This week we've been reporting to you on the Environmental Justice Listening Tour that KFTC members hosted for the Environmental Protection Agency. You've read the comments of members in Clay County, at the Cordia School, in Whitesburg, and in Harlan County here; and you've witnessed regular Kentuckians speaking directly to the EPA here and here.

Today we bring you one more inspiring voice from eastern Kentucky and a report on the false controversy that paid coal industry spokespeople and coal politicians have tried to cook up.

Ada Smith is a KFTC member from Letcher County. She spoke to EPA administrators during the community meeting held at the Appalshop theater in Whitesburg last Thursday. First Ada shared her concerns that that those living near mountaintop removal coal mines "can't turn their faucet on and get a drink of water, that they can't take a bath without being scared that there's arsenic in their water...There's been stories all this week of people's well water being on fire under the ground." Then, as if sensing the political backlash that had just taken place early in the day in Frankfort, Ada told the EPA: "My state is not going to respond to the concerns I have around coal mining." She said, "What I know is that...our state people are not going to do the job, but [the EPA] can."

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Earlier that day, in an Interim Subcommittee on Energy of the General Assembly meeting at the Capitol in Frankfort, politicians railed against the EPA's visit and the fact that the Agency had the opportunity to hear regular Kentuckians voice their hopes and concerns without being drowned out by the noise of coal industry. Media outlets who reported on the EPA's listening tour, and on the comments of residents, also picked up the story of the false controversy created by industry spokespeople and legislators--often without a response from KFTC or local residents.

Read some of the comments by the politicians that put the interests of the coal industry and elected officals before those of the regular Kentuckians dealing everyday with the impacts of the industry at the bottom of this blog post. Those politicians who blasted the EPA, who discounted the voices of the Kentuckians addressing the EPA during the tour, and who spoke up to protect the industry include: Rep. Leslie Combs, Rep. Tim Crouch, Rep. Myron Dossett, Rep. Rocky Adkins, Rep. Lonnie Napier, Rep. Fitz Steele, Sen. Robert Stivers, and U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers, among others.

KFTC couldn't let such irresponsible comments go unacknowledged or unchallenged and promptly issued a statement, highlighting the importance of the listening tour and the opportunity that Kentuckians had to speak directly to the agency charged with protecting them, as well as calling out the politicians for their silence when the deadly impacts of the industry are made known. WYMT printed this statement in full.

On Thursday and Friday of this past week, more than 150 eastern Kentucky residents participated in a tour with leaders of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At stops in Manchester, Vicco, Whitesburg and Lynch, the residents over and over asked the federal officials to enforce the law and help us create safe and healthy communities. Concerned mothers, teachers, students, retired coal miners, nurses, entrepreneurs, the unemployed and many others spoke directly to the EPA officials.

• We expressed our vision for a prosperous eastern Kentucky and shared our hope that by working together we could create economic opportunities so that our children won’t have to leave the region to find meaningful work.

• We expressed hope that those jobs would not put workers in danger, and would not do damage to our land and water.

• We asked for assurances that our drinking water not make us sick, and that those companies that are poisoning our water be stopped and held accountable.

• The mayor and residents of one small town asked that mining not be allowed to destroy the town’s drinking water source and future economic potential.

• One family asked that someone stop the dust and water pollution from a coal processing plant that a doctor told them is making their daughter sick.

• And we let it be known that one of the biggest obstacles to safe workplaces and healthy communities is systematic non-enforcement of the laws designed to protect our health and safety and inaction by the state and federal agencies.

As Kentuckians and members of KFTC, we thank and commend the EPA officials for coming to listen to the people most impacted by the decisions that they make regarding the issuing of permits and enforcing the law.

As if on cue, by Friday afternoon, the airwaves and the internet were filled with howls of protest from paid coal industry spokespeople (who had turned down a meeting with the EPA officials) and state and federal politicians, complaining that ordinary Kentuckians had the chance to have their concerns heard by the EPA. They claimed the EPA had no right to come to Kentucky to see and hear for themselves the dangerous and deadly impacts of the modern coal industry. They expressed outrage that EPA got an opportunity to hear, and the chance to value, the opinions and concerns of the people who bear the consequences of an industry that has no respect for the law – a reality these politicians won’t acknowledge.

But not one of these politicians expressed any concern about the families who are without safe drinking water; about the children who are sick because of the pollution in their neighborhood; about the damage to the homes and drinking water wells of families who live near mining operations, or our youth who must leave the region to find meaningful jobs while they do little to help create new job opportunities.

