MTR Congressional Flyover with KFTC Cancelled

Posted by: Dave Newton on July 12, 2008 at 08:00pm

From the Lexington Herald-Leader Sunday

Flight to examine effects of mining canceled

HAZARD â€” Two congressmen planned to tour mountaintop mining sites Saturday and speak with residents living deep in the central Appalachian coalfields, but canceled the trip after their plane wouldn't start.

U.S. representatives Ben Chandler and Norm Dicks intended to fly over dozens of mining sites in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky in what Chandler's office described as "a fact-finding trip.â€

Chandler's spokesman, Jim Creevy, said the trip was canceled because the plane's battery was dead. A main switch was left on overnight, and it would have taken three hours to recharge the battery, he said.

The congressmen were scheduled to fly from Virginia to the Wendell H. Ford Airport in Hazard.

Dozens of Appalachian residents and members of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a social justice group that opposes mountaintop removal, gathered at the Hazard airport prepared to share their experiences and speak to the congressmen against mining.

The trip would have been especially significant because Chandler was bringing Dicks with him.

Dicks, D-Washington, chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that has oversight of environmental matters, giving him a great deal of clout in such issues.

His visit would have been the first time a member of Congress in such a position has traveled to Kentucky to view large-scale surface mining and meet with opponents.

Creevy said Chandler has promised to reschedule the flyover, but he did not indicate when.

"Congressman Chandler has been trying to bring this issue to attention,â€ said Denis Fleming, chief of staff for Chandler, a Democrat from Versailles. "He's concerned about it.â€