Save Coal River Mountain

Help save the only intact mountain left in Coal River Valley, West Virginia. Two weeks ago, coal-industry giant Massey Energy began blasting away at Coal River Mountain -- shattering the hopes of citizens who had been fighting for years to save it, and making it the tallest peak ever blasted apart for mountaintop-removal coal mining. This radical form of mining -- in which the tops of mountains are blown off to expose coal seams and then all the wastes are dumped directly into streams -- annihilates forests, completely buries streams, and kills all wildlife in its path.

To make matters even worse, the blasting is only 200 yards from a coal slurry dam -- the only thing preventing 8 billion gallons of toxic sludge from flooding the community below. Studies predict that if the dam is breached, residents will have only minutes to evacuate before a 50-foot wall of potentially lethal mining waste washes over their community.

Every other peak in this devastated watershed has been blown apart by the coal industry. Coal River Valley can't afford to lose its last remaining peak.

Please use the form below to email the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency today. Ask them to intervene and save Coal River Mountain.

Subject: Halt Blasting on Coal River Mountain

Your Letter:

I am writing to ask you to stop the mountaintop-removal mining operation taking place on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. Coal River Mountain is the only mountain left in Coal River Valley that hasn't been destroyed by the coal industry. As such, it provides a refuge for wildlife and harbors unpolluted headwater streams in this devastated watershed.

Your intervention is urgently needed because the blasting is taking place next to a coal slurry impoundment that could break and unleash a flood of 8 billion gallons of toxic sludge onto the community below, causing loss of life and property and permanently polluting downstream habitats.

A few weeks ago you suspended the permit for the Spruce Mine, citing unusual circumstances. Coal River Mountain also represents unusual circumstances and the EPA has both the duty and the authority to protect this mountain. Massey Energy plans to blast away 6,600 acres of diverse, carbon-storing forest on the mountain, and to fill 18 valleys with toxic mining waste. I urge you to enforce existing laws to prevent this devastating project from happening. Please immediately suspend the permits for the mining operation on Coal River Mountain.

Your letter will be sent to these recipients:

Administrator Lisa Jackson

Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20460

Nancy Sutley, Chair

White House Council on Environmental Quality
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Fill in your information, then click to submit your letter.

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Brushy Fork slurry impoundment photo by Vivian Stockman, flight courtesy Southwings.