Below:

• Please comment today! New deadline of June 4 for comments to EPA

• New Mountaintop Removal TV Ad – Bring it to a TV Near You

• Sludge Safety Project Needs You Next Week

• Take Action for Blair Mountain

• Upcoming Events

Please comment today! New deadline of June 4 for comments to EPA
If you haven't made your comments to the EPA regarding the proposed veto of the Spruce No.1 mine, you are in luck – the comment period has been extended to June 4. We cannot overstate the need for you to comment to the EPA. This possible permit veto is a historic step for the EPA, and the agency needs to hear from every single one of us who wants to bring about the end of mountaintop removal.

The Spruce No. 1 mine, the largest ever permitted in West Virginia, would bury more than seven miles of headwater streams, directly impact 2,278 acres of forestland, and severely degrade water quality in streams adjacent to the mine. People living near this Logan County mine would likely be driven away.

You can submit pre-written comments by clicking here, but we strongly encourage you to comment in your own words.  Click here for addresses and other information you need to comment. EPA's page on Spruce No. 1 is here. 

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New Mountaintop Removal TV Ad – Bring it to a TV Near You
Member groups of the Alliance for Appalachia, ilovemountains.org and Ashley Judd have teamed up to spread the word about mountaintop removal to America’s living rooms. We don’t have the coal industry’s massive public relations budget, but we do have people power! We need you, your family and friends to watch the ad, share it, and then help raise money so that we can broadcast the commercial. Click here to watch and share the ad, and donate.  

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Sludge Safety Project Needs You Next Week
Next week the West Virginia Legislature's Joint Judiciary Interim Subcommittee A will hold the first of several hearings on the impacts of coal slurry and alternative methods of coal processing. Senate Concurrent Resolution 46, which was shepherded through the Senate by Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler, directs the committee to study impacts on the environment and public health from underground injection and slurry impoundments, alternatives to injections and impoundments, re-mining coal waste and abandoned mine lands funding.

Speaking at this first hearing will be a representative of our Sludge Safety Project, as well as Dr. Ben Stout with the Wheeling Jesuit University, who has studied communities with contaminated well water. Representatives from the Departments of Environmental Protection and Health and Human Resources will present a summary of the results of a study of the impacts of slurry injection mandated by Senate Concurrent Resolution 15 passed in 2007, thanks to the work SSP and our supporters.  

These hearings are the result of years of tireless lobbying by SSP and our supporters. We need your help now more than ever to push this committee to draft legislation (for the 2011 legislative session) that will address the problems of coal slurry and transition the industry to safer coal waste practices. For years, we've shown legislators scientific evidence and given community testimonials on the impacts of slurry. This is the best opportunity yet to make our case to the legislature that there is no such thing as safe coal slurry. Please come to the hearing to show your support for clean water for West Virginia’s mountain communities.  Right now, we know the hearing will be held on either Monday, June 7 or Tuesday, June 8 at the Statehouse in Charleston. We don't have any more details yet, but please reply to this e-mail if you think you can attend the hearing, and we will send you the details when we have them.

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 Take Action for Blair Mountain
PhD Student Anthropology/Archaeology Brandon Nida, one of many people working very hard to save Blair Mountain from mountaintop removal coal mining, sent out an urgent appeal, circulated on Facebook, for help:  "...a pretty big issue has arisen at Blair Mountain and it is time sensitive. In short, it regards an unpaved road that runs through the battlefield and that the state is considering turning over to private interests. This is the only public access route to the southern portion of the battlefield, and abandonment would greatly impact our ability to access or monitor the site." 

If you would like to read the rest of the appeal and take action, reply to this e-mail, with "Blair Mountain info" in the subject line. 

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Upcoming Events
Tonight, June 1 at 7 p.m. in the Marshall University Memorial Student Center in Huntington, WV.  EPA Public Comment Meeting. EPA seeks public comment on its Port of Huntington Tri-State Collaborative Geographic. More details here.

Wednesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. in the Wilson University Union at West Virginia State University
Institute, WV. EPA Public Comment Meeting. EPA seeks public comment on its Port of Huntington Tri-State Collaborative Geographic. More details here.

Thursday, June 3 at 7 p.m.  People Concerned About MIC meeting at Institute Church of the Nazarene (Activities Building), Institute, WV.

June 22-26: US SOCIAL FORUM II . Detroit, Michigan, USA - A Call to Participate in Building the Road to Detroit. Another World Is Possible! Another US is Necessary! Go to www.USSF2010.org.

July 3 - 4: Annual Fourth of July Celebration on Kayford Mountain. Music, speakers, potluck. Speakers will include climate scientist James Hansen. Musicians will include Ben Sollee.

August 13 -15: Camp Virgil Tate, Sissonville, WV. Save the date for grassroots trainings with groups who are part of the Alliance for Appalachia. Trainings on organizing, media, anti-racism and more. Further details soon.  

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