Jan 27 Energy & Environment After Deadly Floods, West Virginia Created A Resiliency Office. It’s Barely Functioning. The rain came hard and fast early on the morning of June 23, 2016. By 2 p.m., water was knee deep in Bill Bell’s appliance store on Main Street in Rainelle, a small town on the western edge of Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Bell began elevating the washing machines and dishwashers, thinking that would be […] By Brittany Patterson Jan 27 Energy & Environment After Deadly Floods, West Virginia Created A Resiliency Office. It’s Barely Functioning. Brittany Patterson
Jan 22 Energy & Environment Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Still Racking Up Environmental Violations, Officials Warn An attorney for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet told a federal judge Wednesday that the bankrupt coal company Blackjewel has accrued nearly 300 environmental violations since it entered bankruptcy in July. “It’s essential that these violations are addressed, abated, and that they stop accruing,” Cabinet attorney Lena Seward told bankruptcy judge Frank Volk in […] By Sydney Boles Jan 22 Energy & Environment Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Still Racking Up Environmental Violations, Officials Warn Sydney Boles
Jan 22 Energy & Environment New Testing Reveals ‘Forever Chemicals’ In More Water Systems Across OH, PA, U.S. New testing by the Environmental Working Group has identified the presence of toxic fluorinated chemicals, broadly known as PFAS, in the tap water of dozens of cities across the U.S. where contamination was not previously known. EWG, an advocacy organization that tracks environmental pollutants in consumer products, sampled water in 44 places between May and […] By Brittany Patterson Jan 22 Energy & Environment New Testing Reveals ‘Forever Chemicals’ In More Water Systems Across OH, PA, U.S. Brittany Patterson
Jan 14 Energy & Environment More Unpaid Appalachian Miners Stage A Coal Train Blockade For the second time since summer, eastern Kentucky coal miners are blockading a railroad track to protest unpaid wages. The new blockade, which was started Monday afternoon by Quest Energy miners, echoes the months-long blockade by Blackjewel coal miners over the summer and speaks to a growing discontent in Appalachian coal country. “It’s hard to go […] By Sydney Boles Jan 14 Energy & Environment More Unpaid Appalachian Miners Stage A Coal Train Blockade Sydney Boles
Jan 7 Energy & Environment Study Finds Coal Closures Saved Thousands Of Lives A new study finds the closure of coal-fired power plants and transition to natural gas generation across the United States over a decade saved an estimated 26,610 lives due to a reduction in air pollution, with about a fifth of those avoided deaths in the Ohio Valley. The coal-rich Ohio Valley states received out-sized health […] By Brittany Patterson Jan 7 Energy & Environment Study Finds Coal Closures Saved Thousands Of Lives Brittany Patterson
Dec 17 Energy & Environment Conservation Groups Concerned About Cleanup Costs For Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Environmental groups sparred with coal company Blackjewel Tuesday over damage left behind in the coal company’s ongoing bankruptcy. The group is calling attention to numerous environmental violations by Blackjewel and its related companies and urging the federal bankruptcy judge to prioritize the environment as the bankruptcy continues. The groups identified more than 400 instances when […] By Sydney Boles Dec 17 Energy & Environment Conservation Groups Concerned About Cleanup Costs For Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Sydney Boles
Dec 16 Energy & Environment Ever Hear Of A Nurdle? This New Form Of Pollution Could Be Coming To The Ohio River When the petrochemical plant being built by Shell Chemical Appalachia in Beaver County is complete, it’s anticipated to bring 600 jobs as well as spinoff industries. But some researchers and activists warn that it could also bring a new type of pollution to the Ohio River Valley — nurdles. First sightings of nurdles Nurdles are […] By Julie Grant Dec 16 Energy & Environment Ever Hear Of A Nurdle? This New Form Of Pollution Could Be Coming To The Ohio River Julie Grant
Dec 16 Energy & Environment On The Most Populated Ohio River Island, This Beekeeper Found A Way To Better Himself And His Community Dave Watkins lives on Wheeling Island, the most populated island along the Ohio River. In the early 1800s, it was referred to as the “garden spot of Wheeling,” perhaps because its rich topsoil yielded verdant plants and lush gardens. Today, the West Virginia island isn’t necessarily thought of as farmland. Instead, its neighborhoods are full […] By Rebecca Kiger Dec 16 Energy & Environment On The Most Populated Ohio River Island, This Beekeeper Found A Way To Better Himself And His Community Rebecca Kiger
Dec 13 Energy & Environment Two Decades Of Resistance: Coal River Mountain Watch Takes Stock At 20 Coal River Mountain Watch’s history of resistance to mountaintop coal mining is plastered across the wood-paneled walls of the group’s modest office in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Framed photos, many of demonstrators being handcuffed, dot the walls. In the back of the building, a floor-to-ceiling length tapestry depicts the “true cost of coal” as envisioned […] By Brittany Patterson Dec 13 Energy & Environment Two Decades Of Resistance: Coal River Mountain Watch Takes Stock At 20 Brittany Patterson