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Home › Dodgy Deals ›
Dodgy Deal
Mountain top removal coal miningUnited States

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack
Last update: 2015-11-30 00:00:00

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack
Last update: 2015-11-30 00:00:00
Why this profile?

What must happen

We urge all private banks involved in commercial lending and investment banking services for the mining sector to end their relationships with companies who practice mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.

Our recommended "best practice" is a clear exclusion policy on commercial lending and investment banking services for all coal companies who practice mountaintop removal coal extraction.

Where banks choose to maintain relationships with this sector, we recommend a publicly available policy, with a clearly identified performance threshold and regular reporting on policy implementation. Banks should withdraw from any on-going financing relationships with clients that practice MTR and place MTR on their financing exclusion lists.

About
Sectors Coal Mining
Location

Mountain top removal (MTR) mining is a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to blast as much as 800 to 1,000 feet off the tops of mountains order to reach the coal seams that lie underneath. The resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt, and vegetation are then dumped into surrounding valleys, burying miles and miles of streams under piles of rubble hundreds of feet deep. Mountaintop removal mining harms not only aquatic ecosystem, and water quality, it also destroys hundreds of acres of healthy forests and fish and wildlife habitat, including habitat of threatened and endangered species, when the tops of mountains are blasted away.

Throughout the Appalachian region of the Eastern United States, more than 500 mountains have been flattened, first by clear-cutting forests, then by blowing off the top layers of rock with powerful explosives. Giant cranes (draglines) expose buried coal by scraping billions of tons of dirt off the mountain. The debris is then dumped into neighboring valleys and streams. Rather than remove coal from the mountain, MTR removes the mountain from the coal.

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

Coal companies use MTR mining methods because it allows for almost complete recovery of coal seams while significantly reducing the number of workers required compared to conventional methods. The coal-bearing counties of Appalachia are some of the poorest in the nation, despite the fact that some of the greatest wealth is being extracted from them. For marginalized coalfield resident communities, MTR has meant the loss of thousands of jobs and growing health risks. Poverty has increased in MTR regions, even as corporate profits soar.

Once coal is extracted, it is then washed and treated, resulting in waste water called coal sludge, a mix of water, coal dust, clay and toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, selenium and chromium. Billions of gallons of this toxic soup is then stored in vast, unlined impoundments or injected for storage in abandoned underground-mines. Impoundments are often held in place by mining debris or earthen dams, making them unstable. Sludge dams have been known to fail. In October 2000, residents of Martin County, Kentucky suffered 306 million gallons of slurry entering their water supply. The disastrous spill was over 30 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill.

After blasting has occurred, waste from mining operations is systematically dumped into nearby valleys, burying streams. This waste then releases toxic metals, killing life in streams and polluting ground water. Health problems such as cancer, liver and kidney disease and skin rashes have been found in correlation with people who drink water from wells contaminated by coal mining. The problem was exacerbated in 2002 when the Bush Administration changed rules in the Clean Water Act to allow waste material to be considered “fill,” effectively legalizing the dumping of toxic mining waste directly into Appalachian waterways.


Environmental and climate impacts

MTR is a mining practice where explosives are used to remove the tops of mountains and expose the thin seams of coal that lie beneath. Once blasted, the earth from the mountaintop is then typically dumped in the neighboring valleys. As a result, MTR mining poses significant threats to water quality in Appalachia, and undermines the objectives and requirements of the Clean Water Act. According to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried or contaminated. 


Other impacts

The expansion of mountaintop removal mining is fuelled by the fact that the United States is in the midst of a coal rush. Currently, more than 150 new coal-fired power plants are in various stages of development around the country. The government is relaxing laws in order to allow even more coal mining that destroys communities and ecosystems. These new power plants will emit 600 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is tantamount to doubling the number of cars on roads! Coal is the single biggest obstacle to curbing global warming as well as destructive coal mining practices.

