Your State

It simply wouldn’t be an election year in the United States without the fictitious “war on coal” talking point rearing its ugly head. But something is different this year. In years past, the “war on coal” was admittedly fake, but today we really do have presidential candidates who have expressed interest in making the industry a thing of the past, and those quotes are being used as a catalyst to rally voters in coal-dependent states like West Virginia and Kentucky.

27 states, led by coal-heavy West Virginia, are suing the federal government to stop the plan, and the Supreme Court issued a stay last February that bars its implementation until all legal challenges have been resolved. That means the ball is now in a D.C. Circuit Court that is not expected to make a decision on the case possibly until as late as this fall.

There was plenty in the complex deal to benefit bankers, lawyers, executives and hedge fund managers. Patriot Coal Corp. was bankrupt, but its mines would be auctioned to pay off mounting debts while financial engineering would generate enough cash to cover the cost of the proceedings. When the plan was filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in Richmond last week, however, one group didn’t come out so well: 208 retired miners, wives and widows in southern Indiana who have no direct connection to Patriot Coal. Millions of dollars earmarked for their health care as they age would effectively be diverted instead to legal fees and other bills from the bankruptcy.

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund has sent a letter to the Department of Motor Vehicles in West Virginia on behalf of two transgender women who say they were discriminated against by the DMV and want the department to stop humiliating trans people.

State and federal officials say two workers who were trapped when the ground failed at a West Virginia mine with a history of safety violations have died. A state agency says preliminary indications show that a coal outburst was responsible but provided no other details for the accident at the mine owned by Patriot Coal.

Scrapping to keep a West Virginia Senate seat Democratic in a state that's sprinted to the right, Natalie Tennant is counting on her allegiance to the coal industry to separate herself from an unpopular President Barack Obama. She's among a group who champions the energy industry, criticizes federal energy regulations and blasts "cap-and-trade" proposals, which feature economic incentives to reduce carbon emissions. Some in that group endorse extending the Keystone pipeline.

After 300,000 West Virginia residents were restricted from drinking their tap water in the wake of a disastrous chemical spill, a Senate panel has cleared a bill that would boost state's oversight of chemical storage facilities, in the hope to avert another environmental tragedy.

Members of the West Virginia National Guard tested water samples across the Kanawha Valley after 10,000 gallons of coal processing chemicals spilled into the local water supply.The amount of chemicals spilled from a West Virginia coal processing plant into the Elk River is even greater than previously reported, according to a statement issued by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection late Monday.

On January 9th, Freedom Industries, a company that stores chemicals for the coal industry, spilled 7,500 gallons of crude Methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM), a little known, little understood compound into the Elk River. The spill occurred one mile upriver from the water intake that supplies tap water for all of West Virginia's capital city of Charleston. Nearly two weeks since the disaster was discovered, the water has been deemed "safe to drink," though water from the tap still releases a sickly sweet chemical odor, especially when heated.

Freedom Industries, the company that recently leaked thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Elk River in West Virginia, quietly filed for bankruptcy this past Friday to shield themselves from the onslaught of lawsuits filed against the company. The company had been skirting safety regulations and vital equipment upgrades in an effort to save a few bucks in the short term.

The ban on tap water for parts of West Virginia was lifted on Monday, ending a crisis for a fraction of the 300,000 people who were told not to drink, wash or cook with water after a chemical spill tainted the water supply. Gov. Earl Tomblin made the announcement at a news conference, five days after people were told to use the water only to flush their toilets.

The federal government joined West Virginia Friday in declaring a disaster after a chemical spill in the Elk River in Charleston.