Green Options » dirty coal

Residents Sue Over Coal Ash Dump Disguised as Golf Course

Alex Felsinger — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:52:02 +0000

Residents of Centerville, Virginia have sued Dominion Virginia Power to the tune of $1 billion for supplying 1.5 million tons of toxic fly ash to fill the hills of a nearby golf course.

The attorneys representing 400 Centerville residents claim that Dominion knew that the substance they supplied to the Battlefield Golf Club would eventually seep into the water supply. The suit also names the golf course’s developer and Dominion’s ‘coal-ash management consultant.’

EPA Stops Mountaintop Removal; Waterways Still Not Safe?

Alex Felsinger — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:35:54 +0000

Just days after news leaked that Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency will designate CO2 as a pollutant, the EPA has announced that hundreds of mountaintop removal coal mining permits will be put on hold while their impact on streams and waterways is evaluated.

Mountaintop removal is a controversial method of extracting coal that literally blows the tops off mountains to access the coal underneath. The waste is then dumped in streams and wetlands, which has alarmed environmentalists and community activists.

Coal Industry and Environmentalists Wage “Clean Coal” Ad War

Alex Felsinger — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:45:50 +0000

Clean coal doesn’t exist. We know it, but for many Americans the jury is still out. Environmentalists and the coal industry are battling for public opinion.

While proponents of carbon capture technologies try to ride on the coat tails of Barack Obama’s approval ratings by quoting his pro-coal sentiments from the ‘08 campaign trail, the Reality Coalition has stepped up their ad campaign in coal-heavy states like West Virginia.