2008, the WV Department of Environmental Protection granted Massey Energy a permit for mountaintop removal on Coal River Mountain. This permit allows Massey (now Alpha) to destroy 2000 acres of the mountain, despite the objections of community residents living directly at the foot of the mountain.
Fortunately, Alpha has not yet started mining on this permit. According to federal law, any permit which does not start within 3 years of being issued is automatically terminated. Eagle II is one example of what appears to be Alpha/Massey’s strategy of getting permits for areas that they have no immediate intention to mine before they are faced with stricter regulations and more science clearly proving the irreversible impacts of mountaintop removal.
Tell the federal Office of Surface Mining to revoke this permit due to Alpha’s clear violation of the law.
Take Action!
Comments can be entered through this online petition
or Comments can be emailed to Charleston Field Office Director Roger Calhoun at [email protected] or mailed to:
Roger Calhoun
Field Office Director, Charleston Field Office
Office of Surface Mining
1027 Virginia Street East
Charleston, West Virginia 25301
Sample Letter:
Dear Mr. Calhoun,
I urge you to revoke the Eagle II permit on Coal River Mountain. This permit was approved by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in 2008 but mining has not yet started. According to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, any permit which is not started within three years is automatically terminated, unless an extension applied for and approved. Alpha did not submit any such application. Despite the very clear language in both state and federal law, the WV DEP has arbitrarily and capriciously refused to declare the permit null and void.
Mountaintop removal mining on Coal River Mountain would devastate the surrounding communities, who would lose their access to the mountain and suffer the effects of blasting, increased flooding risk, and water contamination.
Alpha is in clear violation of the law by holding onto this permit for so long. If they plan to mine Coal River Mountain, they should be required to re-apply for their permit, considering all of the new scientific data that has emerged in the past several years regarding the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on watersheds and community health.
Please inform Alpha that the Eagle II permit on Coal River Mountain is null and void as a matter of law.
Sincerely,
Dear Mr. Calhoun,
I urge you to revoke the Eagle II permit on Coal River Mountain. This permit was approved by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in 2008 but mining has not yet started. According to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, any permit which is not started within three years is automatically terminated, unless an extension applied for and approved. Alpha did not submit any such application. Despite the very clear language in both state and federal law, the WV DEP has arbitrarily and capriciously refused to declare the permit null and void.
Mountaintop removal mining on Coal River Mountain would devastate the surrounding communities, who would lose their access to the mountain and suffer the effects of blasting, increased flooding risk, and water contamination.
Alpha is in clear violation of the law by holding onto this permit for so long. If they plan to mine Coal River Mountain, they should be required to re-apply for their permit, considering all of the new scientific data that has emerged in the past several years regarding the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on watersheds and community health.
Please inform Alpha that the Eagle II permit on Coal River Mountain is null and void as a matter of law.
Sincerely,
Cara Cruickshank
Dear Mr. Calhoun,
I strongly urge you to revoke the Eagle II permit on Coal River Mountain. This permit was approved by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in 2008 but mining has not started. According to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, any permit which is not started within three years is automatically terminated, unless an extension applied for and approved. Alpha did not submit any such application. Despite the very clear language in both state and federal law, the WV DEP has arbitrarily and capriciously refused to declare the permit null and void.
Mountaintop removal mining on Coal River Mountain would devastate the surrounding communities, who would lose their access to the mountain and suffer the effects of blasting, increased flooding risk, and water contamination.
Alpha is in clear violation of the law by holding onto this permit for so long. If they plan to mine Coal River Mountain, they should be required to re-apply for their permit, considering all of the new scientific data that has emerged in the past several years regarding the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on watersheds and community health.
Please inform Alpha that the Eagle II permit on Coal River Mountain is null and void as a matter of law.
Sincerely,