Bankrupt coal company cited for releasing ‘sludge’ into West Virginia’s Gauley River watershed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 1, 2025 CONTACT Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org Company run by Richmond-area financier Greg Whirley Jr. has received 113 citations in four years CHARLESTON, […]

ACTION ALERT: Oppose HB 2014 – Tucker County Data Center, No Local Say

This week, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy caught wind of a major natural gas fired power plant in the works—likely tied to a data center—that’s set to land just north […]

ACTION ALERT: Keep ORVs Out of Our State Parks and Forests

A new proposal in the West Virginia Legislature is once again taking aim at our state parks and forests. Senate Bill 711, which will be discussed in the Senate Transportation […]

West Virginia Senators Capito, Justice vote no on reinstating federal public lands staff and support for wildland firefighters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb. 21, 2025 CONTACT: Olivia Miller, Program Director, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, olivia.miller@wvhighlands.org, (304) 704-2997 WASHINGTON — Late Thursday night, Senators Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Jim […]

Environmental Groups Sue to Challenge Mountaintop Removal Mine on Coal River Mountain

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Contact Vernon Haltom Executive Director, Coal River Mountain Watch 216-338-6003 vernon@crmw.net Willie Dodson Coal Impacts Program Manager, Appalachian Voices 276-870-5843 willie@appvoices.org Bianca Sanchez […]

STATEMENT: Coal company’s bankruptcy filing reflects growing pressure to end reckless mining in West Virginia

Rocky Run Surface Mine in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Photo courtesy of Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 18, 2025 CONTACT Olivia Miller, Program Director, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, […]

Conservation groups condemn recent mass firings at US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 16, 2025 CONTACTOlivia Miller, Program Director, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, (304) 704-2997, olivia.miller@wvhighlands.orgAndrew Young, Staff Attorney, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, (434) 202-4397, ayoung@abralliance.org “Here is your country. Cherish […]

Federal regulators shut down illegal WV coal haul road—Interior quietly reopens it at company’s request

Coal trucks travel along Haulroad #2 in the Monongahela National Forest. (Photo courtesy Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance Air Force) By Olivia Miller, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy While writing this story, we […]

Federal regulators issue notice to DEP for failing to enforce environmental protections at Greenbrier County coal mines

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A notice issued by federal coal mining regulators today outlines the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s failures to address persistent problems at a set of South […]

West Virginia DEP Suspends Bluestone Coal’s Mining Permit for Poca Surface Mine

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has suspended the mining permit for Bluestone Coal Corporation’s Poca surface mine in Wyoming County. The nearly 600-acre mountaintop removal […]