The flooding that killed at least 39 people in eastern Kentucky this summer also rampaged through Robinson Elementary School, collapsing the roof and destroying three decades’ worth of Robin Combs’ math curriculum materials, The New York Times reports. As they mourn the deaths in their community, including some children and staff, students and teachers from two […]
A Kentucky law that goes into effect Saturday could make it more difficult for miners suffering from black lung to claim federal benefits, Vice News reports. The law mandates that only five of Kentucky’s 11 pulmonologists, or lung experts, may examine miners’ X-rays in benefit claims. Three of these five qualified doctors have acted as […]
Eight former coal company officials were indicted in a Kentucky court Wednesday on charges that they lied to federal regulators about the levels of breathable dust in their mines, increasing their miners’ risk of exposure to the conditions that can cause black lung disease. The indictment includes charges that the former supervisors and safety officials […]
On Friday, May 30, another coal-related chemical spill polluted a public waterway in Central Appalachia, killing hundreds of fish and alarming local residents. The chemical spill happened at a Cumberland Coal Company prep plant in Harlan County, KY. This time, the spill was not of coal slurry or a coal-washing chemical, but of a flocculant—a type of compound usually used […]
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnnell (R-KY) surprised nobody with the bill he introduced Wednesday in response to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy’s detailing of President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions across the country. McConnell’s measure would have blocked the regulations within Obama’s proposal. It would have also provided the Senate minority […]
Two months have passed since hidden-camera images exposed Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) for dumping toxic coal ash into the Ohio River—a practice the company has engaged in for two decades. The utility has done nothing in response, so two environmental groups figure it’s time to pay up. The Sierra Club and Earthjustice filed a lawsuit asking a […]
The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (KDEP) had knowledge that a utility’s pond had been discharging “highly contaminated ‘orange colored’ water” through a drain pipe, but a proposal from Kentucky Utilities remains on the table. The company apparently wants to discharge even more orange water, which would be a byproduct of a proposed coal ash landfill on […]
Neighbors for an Ohio Valley Alternative By Geoffrey Sea [Read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of this series] The Commonwealth of Kentucky may sue the federal government to compel cleanup of the now-closing uranium enrichment site at Paducah, according to the governor and the state attorney general. The quasi-privatized operator of […]
Neighbors for an Ohio Valley Alternative By Geoffrey Sea [Read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of this series] Southern California Edison (SCE) has abandoned plans to restart its two nuclear reactors at San Onofre. The announcement this morning comes exactly one week after termination of operations at the Paducah, Kentucky, uranium […]
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