west virginia

The collision between environmental protection and coal extraction is nothing new to the Appalachian states, which are home to some of the largest coal deposits in the world. But in the middle of an unemployment crisis — and with a new administration showing signs of cracking down harshly on the destructive practice of mountaintop removal [...]

At the request of the federal government, a federal judge yesterday put a temporary halt to the legal clash over Appalachia’s largest mountaintop coal mine, the 2,300 acre Spruce No. 1 project in Southern West Virginia.
That project is slated to bury more than seven miles of mountain streams, leading to a protracted legal battle with [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency last week threatened to revoke the permit for the largest mountaintop removal mine in all of Appalachia, citing the harmful effects the project would have on local water quality.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), out for more than two months after suffering a series of infections, was back on Capitol Hill Tuesday to cast a vote in favor of continuing production of the F-22 fighter jet.
The 91-year-old, along with 39 others, lost the vote. But in a statement issued by his office, he said it [...]

So says The Hill, which is reporting that the 91-year West Virginia Democrat was released from the hospital Tuesday after more than six weeks of treatment for various infections.
“I am pleased to be home in anticipation of celebrating our nation’s birthday with my loving family,” the senator said in a statement, according to the Hill. [...]