As of October 14, 2008, Business Taxpayers who must remit the following taxes will be able to view, file and pay taxes on the Tax Department’s new, secure website called http://mytaxes.wvtax.gov .

Judge Robert Chambers, the presiding federal judge in a lawsuit seeking to block a Fola Coal Co. strip mining permit in Clay County, has refused to step down despite a potential conflict of interest.

More than 100 coal miners and their families were on hand Wednesday and Thursday to hear oral arguments regarding a request for a preliminary injunction against a Section 404 permits issued by the Corps of Engineers to Hobet Mining Company and Fola Coal Company.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Chambers will hold a hearing starting on Wednesday of this week regarding a request for a preliminary injunction against a section 404 permits issued by the Corps of Engineers to Hobet Mining Company and Fola Coal Company.  The hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. at the federal Courthouse in Huntington, is the latest manifestation of the extremists’ legal campaign against the mining industry. The request for a preliminary injunction alleges the Corps impermissibly issued the individual Permits to Fola and Hobet.

The West Virginia Coal Association hosted more than 50 members of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) by providing a tour of a working surface mine and discussing the process of mountaintop mining with the group. The tour was conducted by WVCA President Bill Raney and former Chairman Andrew Jordon. The site was Pritchard Mining’s Four-Mile mine near Marmet.

The group came into the area Wednesday, Oct. 15 for a workshop as part of the SEJ’s Annual Conference in Roanoke, Va. The topic of the presentation was Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America.

Patriot Coal CEO Richard Whiting and West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney were among the featured speakers at the West Virginia Coal Mining Institute’s Annual Technical Meeting. Held Oct. 16-18, the event looked at various issues affecting the coal industry.

Whiting, the keynote speaker, spoke about current events with Patriot Coal. Raney provided a review of coal mining-related issues.

Democratic Governor Joe Manchin and his opponent, former Republican state Senator Russ Weeks agree on the issue of mountaintop removal mining – supporting the practice as long as it's done responsibly.  Manchin says he's working with the Department of Environmental Protection on "a very aggressive plan" that states "there will be no disturbance of the land unless you can show, with the post mine land use program, that you'll put the land back better and more productive than what you altered it."

Week’s says coal is the nation’s best energy source and will be well into the future.

"West Virginia is coal, has been coal and West Virginia will continue to be coal - past, present future," said Weeks. "We can't do anything at all right now that's going to alter the fact that most of the tax money that comes to Charleston is generated by what they call mineral extraction and energy production."

...

Coal is an essential part of today’s economy. It cannot be replaced by any other source today and provides a safe, dependable and clean alternative to foreign oil in the short-run.

These are the findings of a study released by Imagine West Virginia, a non-partisan think tank. The results were presented at a meeting in Morgantown this past week hosted by the Coal Forum and Imagine West Virginia. It is the second of several planned meetings around the state.

The first meeting, held in Charleston in August, drew approximately 200 people. About 100 attended the meeting in Morgantown.

The report offered an ambitious set of 10 recommendations including strengthening research, working to develop the next generation of leaders, training for workers and creating an independent energy advisory board.

Additional meetings have been scheduled for Beckley and the Eastern Panhandle, with other locations potentially added at a later date.

Williams Run wends through State Game Lands 39 -- a densely-wooded tract that blazes with the rich warm colors of autumn.

Hunters who venture into this forested valley would never guess that Williams Run is practically dead, the consequence of an old strip mine that ravaged nearby farmland.

...

On the big picture, Barack Obama and John McCain agree -with a shared sense of urgency -that the U.S. can't keep pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere unchecked, because their accumulation threatens to bring rising seas, mass extinction of plants and animals, and more hunger, disease and natural disasters.

Two coal companies have filed a lawsuit against Blaine, claiming that ordinances designed to protect the community from longwall mining violate their rights to do business.

Penn Ridge Coal LLC and Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal Co. filed the lawsuit last week in federal court, alleging 15 counts, including that the ordinances, first passed in 2006 and amended this past summer, violate both the commerce clause and contracts clause of the U. S. Constitution.

...

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New Rule Eases Water Protections: The Interior Department is poised to issue a final rule that will make it easier for mountaintop mining companies to dump their waste near rivers and streams, the agency announced yesterday.

State Democratic Party leaders toured the southern coalfields Saturday to boost support for their ticket -- especially presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, who voters here rejected by wide margins in the May primary.

Recent polls in West Virginia show Obama getting closer to GOP candidate Sen. John McCain, and Democratic leaders see coalfield voters as key to any Obama victory.

West Virginia's three gubernatorial candidates have several views in common, but are miles apart on others - including mountaintop removal, abortion, the death penalty and the leadership of the current administration.

Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin and former Republican state Sen. Russ Weeks both agree on mountaintop removal mining, which they support as long as it's done responsibly.

Coal company wants Judge off mine case-- No conflict, Conservancy says: Fola Coal Co. lawyers want a federal judge to withdraw from hearing a court action that seeks to block one of the company's strip mining permits.

To;   WVCA Mine Law & Safety Committee
 
From: Chris Hamilton
 
RE:   WVCA’s Comments to MSHA’s Proposed Rule on Drug Testing
 
Attached is a copy of the oral testimony I delivered at the public hearing held on Wednesday on MSHA’s proposed rule on “Drug Testing”.  The post hearing, written comment period extends through October 29th.  Please review this draft and let me know by the 28th whether other points or issues should be incorporated in our final comments.
 
Thanks to everyone who provided comments to help formulate our hearing remarks and special thanks to Anna Dailey of Dinsmore and Shohl, for providing the outline and text we used for our testimony.