While these officials were howling against the one federal agency that has shown some inclination to enforce the law, their past silence is also of note:

When a study was released recently showing that people who live near mountaintop removal mines have an increased risk of cancer, we didn’t hear one word of concern for the people who are sick, only attacks on the scientists.

When a study was released recently documenting that children born in communities near mountaintop removal mines have a 26% higher incidence of birth defects, we heard not one word of concern or compassion from these same political leaders.

When it was demonstrated that specific coal companies had been filing fraudulent water monitoring reports and poisoning streams below their mine sites (violations the companies have acknowledged), we heard not one word of disappointment from these same politicians.

But when a federal agency – charged by Congress with enforcing the laws that protect our health, our water, our air and land – comes to talk with real people affected by these issues, Kentucky’s political leaders are beside themselves with fury over the very notion that an enforcement agency might actually make coal companies obey the law.

Have these politicians no shame, whatsoever?

In Kentucky, we still have a chance to help lead the nation toward a new power, clean energy economy with more and better jobs, healthier communities, and more affordable energy. But we have to stop the destruction being caused today by our old power coal industry and old power ways of thinking. And that requires leaders with vision, compassion, and political courage. The ones squawking about the EPA doing its job have shown, again, that they are not these leaders.

If your state legislator or Congressperson is one of the politicians listed below, please consider writing a letter directly to him or her. Also, send a letter to the editor of your local paper, especially if they've run a story about the EPA visit or the false controversy. You're encouraged to use points in KFTC's statement above, putting the voices of regular Kentuckians before the coal industry and its politicians.

There are tips on writing a letter to the editor here.

And you can locate your legislator here.

Let us know if you send in a letter by calling your local KFTC organizer or emailing info@kftc.org.

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Here are some of the comments by legislators and industry spokespeople, with a link to the news source for each comment:

• Rep. Rocky Adkins: “My problem with the federal EPA is that I think they have an agenda and I think they are tied to groups that have an agenda and I think that is flat wrong for a federal agency to have a drawn opinion without hearing a cross-section of views and opinions come from everyone.”
• Rep. Lonnie Napier: "I just want my fellow legislators from Eastern Kentucky and those in the coal industry to know that many of us have and will continue to support any efforts to protect our coal industry."
• Rep. Myron Dossett: "I pledge to...stand with my fellow legislators in Eastern Kentucky to fight any Federal restrictions on the coal industry."
• Rep. Fitz Steele: "[A] federal agency coming to our communities to conduct the people’s business in private? That does (not) pass the smell test.”
• Rep. Leslie Combs: "I continue to be disappointed by the EPA and their actions toward Kentucky’s coal industry...[T]o stage meetings and site visits with people sympathetic to only one side of this issue is mind boggling to me. It’s bad enough that the elected officials weren’t invited – to snub our people is just terrible. I do feel that in my position I have worked cooperatively to engage the coal industry with other businesses and industry across the state to meet common ground. This stunt of the EPA is a slap in the face to me, my constituents and all of Kentucky.”
• Sen. Robert Stivers: "I was shocked to have to read in the paper that the EPA was visiting my hometown. If they truly wanted to hear the impact that mining has produced, they could have, as a courtesy, invited legislators and other elected officials.

In our blog post yesterday, we shared with you a video of Anne Shelby talking to the EPA during their visit last week. Anne described the process her community went through to try to protect their land and water from two valley fill permits through a Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition, which the state dismissed by ignoring many of their arguments and sometimes ridiculing others. If you missed that video, you can watch it here.

Today, we want to share another voice of a community member who spoke directly to the EPA. Sandy Voils and her family, including her 7 year old daughter Madison, live beside a coal processing plant in Clay County. During the EPA’s Environmental Justice Listening Tour of Eastern Kentucky, Sandy had the opportunity to speak directly to EPA officials and show them her home.

Stay tuned in the coming days for more voices of Kentuckians sharing their stories, their vision, and their concerns with the EPA.

On August 18 and 19, Kentuckians had the opportunity to speak directly to key officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about their vision for Kentucky and, especially, about their concerns related to the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining and valley fills. KFTC hosted Lisa Garcia from the Washington, D.C. office, who is a special advisor to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Environmental Justice, and Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, administrator for EPA's Region 4, as well as seven other EPA directors and staff members.

EPA Region 4 Administrator Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming (left) listens to the concerns
of Anne Carr (far right) and other residents in Lynch.

The tour brought the EPA in contact with more than 150 Kentuckians, many of whom were able to share their stories and concerns. At stops in Manchester, Vicco, Whitesburg and Lynch, the residents over and over asked the federal officials to enforce the law and help create safe and healthy communities. Concerned mothers, teachers, students, retired coal miners, nurses, entrepreneurs, the unemployed and many others spoke directly to the EPA officials.

