ACTION ALERT: Stop Robinson Forest Boundary Mining
Comments Due May 26!!!
Action is needed to stop a new mining permit that would result in the destruction of 350 acres of native forest adjacent to Robinson Forest. The original comment deadline was May 9, but an extension was granted and we now have until May 26 to get comments submitted.
Please take action immediately.
This project, if implemented, will have the following impacts:
- Two miles of streams buried forever.
- Additional “temporary” impacts to 3,405 feet of streams (2/3 mile).
- Significant destruction of the last remaining native forest on the south side of Robinson Forest.
- Further isolation of Robinson Forest as an island of forest in a sea of strip mines; trapping animals by eliminating migratory corridors.
- Expansion of the largest strip mine complex in Kentucky.
Please use the information below to write your comments. Requests must be received by the office by the end of business on Tuesday, May 26. The permit request and maps, as well as background on Robinson Forest, several revealing aerial images of the forest and surrounding strip mines, pictures of the Coles Fork watershed, and on the ground images from one of the adjacent strip mines can be seen on the Kentucky Heartwood website here. And when you do comment, please let us know by emailing kentuckyheartwood@gmail.com.
Send a fax (recommended): 606-642-3258
Or email: david.e.baldridge@usace.army.mil
Address comments to: Mr. David Baldridge, CELRL-OP-FS of the U.S Army corps of Engineers
Reference: Public Notice No. LRL-2009-239
Details:
Frasure Creek Mining of Scott Depot, WV has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a 404 permit to bury more than 2 miles of intermittent and ephemeral streams and impact a further 3,405 feet of streams, as part of a 350-acre strip mine in Breathitt County, KY. This proposed mining is adjacent to the University of Kentucky managed Robinson Forest, and would expand the largest mining complex in eastern Kentucky. Twenty-five percent of the landscape, over 61,000 acres, within a 10 mile radius of the proposed mine have already been stripped. Too much of this landscape has been permanently altered, and it's time to say "enough is enough."
The proposed mining would destroy some of the last native forest on the south side of Robinson Forest and begin to connect the massive complex of strip-mines along the south side. The already stripped lands include the 2,344 Laurel Fork Mine (part of Robinson Forest leased for mining by UK) and the Star Fire mine complex, estimated to be about 17,000 acres.
The main 10,000 acre block of Robinson Forest is already bordered almost entirely by strip-mines, and is under continual threat of being mined itself. This new strip mine permit application highlights the importance of managing Robinson Forest in a manner that protects and enhances its significance as one of the largest, most outstanding forests in Kentucky.
For more information, contact Jim Scheff, Kentucky Heartwood at quercusstellata@gmail.com or by calling (859) 893-0262.
Media Advisory
April 27, 2009
Contact: Charles Suggs, Matt Louis-Rosenberg or Glen Collins: 304-854-7372.
Climate Ground Zero activists face contempt charge for violating judge's order to halt anti-mountaintop removal protests
Eleven activists are set to appear before Raleigh County District Judge Robert Burnside to show why they should not be held in contempt for violating temporary restraining orders (TRO) brought by four Massey Energy subsidiaries. Massey said the activists violated the TRO by stopping work again on March 5 and April 16th on the Edwight Surface Mine in Raleigh County. The defendants, who were cited for trespass and released, are awaiting trial on charges of criminal trespass.
The restraining orders were the result of three protests in February that halted Massey mountaintop removal operations on the Edwight mine and on Coal River Mountain.
The activists say the restraining orders are overly broad and should be vacated because they not only bar those that have already trespassed on company property, but “all other persons allied, associated, confederating, conspiring, or acting in concert with them,” and indeed anyone who ever finds about the restraining orders, from trespassing on Massey property or interfering with the company in any way. The defendants are also barred from aiding or assisting in any way, others in doing the same. Nine of those charged with contempt of court were not named on the restraining orders and activist Mike Roselle is charged with contempt only for allegedly recruiting participants for the March 5 protest.
Lawyers for Massey have requested that defendants be ordered to pay compensatory damages or a maximum of $5,000 per person (whichever is greater) and compensate Massey for all court costs. Massey has also requested that all photographs and videos of the protests be turned over to them, that any and all publication of the same be barred, and that all proceeds from the use of the media be turned over to them. Finally, Massey is requesting that all the defendants be jailed until they swear in open court never to violate the restraining orders again. According to West Virginia State Code Section 48-1-304, the maximum sentence for civil contempt of court is a 6-month jail sentence.
“Massey Energy cannot silence us” said Mike Roselle of Climate Ground Zero. “Massey Energy is a corrupt and criminal syndicate and we will prove this in court. It is Massey that is trespassing on the public domain by irreparably altering the landscape and poisoning the air and water of this community.”
The contempt hearing is scheduled for May 1, at 10 a.m. in Beckley, W.Va.
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