For Immediate Release
May 3, 2012
Contact:
Sean Sarah, Sierra Club, 330 338-3740 sean.sarah@sierraclub.org
Sam Broach, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, 276-523-1702, sbroach1@verizon.net
Tom Cormons, Appalachian Voices, 434-981-6506, tom@appvoices.org
Coalition
Acts to Protect Virginia Rivers and Streams from Mining Pollution
Groups
Challenge A&G Coal’s Unpermitted Discharges of Toxic Selenium
Wise County, VA – Today, a
coalition of groups took action to stop A&G Coal Corporation from polluting
local waterways.
Water monitoring conducted by the groups shows that A&G’s Kelly
Branch Mine in Wise County is dumping the toxic pollutant selenium into streams
at levels above state water quality standards, even though the mine’s permit
does not allow such pollution. The groups’ lawsuit alleges that these
unpermitted discharges violate the Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act.
Selenium pollution is a problem for coal mines across Appalachia, but
today’s lawsuit represents the first such action to protect rivers and streams
in Virginia from this harmful byproduct of mountaintop removal coal mining. The
groups bringing today’s lawsuit are the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards,
Appalachian Voices, and the Sierra Club.
“The more we learn about mountaintop removal mining, the more we
understand how this destructive practice pollutes our rivers, streams and
communities,” said Glen Besa, Director of Sierra Club’s Virginia Chapter.
“Companies like A&G Coal must be held accountable for cleaning up this
pollution, and must bear the true costs of the harm they’re causing.”
Selenium, a toxic element that causes reproductive failure
and deformities in fish and other forms of aquatic life, is discharged from
many surface coal mining operations across Appalachia. Selenium accumulates in
the tissues of aquatic organisms over time, and experts predict that waterways
across Appalachia could be on the brink of collapse due to increasing levels of
the pollutant.
“It’s a shame that it falls to groups like
ours to make sure that companies are complying with the law,” said Sam Broach,
President of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards. “Why aren’t state
regulators like the DMME stepping up to protect our communities from this
pollution?”
“The people, land and water of Appalachia have been forced to pay the
externalized costs of mountaintop removal for far too long, with local
communities suffering life-threatening health problems and a damaged
ecosystem,” said Tom Cormons, Virginia Director for Appalachian Voices.
“Appalachian communities should not be forced to subsidize wealthy coal
corporations that are violating the law.”
Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices, and the
Sierra Club are represented in this matter by Isak Howell and Joe Lovett of
Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
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