Financiers
Institution type
Finance type
Year

By the summer of 2014  BNP Paribas, RBS, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have all publicly confirmed that they are moving away from bankrolling the destruction of America's mountains.

Companies

Alpha Natural Resources

United States
Profile
Website

Arch Resources

United States
Profile
Website

Ashland Inc

United States
Website

CONSOL Energy Inc

United States
Website

International Coal Group (aquired by Arch Coal in 2011)

United States
Website

James River Coal Company

United States
Website

Massey Energy (aquired by Alpha Natural Resources in 2011)

United States
Website

TECO Energy Inc

United States
Website
No companies
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Trump administration halts $1million study on health risks of Appalachian mountaintop removal coal mining

2017-08-23 | Mail Online
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

HSBC dusts down its mining policy, but leaves room for more coal financing

2016-12-07 | Yann Louvel – BankTrack
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Deutsche Bank blacklists mountaintop removal companies

2016-05-23 | urgewald
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Deutsche Bank changes coal financing policy

Deutsche Bank continues lack of transparency on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining / Policy falls short of commitments needed to end this practice and address climate change
2016-03-11 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

A Guilty Verdict in Don Blankenship's Trial

2015-12-03
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Five Reasons Why Morgan Stanley is RAN’s Next Target Bank on Coal Finance

2015-09-22 | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Arch Coal Lenders Said to Pick Front-Runner for Agent Role

2015-08-25 | Bloomberg
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Mountaintop Removal Blasting Above Coal River Communities

2015-08-17 | Coal River Mountain Watch
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Alpha Natural Resources is in a fight for its life

2015-07-24 | The Washington Post
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Public shaming makes the world a better place

2015-07-24 | Wired Magazine
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Even Deutsche Bank can show it’s committed to a low carbon ‘paradigm shift’ – by signing the Paris Pledge to quit coal

2015-07-21 | BankTrack blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

US Interior Dept. Just Made Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining A Lot More Expensive

2015-07-17 | Clean Technica
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Big Coal is freaking out over this latest Obama move

2015-07-16 | Grist
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Blood on the Mountain: New Film Chronicles Coal's War on Appalachia

2015-05-26 | The Huffington Post
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Crédit Agricole announces end to global coal mining finance at AGM

Campaigners call on bank to sign Paris Pledge to quit coal completely
2015-05-20 | Paris | Les Amis de la Terre, BankTrack
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

ING announces end to financing of major mountaintop removal coal miners

2015-05-11 | Amsterdam | BankTrack
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays cuts ties with mountaintop removal coal, says MTR will be "phased out" soon

Barclays was the world's top lender to mountaintop removal coal firms prior to announcing new policy
2015-04-07 | Berkeley | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays ends investment in 'toxic' coal mining practice under campaign pressure

2015-04-07 | RT
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays ends financing of controversial mountaintop removal mining

BankTrack quoted
2015-04-07 | The Guardian
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

A New Tack in the War on Mining Mountains

2015-03-09 | The New York Times
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

PNC Bank reduces financing for coal mining projects involving mountaintop removal

2015-03-03 | The Guardian
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

PNC Bank policy on Mountaintop Removal a positive step

2015-03-02 | San Francisco | Claire Sandberg
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays, ING, PNC pull back from Mountaintop Removal

2015 | BankTrack
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Landmark Settlement Reached on Conductivity Pollution from Surface Coal Mines

2014-12-16 | Sierra Club
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Court upholds EPA veto in mountaintop removal mining case

2014-10-01 | The Hill
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Crédit Agricole challenged at AGM to stop finance for mountain destruction

2014-05-21 | Paris | Les Amis de la Terre
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Time for France’s Biggest Bank to Stop Funding Mountaintop Removal Coal

2014-05-21 | RAN, Banktrack
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Brown confronts UBS

2014-05-09 | Basel
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Shareholders Press Bank of America for Coal and Climate Finance

