Our Work
All of our work is informed and directed by people who live in Washington and Greene Counties. We work with people around the issues that are impacting them, which typically fall into four pillars: Coal, Oil/Gas & Petrochemical, Economic Justice, and Democracy. Through our work in these categories, our focus is to invest in the leadership of those who are most impacted and to help create communities of people that possess the skills and analysis to advocate for their basic rights to a healthy environment and thriving economy.
Directly below, you can access more information on the different facets of our work, and our blogs appear beneath, beginning with the most recent.
Updates on our Work
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Dear Supporters,
As we begin our long-awaited trial before the Environmental Hearing Board, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you to all of our members who have attended DRYerson Festivals for the past ten years. Thank you to all those who have donated your precious time and resources to support our organization’s fight for environmental justice. Thank you to all those who have shared our message with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. We could not do this work without you, and for that, I thank you.
CCJ member, Keith Fullerton is attending the Clean Energy March on July 24th in Philadelphia and explains what it means to participate in these large national gatherings below:
I’ve always felt separated. In my “hometown” of Aleppo Township, Greene County, there aren’t many opportunities for a young environmentalist, such as myself, to express themselves and get support from other like-minded folks.
The Center for Coalfield Justice held the 10th Annual DRYerson Festival on June 25th at Ryerson Station State Park. The theme of this year’s Festival was: Our Park, Our Streams, […]
The video above shows subsidence from the Bailey Mine’s longwall mining which has dewatered a section of Polen Run just outside Ryerson Station State Park. There is also footage of the great disruption caused by the company’s attempts to mitigate the damage.
Please join us in welcoming our two legal interns: Steve Kelly and Katharine Richter. Steve and Katharine are excited to meet everyone and begin working with our members and supporters, so please say hello when you see them in the community.
A few weekends ago, the Center for Coalfield Justice hosted the Extreme Energy Extraction Collaborative Summit in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Frontline community members, indigenous folks, grassroots groups and big green groups fighting extreme energy extraction from around the US and Canada came together to share skills and strategize about working together across many extraction and social justice issues.
On Monday, May 16th, Consol filed a motion and memorandum of law asking the Environmental Hearing Board to remove and disregard portions of our Reply Brief, which was filed on May 9th. In event that the Board decided not to remove those portions of our Reply Brief, Consol’s motion requested permission to file a response to our Reply Brief and that the Environmental Hearing Board schedule oral argument before ruling on our motion for summary judgment.
We want to welcome our two summer organizing interns: Sarah Grguras and Christopher Thomas. Sarah and Christopher are excited to meet everyone and begin working with our members and supporters, so please say hello when you see them in the community!
Earlier this spring, Executive Director Patrick Grenter joined other environmental attorneys from around Pennsylvania in condemning recent comments by a high-ranking Range Resources executive regarding that company’s apparent preference to locate shale gas wells away from big homes. Groups also sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requesting that the state investigate Range Resource’s operations in light of their executive’s comments.
On Monday, May 9, our Staff Attorney, Sarah Winner, filed a reply brief in our case appealing the mining permit for the Lower East Expansion of the Bailey Mine. We filed a Motion for Summary Judgment at the end of March and since then, the other parties submitted their responses to our motion.
Last week, the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board met in Harrisburg to discuss various issues and updates. Many of the discussions and materials presented at the meeting will affect abandoned mine lands and current mining in Washington & Greene counties.
Just a few days before climatologist, Dr. Michael E. Mann, came to speak at Washington and Jefferson College, forest fires in Westmoreland County flooded news reports throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. With a dry early spring and very little green vegetation, forest floors in Southwestern Pennsylvania were tinder boxes ready to ignite at any moment. In preparation for the statewide trout season opener, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources issued a warning for anglers to take precautions to prevent forest fires in the area. The next day, firefighters successfully extinguished two forest fires that spread across 30 acres in Westmoreland County.