Public Lab Wiki documentation

Revisions for The Mountains and Mines Monitoring Project

11 CURRENT	stevie	April 12, 2022 16:20 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Project Outputs: Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining with the materials below Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Read more about common air related violations here Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Sites being monitored: Below is the list of permits and companies monitored this far by the Mountains and Mines Monitoring project. These sites are in Raleigh, Boone, and Kanawha counties, WV. The Middle Ridge permit, Republic Energy, permit number: S301712 Bee Tree permit, Marfork Coal Company, permit number: S301004 Long Ridge 1, Republic Energy, permit number: S300115 Edwight permit, Alex Energy, permit number: S301299 Black Eagle deep mine, Marfork Coal Company, permit number: U300118 Twilight II surface mine, Lexington Coal Company, permit number: S500398 Twilight South surface mine, Lexington Coal Company, permit number: S502808 White Oak surface mine, Deep Ford Mining Co Inc., permit number: S010380 Joe’s Creek surface mine, Panther Creek Mining LLC, permit number: S300108 Ewing Fork No. 2 surface mine, Republic Energy LLC, permit number: S301803 Elk Run processing plant, Elk Run Coal Company, permit number: P047000 Goals processing plant, Goals Coal Company, permit number: O001885 Horse Creek Eagle deep mine, Marfork Coal Company LLC, permit number: U300104 Stanley Heritage surface mine, Panther Creek Mining LLC, permit number: S303593 Questions [questions:MMMP]	Revert
10	stevie	March 22, 2022 15:51 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Project Outputs: Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining with the materials below Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Sites being monitored: Below is the list of permits and companies monitored this far by the Mountains and Mines Monitoring project. These sites are in Raleigh, Boone, and Kanawha counties, WV. The Middle Ridge permit, Republic Energy, permit number: S301712 Bee Tree permit, Marfork Coal Company, permit number: S301004 Long Ridge 1, Republic Energy, permit number: S300115 Edwight permit, Alex Energy, permit number: S301299 Black Eagle deep mine, Marfork Coal Company, permit number: U300118 Twilight II surface mine, Lexington Coal Company, permit number: S500398 Twilight South surface mine, Lexington Coal Company, permit number: S502808 White Oak surface mine, Deep Ford Mining Co Inc., permit number: S010380 Joe’s Creek surface mine, Panther Creek Mining LLC, permit number: S300108 Ewing Fork No. 2 surface mine, Republic Energy LLC, permit number: S301803 Elk Run processing plant, Elk Run Coal Company, permit number: P047000 Goals processing plant, Goals Coal Company, permit number: O001885 Horse Creek Eagle deep mine, Marfork Coal Company LLC, permit number: U300104 Stanley Heritage surface mine, Panther Creek Mining LLC, permit number: S303593 Questions [questions:MMMP]	Revert
9	stevie	March 22, 2022 15:50 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Project Outputs: Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining with the materials below Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Sites being monitored: Below is the list of permits and companies monitored this far by the Mountains and Mines Monitoring project. These sites are in Raleigh, Boone, and Kanawha counties, WV. The Middle Ridge permit, Republic Energy, permit number: S301712 Bee Tree permit, Marfork Coal Company, permit number: S301004 Long Ridge #1, Republic Energy, permit number: S300115 Edwight permit, Alex Energy, permit number: S301299 Black Eagle deep mine, Marfork Coal Company, U300118 Twilight II surface mine, Lexington Coal Company, permit number: S500398 Twilight South surface mine, Lexington Coal Company, permit number: S502808 White Oak surface mine, Deep Ford Mining Co Inc., permit number: S010380 Joe’s Creek surface mine, Panther Creek Mining LLC, permit number: S300108 Ewing Fork No. 2 surface mine, Republic Energy LLC, permit number: S301803 Elk Run processing plant, Elk Run Coal Company, permit number: P047000 Goals processing plant, Goals Coal Company, permit number: O001885 Horse Creek Eagle deep mine, Marfork Coal Company LLC, permit number: U300104 Stanley Heritage surface mine, Panther Creek Mining LLC, permit number: S303593 Questions [questions:MMMP]	Revert
8	stevie	March 17, 2022 19:05 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Project Outputs: Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining with the materials below Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP]	Revert
7	stevie	March 17, 2022 18:58 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Project Outputs: Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining with the materials below Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP]	Revert
6	stevie	March 17, 2022 18:57 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Project Outputs: Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining with the materials below Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP]	Revert
5	stevie	March 17, 2022 18:56 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining: Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP]	Revert
4	stevie	March 17, 2022 18:54 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining: Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here Water Violations Read more about common water related violations here Air Violations Our most recent posts and videos on this project: [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP]	Revert
3	stevie	March 17, 2022 18:42 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project Learn about observable permit violations for coal mining: Ground Violations Read more about common ground related violations here [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP]	Revert
2	stevie	October 26, 2021 16:41 \| over 2 years ago Photo by Junior Walk Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP] Data Stay tuned for videos and posts on our data.	Revert
1	stevie	October 26, 2021 16:38 \| over 2 years ago Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP] Data Stay tuned for videos and posts on our data.	Revert
0	stevie	October 26, 2021 16:37 \| over 2 years ago Project Location: West Virginia The Project Issue: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining For well over a century the coal industry has exploited the people and natural resources of West Virginia. The technology they have developed over the past four decades specifically has allowed them to destroy and poison the environment to an almost unbelievable extent, all in the name of maximizing profit. Large scale surface mining, also known as mountaintop removal not only deforests thousands of acres per mine site, but completely destroys the landscape leaving behind only bare rock and rubble. The biologically diverse forests that used to set where these mines now exist can never be replaced, the topsoil that allowed them to exist is now buried under valley fills. The bedrock that once formed some of the oldest mountains on the planet is blasted apart and turned into toxic dust clouds that settle on the communities below. The state regulatory agency, the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has been in the pocket of the coal industry since its conception. This makes it difficult to hold the industry accountable to the relatively lax environmental laws, but not impossible. Over the years, Coal River Mountain Watch has discovered a handful of methods in the pursuit of chipping away at the profit margins of coal companies. One of the most successful tactics has been in observing, documenting, and monitoring mining activity and reporting on them to the DEP. The intent behind this fellowship team is to support our continued work against the coal industry using drones and other forms of observation to document violations of environmental law, and pressure the DEP to take appropriate action. The fines incurred by the coal company are a pittance and are factored into the cost of doing business. The main goal of this work is to make the companies pull workers and equipment away from actively mining coal in order to fix the problems they created. Project Aims In this project, we aim to: Monitor active mine sites from the ground and via drone. Research environmental regulations and identify tactics that concerned citizens in communities around surface mines can use to document illegal actions and permit violations by the mining companies. Communicate our findings to the Department of Environmental Protection and follow up with them to raise the pressure on the agency to take action. Create a videos examining the state of abandoned and active mines in the area on and around Coal River Mountain, and describe the tactics that can be used to hold the industry accountable. People Involved: Fellows working on this project: Junior Walk: Community Fellow and Project Advisor Elena Peterman: Environmental Policy Fellow Jordan Freeman: Documentation Fellow Rotating Field Technicians in West Virginia Partners and Collaborators: - Coal River Mountain Watch Updates Interested in following along in the project? Subscribe to the tag below to get updates when we post new material. Subscribe to updates on this project [notes:MMMP] Questions [questions:MMMP] Activities we’ve done in our project [activities:MMMP] Data Stay tuned for videos and posts on our data.	Revert

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Comparing revision 11 with revision 10