Rainforest Action Network, Investors and Community Leaders Take Stage at ‘Bank of Coal’ Meeting
2014-05-08 | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

CMPD prepared for large protest expected at BoA meeting

2014-05-06 | WSOC TV
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

5 Photos That Show Why Barclays Bank Must Stop Financing Mountain Destruction

2014-04-25 | RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

From Appalachia to London, Barclays Bank Takes Heat for Coal Financing

2014-04-24 | RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

I’m Visiting Barclays Bank and I Need You to Back Me Up

2014-04-23 | RAN
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays AGM: Protestors to target Barclays for bankrolling coal

2014-04-23 | London | World Development Movement
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays: The Biggest Banker of Mountaintop Removal Coal

2014-04-21 | RAN
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Report Finds Top Banks Moving Away From Coal: Citigroup and Barclays seen as laggards

Fifth annual coal finance report shows JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo end financing for mountaintop removal coal
2014-04-17 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Extreme Coal – No Longer Business as Usual

2014-04-17 | RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Breakthrough: JPMorgan Chase Dropping Mountain Destruction

2014-04-13 | RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Chemical Valley

2014-04-07 | The New Yorker
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Investor Summit: Bank of America puts our Climate at Risk

2014-01-29 | RAN, Banktrack
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Court upholds EPA veto in mountaintop removal mining case

2014-01-10 | The Hill
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Breakthrough: JPMorgan Chase Dropping Mountain Destruction

2014 | BankTrack
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

More US and European Banks step back from Mountaintop Removal

2014 | BankTrack
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Regarding recent protests toward Bank of America on campus

2013-09-16 | Student Life
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Students protest Bank of America for funding coal mining

2013-09-16 | Student Life
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

NGOs criticise poor performance new leadership Deutsche Bank

2013-05-22 | Berlin | urgewald & Facing Finance
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

BNP Paribas AGM: stop funding coal!

2013-05-15 | Paris | Les Amis de la Terre
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Protest outside RBS AGM over Mountain Top Removal

2013-05-14
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Bank of America Meeting Dominated by Anti-Coal Activists

2013-05-09 | The Street
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

UN human rights group calls for investigation of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia

2013-05-02 | The Institute for Southern Studies
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New Coal Finance Report Card Exposes Risk of Extreme Energy Investments

Banks pump $20 billion into coal despite U.S. coal industry decline and escalating climate impacts
2013-04-29 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Extreme Investments: 2013 Coal Finance Report Card

2013-04-29 | RAN
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Arch Coal, the Blair Mountain Battlefield, and Bank Human Rights Commitments

COAL RISK UPDATE
2013-03-06 | United States | Rainforest Action Network
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Selenium Risk at Alpha Natural Resources' Mountaintop Removal Mines

Insight from the Patriot Coal Bankruptcy and Regulatory Monitoring Data
2013-02-05 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Appalachia Turns on Itself

2012-07-08 | The New York Times
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Massey’s Parent Company Accepts Financial Responsibility For Upper Big Branch Disaster

2011-12-07 | RAN Understory blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Study notes spike in birth defects near mountaintop mining

2011-06-23 | Kuntucky.com
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Mountaintop Removal Mining Raises Birth Defects

2011-06-22 | United States | Amanda Starbuck, RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Environment vs. jobs in new Battle of Blair Mountain

2011-06-14 | United States | CNN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Blair Mountain emergency: Obama is obliged by deathtoll to order mountaintop removal moratorium

2011-06-08 | United States | Huffington Post
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

RAN Translates Banker-Speak

2011-06-07 | RAN blog
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

RAN translates banker-speak

2011-06-07 | United States | Amanda Starbuck, RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

West Virginia protest march will link campaign to stop mountaintop removal coal mining and labor solidarity

2011-05-25 | United States | BTonline
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Shareholders Ask PNC Bank To Live The Green Dream

2011-04-26 | RAN blog
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New report card exposes largest financers of mountaintop removal coal mining

2011-04-05 | San Fransisco | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

GOP hopefuls OK with mountaintop removal mining

2011-04-04 | Business Week
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New UBS policy fizzles

Blogpost at the Understory page of RAN
2011-02-07 | United States | Brant Olson, RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Special report: Jamie Dimon wants some R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2011-02-04 | Reuters
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Another big bank turns away from mountaintop removal!

