ACT NOW: Call on Gov. Kaine to STOP mountaintop removal permit in Virginia

by: Eileen

Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 07:08:45 AM EST

Video by ILoveMountains.org. From Glen Besa, Virginia Chapter Director, Sierra Club:

We need your help!

Will you take a few minutes right now to contact Governor Kaine and urge him to use his executive authority to allow community voices to be heard and to STOP the mountaintop removal strip mining that will destroy Ison Rock Ridge in Wise County, Va?  

Ison Rock Ridge  extends from Black Mountain on the Virginia/ Kentucky border and runs southeast toward the Town of Appalachia. A&G Coal Corp. wants to destroy 1,200+ acres of this mountain that borders several communities and hundreds of homes, putting lives at risk and impairing ecosystems for generations to come.  Despite federal action intended to block this proposed mine, we have reason to believe that state agencies still intend to allow the destruction of Ison Rock Ridge, with only minor changes to the scope of the permit.

With the deadline looming, we need your help to call on Governor Kaine to be a real leader and urge him to allow community voices to be heard and to STOP the mine.  

This message is going out across the Commonwealth today and is part of a coordinated effort to pressure the Governor to take action. Sierra Club, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and our allies are working hard on this two-year long struggle to protect Ison Rock Ridge from total destruction.

Ison Rock is the last ridge  of Black Mountain in Virginia that hasn't been totally decimated by mountaintop removal strip mining--and for good reason.  Along its flanks lie several communities, home to hundreds of people.  Because of this, and the cumulative impact of other strip mines in the area, the EPA took action earlier this year by directing the US Army Corps of Engineers to suspend the federal permit required to create valley fills.  

This action attracted national media attention, but it's not enough to save this mountain.  The mining company now wants to go forward with a revised mining plan, and that application is currently pending before the state agency.

Please, send a message to Governor Kaine urging him to take action to protect our friends in Wise County!