On Saturday June 22, from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, KFTC will offer the second of four additional water testing workshops planned for this year as part of the ongoing Community Science and Public Health project. At this workshop, which will be held in Floyd County, we will learn how to do basic tests of local streams, learn how to get others in your community involved, and learn about other water quality issues we face in the mountains. We will spend a portion of the day out in streams, practicing what we’ve learned and testing local water sources.
Residents of the Sloans Valley area of Pulaski County once again find themselves fighting to protect their homes and community after the Beshear administration granted a strip mine permit for a controversial mining operation.
After dumping 22,500 pensioners and their dependents, the two largest U.S. coal companies hightailed it out of Kentucky and West Virginia, using Patriot Coal as their get-away vehicle.
The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet’s data shows that about 13,000 people worked in the state’s coal industry during the first quarter of this year. That number represents a drop of nearly a thousand from last year…and it’s the fewest people employed in the industry since the state began keeping records in 1950.
We know that young Kentuckians care deeply about our mountains and mountain communities. This year, we wanted to make sure their voices were heard loud and clear at Kentuckians For The Commonwealth’s 5th Annual Louisville Loves Mountains Festival on Friday, May 17, 2013. We asked young people to share their written thoughts and ideas for a brighter future for our mountains. Dozens of youth from across Louisville wrote essays on the topic, “Why we need to protect our mountains and mountain communities."
The three winning essays were displayed during Louisville Loves Mountains Festival. The young authors were also recognized during the festivities and presented with prizes by essay contest judge Carol Besse, co-owner of Carmichael's Bookstore. Heine Brother’s Coffee and Carmichael's Bookstore donated prizes and the winners also received a Louisville Loves Mountains Festival t-shirt. The winning essays are featured below.
Continuing their campaign to make sure Kentucky's water is safe for everyone, KFTC and allies have challenged plans by the Beshear administration to let Frasure Creek Mining "off the hook" for repeated violations of the Clean Water Act.
Appalachian Voices, Waterkeeper Alliance, Kentucky Riverkeeper, KFTC and several individuals (the petitioners) asked the Franklin Circuit Court Thursday to vacate an Agreed Order signed in April by Environment and Energy Cabinet Secretary Len Peters that claims to resolve all recent water quality violations by the company.
Thanks to everyone who took quick action in response to our action alert Monday about anti-clean water amendments in the U.S. Senate. We're happy to report that many of the worst amendments - including one by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul that would have gutted the Clean Water Act, and two by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin that would have crippled EPA's efforts to protect the public from the worst effects of mountaintop removal - were not voted on. This went down to the final minutes as Senate leaders negotiated which amendments would receive a vote.
A group of KFTC members, along with about 35 fellow Appalachians, made their voices heard in the fight against mountaintop removal mining at the 8th annual Week in Washington. Alliance members were joined by more than 40 allies from across the country.
