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The Friends of Coal would like to thank the more than 1,000 coal miners, their families and supporters who gathered at the State Capitol Thursday in a peaceful protest of the Obama Administration and its EPA's ongoing assault against Appalachian coal.
The rally was called by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin in the wake of last week's veto by the EPA of a three-year old permit issued for Mingo-Logan's Spruce #1 surface mine in Logan County.
Tomblin was joined by Senator Joe Manchin, representatives of the state's congressional delegation and legislative leaders of both parties for the rally.
Tomblin pledged his administration will continue the state's efforts to fight the EPA's assault on the state's coal industry. Manchin told the crowd his first legislation as senator will be aimed at reining in the job-killing policies of the EPA.
The Friends of Coal would like to thank Governor Tomblin, Senator Manchin, Acting Senate President Jeff Kessler, Speaker of the House Richard Thompson and the hundreds of miners, their families and our friends who turned out to show their support of our state's primary industry.
We would also like to thank our numerous member companies who participated, as well as FACES, Citizens for Coal, the Logan Coal Vendors, the Coal Forum, the Mountaintop Mining Coalition, the Kentucky Coal Association and all the others who joined with us in making our voices heard. We are making a difference in this effort to save coal mining jobs.
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loganbanner.com
Dear Fox News,
I am highly disappointed in your news coverage on the evening of January 17, by Shepard Smith. I have never heard such bias and ignorance, reported in such a scathing tone by your news organization about the coal industry and the revocation by the EPA of this mining permit in West Virginia . My family and I have long been proponents of your news coverage and I have to say, you are “just plain dumb” as to the aesthetics of this topic and industry. The news media and the rest of the country, so like to portray the people of Appalachia in this manner, so maybe the tables have turned. We have lived in this great state, (one of the few in this country that is not financially in trouble) for the last 19 years. I am an accountant, bookkeeper and real estate agent and self-employed business woman who is married to, yes, the coal industry. It is my heritage and our way of life. My husband is a Professional Engineer with 28 years of mining experience and two engineering degrees from the University of Kentucky , and contrary to public perception, this industry has more great minds and degrees than your whole organization put together.
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It’s not every day that egg farmers and cattlemen rise to the defense of a mountain-top coal mine in West Virginia. But that’s what appears to be happening as the Obama administration nears a decision on the fate of the mine.
Nearly two dozen industry groups – including the National Realtors Association, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and, yes, the United Egg Producers – are urging the White House to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from yanking a water permit for a mountaintop-removal coal mining project in Logan County, West Virginia that would be one of the largest in Appalachia.
Why do those industries care about Arch Coal Inc.’s Spruce No. 1 mine? Because, like coal producers, their businesses require federal water permits.
If EPA pulls the permit, it would mark the first time in the agency’s 40-year history that it canceled a water permit after it was issued – a scary precedent in the groups’ eyes.
“The implications could be staggering, reaching all areas of the U.S. economy including but not limited to the agriculture, home building, mining, transportation and energy sectors,” the groups say in a letter dated Tuesday to Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The letter notes that clean-water permits such as the one issued to Arch by the Army Corps of Engineers support roughly $220 billion in economic activity each year.
“If EPA is allowed to revoke this permit, every similarly valid … permit held by any entity — businesses, public works agencies and individual citizens — will be in increased regulatory limbo and potentially subject to the same unilateral, after-the-fact revocation,” the groups say in their letter.
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The Environmental Protection Agency, in an unusual move, revoked a key permit for one of the largest proposed mountaintop-removal coal-mining projects in Appalachia, drawing cheers from environmentalists and protests from business groups worried their projects could be next.
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The Wall Street Journal
By: Stephen Power & Kris Maher
The Environmental Protection Agency, in an unusal move, revoked a key permit for one of the largest proposed mountaintop-removal coal-mining projects in Appalachia, drawing cheers from environmentalists and protests from business groups worried their projects could be next.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576079792048919286.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs
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CHARLESTON – Today’s decision by the Obama Administration and the U.S. EPA to revoke the permits for Mingo-Logan’s Spruce Mine shows an unbelievable arrogance and a total disregard for the impact this decision will have on the lives of West Virginia’s families.
The people of West Virginia deserve better treatment from their federal government. Time and again, the State of West Virginia and the Corps of Engineers have affirmed the issuance of this permit. For the EPA to ignore the needs of West Virginia communities represents malicious arrogance on the part of an agency determined to cripple Appalachian coal production.
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Please mark your calendars with a change for the Kanawha Valley Mining Institute’s meeting to February 10th. The meeting was initially set for the 3rd but has been changed due to the WV Coal Mining Symposium.
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An equipment failure of a WV approved emergency shelter was investigated by the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. The initial findings are being communicated to manufacturers and copied to the industry.
At this time no immediate danger is posed by the identified issue and no actions by operators is required. Operators should continue their routine examinations and report any unusual findings to the manufacturer and the Director.
WV approved emergency shelter manufacturers are to review this report, when received, and respond with an evaluation of attributed of their equipment that would prevent such an occurrence or an action plan for the examination and corrective actions to be taken to the Director by February 15.
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Registration for the 38th Annual WV Mining Symposium has been e-mailed to all Coal Bits recipients and is also included in this Coal Bits at bottom. If you have not registered please complete the form and return to our offices, you will be invoiced for your participation in the Symposium. A great program is being planned and an agenda will be sent by e-mail upon its completion.
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