• We expressed our vision for a prosperous eastern Kentucky and shared our hope that by working together we could create economic opportunities so that our children won’t have to leave the region to find meaningful work.
• We expressed hope that those jobs would not put workers in danger, and would not do damage to our land and water.
• We asked for assurances that our drinking water not make us sick, and that those companies that are poisoning our water be stopped and held accountable.
• The mayor and residents of Lynch asked that mining not be allowed to destroy the town’s drinking water source and future economic potential.
• One family in Clay County asked that someone stop the dust and water pollution from a coal processing plant that a doctor told them is making their daughter sick.
• And we let it be known that one of the biggest obstacles to safe workplaces and healthy communities is systematic non-enforcement of the laws designed to protect our health and safety and inaction by the state and federal agencies.
  

As Kentuckians and members of KFTC, speakers also thanked and commended the EPA officials for coming to listen to the people most impacted by the decisions that they make regarding the issuing of permits and enforcing the law.

In Clay County, Anne Shelby described her community's efforts to protect their land and water through a Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition, which the state ignored and, as she says, often ridiculed. Listen to her passionate statement here (and check back on this blog throughout the week for more inspiring Kentucky voices speaking directly to the EPA):

After leaving Clay County, the caravan of Kentuckians and EPA officials headed to Knott County to hear from more community members.

 

The Hazard Herald printed a detailed article on this next stop on the EPA's visit, to the Cordia School in Knott County:

Ivy Brashear, [pictured above right] a Viper resident and graduate student at the University of Kentucky, thanked the EPA for changes that have been made to coal mining regulations recently. She said she believes that EPA officials have gone to bat for the environment[...]

“Thirty years is all we have left of the coal, 30 years and then they are gone,” she said. “They are going to leave here and we are going to be here with dirty water and dirty air and cancer clusters and birth defects.”

And to round out the first day, the EPA officials heard from a long list of folks from throughout eastern Kentucky. The Appalshop theater in Whitesburg was packed as KFTC members spoke about their concerns, including a barrage of recent studies that show the harmful impacts of strip mining and valley fills. Reporter Erica Peterson with WFPL-FM in Louisville followed along on the whole trip and had this to report on the Whitesburg stop:

Later that night, people packed into a theater in Whitesburg and testified about water pollution, the perils of an economy that’s too dependent on coal and the industry’s political influence.

“I want to talk for a moment about another insidious form of coal pollution," said former Kentuckians for the Commonwealth chair Doug Doerrfeld

“It is hard to overstate the degree to which the influence of coal has also polluted our democracy,” he said. “While coal mining provides just 1 percent of all jobs in the state and the industry contributes 2.5 percent of Kentucky’s economic output, the power of the industry’s money in our political system is overwhelming.”

The next day, the EPA wrapped up their trip in Lynch, in Harlan County. The Harlan Daily Enterprise reported on the story there:

“We have a beautiful area. Right now, it is virgin territory as far as surface mining goes, and we like to keep it that way,” said Stanley Sturgill, member of Lynch City Council and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

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A statement by former council member Carl Shoupe captured what seemed to be the sentiment of many of those gathered.

“We’re not against coal, but we are asking the EPA to listen to us and help us preserve and save what we cherish. EPA is our last bastion,” said Shoupe.

Media coverage of the tour was extensive and came from a variety of sources. The local news station, WYMT, broadcast two reports on the tour, one on the community testimony in Whitesburg and one on the stop in Lynch.

Throughout the trip, Keyes Fleming and Garcia stated that environmental justice is important to the administration and that low-income and minority voices need to be heard in the decisions that affect them most, particularly as they relate to pollution. Keyes Fleming said the residents who spoke to them throughout the trip were heard "loud and clear."

By Friday, the internet and airwaves were full of complaints from the coal industry about the visit. In their wrap-up, WFPL reported on the controversy:

[Charles Baird of the Coal Operators and Associates] criticized the lack of advance notice to members of the media other than WFPL. But there were local media outlets at each event.

And two employees from the state Division of Water were present. Also, Bill Bissett of the Kentucky Coal Association confirmed that he was notified of the tour, and the EPA offered to meet with coal supporters for an hour on Friday.

But many members of the mining industry were at a conference in Lexington.

Soon, we will report more on the backlash from the coal industry and the coal politicians--and KFTC's response to their irresponsible statements.

Perry County resident Pam Maggard told EPA officials that if coal mining continues in Eastern Kentucky, there needs to be a bigger emphasis on safety and environmental issues.

