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Sierra Club and Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards Take Action to Stop Unlawful Clear Cutting Related to Coal Mining

Case Updates:

August 15, 2008

Ison Rock Ridge Logging Injunction Upheld!

In an important victory, a federal judge denied a motion by Landholder Penn Virginia and logging company Mountain Forest Products to dissolve a preliminary injunction that has halted clear-cutting operations on an unpermitted mountaintop removal mining site in Southwest Virginia.

As Kathy Selvage, vice president of Southern Appalachian Mountain explains, “MTR destroys everything we hold dear: our mountains, watersheds, and streambeds; the purity of air and water for our future generations; our communities, our people’s health, our quiet nights and our daily peace of mind. What does it give us? Turmoil."

At issue is whether the logging falls within the definition of "surface coal mining operations," under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), which defines the phrase to include "activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine"  The Sierra Club and SAMS maintain that, because a coal mining application has been filed, and because the application seeks permission to clear vegetation and harvest timber in order to prepare the site for mining, the clear-cutting is occurring "in connection with" the proposed strip mine. The legal issue is a matter of first impression for the courts.

In this most recent ruling, the judge found that, while Mountain Forest Product's contractor "would suffer some inconvenience and added expense resulting from the entry of the preliminary injunction," the likelihood of harm to the Sierra Club and SAMS "continued to outweigh that to the defendants," and accordingly, the court left the injunction in place.

August 7, 2008

Industry groups have asked the court to dismiss its injunction halting logging on Ison Rock Ridge. A public hearing will take place on Thursday, August 7 at 1:30 p.m. at the Federal Court House in Abingdon.

View the court calendar here.

August 4, 2008

In a victory for community members and for clean water, a district court judge issued a preliminary injunction stopping clear-cutting operations on an unpermitted mountaintop removal mining site in Southwest Virginia. The Sierra Club and Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) had requested the injunction after bulldozers and chainsaws started clear-cutting A&G Coal’s Ison Rock Ridge coal mine site even though the mine had not received a permit.

Under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, it is illegal to conduct "surface coal mining operations" without a permit. This decision reaffirms the community’s belief that clearcutting a mine site after a mining application has been submitted qualifies as "mining operations."

Aaron Isherwood, Sierra Club Senior Staff Attorney, explains: "This court ruling is a huge victory for the communities of Appalachia that have suffered for far too long from the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining. If it stands, I think it will have major repercussions throughout the region."

August 1, 2008

There will be a hearing at the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia on Friday, August 1, 2008 at 1pm.  The Court House is located at 180 West Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia 24210. Court calendar available here.

July 25, 2008

On July 25, 2008, the Sierra Club and the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) took an unprecedented step by acting to halt unlawful mining practices at A & G Coal’s proposed mountaintop removal mine in Wise County, Virginia. On July 11, 2008 workers with Mountain Forest Products began clear cutting land, the first step in opening the Ison Rock Ridge Mine, which does not yet have a permit from the State.

Though illegal, clear cutting the mine site before the mine has been approved, as is happening with the Ison Rock Ridge Mine, is a common practice. This legal action is the first to challenge this practice for mountaintop removal mining in Virginia and could have significant implications for future mountaintop removal coal mining operations.

"Everybody around here knows that clear cutting the land is just the first step-- next they’ll start blasting the mountains and burying our streams and valleys," said Gary Bowman, a member of the groups who lives adjacent to the mining site. The clear cutting has caused more than a dozen large rocks the size of watermelons to tumble down the mountain on to his lawn and family garden. "They want to break our hearts by taking all these trees so we won’t have the heart to keep fighting. But these mountains are our legacy and our home and we’re not going to stop fighting to save them," he added.

The proposed Ison Rock Ridge mine will destroy over one thousand acres of forested mountains-- work that has already begun despite the lack of government approval. Plans for the Ison Rock Ridge mine include filling 9 lush valleys with more than 11 million cubic yards of mining waste and destroying more than 14,000 feet of streams.

"Mountaintop removal mining destroys everything we hold dear: our mountains, watersheds, and streambeds; the purity of air and water for our future generations; our communities, our people’s health, our quiet nights and our daily peace of mind," said Kathy Selvage, vice president of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards. "What does it give us? Turmoil."

Sierra Club and SAMS are also working to stop Dominion Power's proposed coal-fired power plant in Wise County, which will only worsen the problem of mountaintop removal mining, driving up demand for coal at any cost to local communities.

The Sierra Club and SAMS filed for a temporary restraining order seeking an end to the clear cutting on the proposed A&G Coal mine site until the company obtains a surface mining permit. The groups are represented in this matter by attorney Walton Morris. The permit issuance for the Ison Rock Ridge mine has already been delayed, and the application has been revised six times in the past year due to strong concerns raised by community members about the effects of the mine on area residents.

Details and Documents:

News Articles:

Judge Halts Wise County Logging
August 5, 2008 by Debra McCown, Bristol Herald Courier