Water Quality
Citizens groups seek to ensure Kentucky officials enforce Clean Water Act (again!)
KFTC and several ally groups late Friday filed a motion to intervene in a state enforcement action against Frasure Creek Mining for violating the Clean Water Act at its coal mining operations in eastern Kentucky. This action continues citizen action to force Frasure Creek to obey the law and state officials to enforce the law.
KFTC celebrates 10 years of I Love Mountains Day
“We are here to express our love for Kentucky and our belief in its bright future,” said KFTC Chairperson Dana Beasley Brown as she welcomed the crowd to KFTC’s tenth I Love Mountains Day.
Frigid winds and snow flurries couldn’t compete with New Power as hundreds of people from across Kentucky marched up Capital Avenue and rallied on the capitol steps for a brighter future for Kentucky.
Beasley Brown thanked KFTC members for “your vision, your courage and your persistence” and recognized the many communities across Kentucky who were represented in the crowd.
President proposes major new investments in Appalachian transition
The budget proposed by President Obama today calls for significant new investments in economic transition in Central Appalachia. The President's ideas for the region are being called the "Power + Plan."
Among the highlights of the President's plan are the following:
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$1 billion over five years to restore lands and waters degraded by decades-old mining and support related sustainable development projects.
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$56 million to invest in job training for laid-off miners and to support economic development efforts in Central Appalachian mining communities. This figure includes an additional $20 million in job training for miners and power plant workers; an increase of $25 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission's annual budget, to be directed at "communities most impracted by coal economic transition"; $6 million more to the Department of Commerce for "place-based regional innovation efforts," including grants to economically distressed communities; and $5 million more for the EPA's brownfields program to help communities deal with the closure of coal-fired power plants.
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$3.9 billion over 10 years to shore up health and retirement benefits for many retired miners.
Citizen Groups Compelling U.S. EPA to Protect Appalachia’s Water
Additional Contacts
Adam Beitman, Sierra Club
(202) 670-5589
[email protected]
Dianne Bady, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
(304) 522-0246 or [email protected]
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