“If they are going to mine then they need to do it with regards to miners’ safety and community health and safety,” said Maggard. “We need clean air; you can see how dusty it is here. We need homes left on their foundations. We need clean water. We can find another electricity source, we can’t find water.”
...
Tiffany Stiles, a 2011 graduate of Cordia, is currently a radiology student at Hazard Community and Technical College. She and her fiancé and hoping to build a home, but she fears the land they have may end up being negatively affected by coal mining.

“I don’t want to have to move away to build a life,” said Stiles.

My name is Cindy Shepherd and I live on a small organic farm in Clay County with my husband and 5 year-old son. We have been members of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth for 10 years. Recently I have started to become more active with KFTC as strip mining has started to affect my community. I am also a Jackson Energy cooperative member and was first introduced to KFTC's work in the rural electric co-ops through Randy Wilson's campaign for the Jackson Energy board a couple years ago.

My son loves our farm and the woods and the mountains surrounding us. He says he wants to stay right here and be a farmer himself someday. And so I know: we have to work hard for solutions that will transition Appalachia to a more sustainable economy with good local jobs and opportunities, and we have to protect our mountains and streams for ourselves and for future generations.

So, on April 26 – 29 I was able to make an incredible first visit to Washington, D.C. to speak with decision-makers about the importance of KFTC's work and our vision for the future. With organizer Sara Pennington by my side, we made new friends, contacts, support, and waves.

The general purpose for our visit was to attend an Environmental Justice conference hosted by federal agencies such as the EPA, Department of Energy, and others. Before the conference, though, we spent the day attending lobby meetings with staff from the offices of Congressmen Ed Whitfield, Ben Chandler and Hal Rogers.

We asked the legislators for their support in reintroducing the Rural Star Bill, which is legislation that would allow the federal government to give monies to the rural electric cooperatives who would then use that money to perform energy audits and money-saving upgrades on customers’ homes. The customer would slowly pay back the money to the co-op with the savings from the upgrades as a service on their bill, and the co-op would then give the money back to the government. New jobs would be created, customers would save money, and energy consumption would decrease. In the last Congress, Rural Star passed the house, but did not move in the Senate.

While we gathered verbal support for the bill in the current Congress, we also reminded everyone we talked to that the creation of jobs for eastern Kentucky is important, but in order to ensure a future for the region, the destruction of our mountains and streams through the practice of mountaintop removal mining must be stopped.

Another highlight of the trip is that we met with administrators and staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).  As I introduced myself and told the agencies about my home and the love and connection my son has to it and the joy he finds in playing in the creeks and hiking the mountains, it was impossible for me to hold back the tears. The thought that my son's home place, a place that we all hold so dear, could one day be destroyed, was too much for a mother to fathom.

And so we told the agencies how important it is for them to invest in coal-impacted communities and about our overall plan to Renew East Kentucky—that the rural electric co-ops of eastern Kentucky should make aggressive investments in energy efficiency, weatherization and local renewable energy in order to create local jobs and to help those who need it most to save energy on their bills. A big part of the plan is to finance this work the way that the Rural Star bill proposes. We also told them how we need a concentrated effort in job training so local folks will be the ones getting the jobs created by this plan. We developed good initial relationships and will have to opportunity to carry on this conversation with the agencies in the coming months.

The next day we attended the Environmental Justice conference itself. Though many of the presentations did not necessarily apply directly to our situation or work, the true power came with the ability for me to look people with incredible power in this country in the eyes and tell them my story and to demand environmental justice for Appalachia. The general response to my plight was that there was money available for rural projects, where I would have to remind them again that all the programs and money in the world will only make a difference in our communities if we stop the destruction.

One of the most memorable and inspiring parts of the conference was when I stood before the Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group and told them that we needed them to stand with Appalachia and enforce protection of our mountains and waterways. The response was that they needed community members to come up with the solutions for their area. Right there on the spot, we were able to walk up to the committee sitting behind the podium and give them all a copy of the article that KFTC had published last summer in the Solutions Journal about KFTC's Renew East Kentucky plan. And the committee sat there and started reading it! Every one of them! And then made a point to have personal conversations with us at the end of the conference.  We were given an amazing opportunity to show the human connection to mountaintop removal and to show our vision for a renewed Appalachia.

What a powerful feeling comes from fighting for your community, children and future in Washington, D.C. I'm hooked. I'm addicted. I've got the D.C. bug, and I want to thank the Alliance of Appalachia for their support and KFTC for putting their faith in me and giving me this amazing opportunity. I hope that I have served you all well and I can't wait to do it again!