2010-11-02 | San Fransisco, US | Amanda Starbuck, RAN
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

A tale of two Swiss banks

2010-10-20 | San Fransisco, US | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Banks grow wary of environmental risks

2010-08-31 | NY Times
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Banks toughen lending rules to coal, PNC & UBS still bucking the trend

Two banks take heat for continuing to fund Massey Energy and mountaintop removal mining
2010-08-27 | United States
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Big Banks Ditch Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

2010-08-16 | Justmeans
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

PNC and UBS: financing the destruction of America’s mountains

2010-06-27 | San Fransisco, US | Annie Sartor, RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Like blowing up the Alps: Is Swiss Bank UBS the last financier of Massey's big coal Mayhem?

2010-06-07 | US | The Huffington Post
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Rainforest Action Network welcomes JPMorgan’s first public statement on controversial mountaintop removal coal mining

2010-05-17 | San Fransisco | RAN
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New report card, largest financers of Mountaintop Removal coal mining

PNC, JPMorgan Chase and UBS receive failing grades
2010-05-13 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New regulations will put an end to mountaintop mining

2010-04-02 | US | The Guardian
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Help us to stop JPMorganChase from funding mountaintop removal coal mining

Chase is bankrolling the destruction of American mountains for coal. End mountaintop removal and put Chase on the run
2010-02-18 | International | RAN
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New Scientific Study Says Mountaintop Removal Has Long Term Health and Environmental Effects and Should Be Banned

2010-01-07 | The Guardian/UK
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

EPA approves West Virginia MTR permit: major step backwards for Agency

2010-01-06 | RAN
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Bank of America stops funding Mountain Top Removal

Victory for Appalachia and anti-coal movement
2008-12-04 | San Fransisco | Rainforest Action Network
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Protests at shareholders meetings of Citi, Bank of America and RBS

US and UK banks find BankTrack campaigners protest against financing climate change
2008-04-23 | New York, Edinburgh, Charlotte | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Campaigners confront Citi over coal financing at annual shareholder meeting

2008-04-22 | New York | Rainforest Action Network
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Thousands on Streets to Protest Citi and Bank of America’s Coal Investments

climate activists tell banks to stop funding coal plants and extraction
2007-11-16 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Coalfield Residents, Activists and Students Close Down D.C. Citi Branch

Citi to stop funding coal and climate change
2007-11-06 | Washington DC | Rainforest Action Network
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Activists Drape 50-Foot Banner Across From Bank of America Headquarters

Call on Bank to Stop Funding Dirty Coal
2007-10-23 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Protests against years of destructive investments at Wells Fargo AGM

2006-04-25 | San Francisco, USA | Rainforest Action Network
Resources
Documents
Images
Videos
Links
2015-10-05 00:00:00

Financing Climate Chaos

How Minnesota’s Banking Giants Prioritize Profit in the Face of Climate Change
NGO document
2015-10-05 00:00:00 | MN 350
2015-05-04 00:00:00

The end of coal?

2015 Coal Finance Report Card
BankTrack publication
2015-05-04 00:00:00 | BankTrack, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club
2014-05-07 00:00:00

Questions by Paul Corbit Brown at the AGM of UBS

About the effects of mountaintop removal in Southern West Virginia.
Other document
2014-05-07 00:00:00
2014-04-17 00:00:00

Coal Finance Report Card 2014

Extreme Investments; Extreme Consequences
BankTrack publication
2014-04-17 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2013-04-29 00:00:00

Coal Finance Report Card 2013

Extreme investments - US Banks and the Coal Industry
BankTrack publication
2013-04-29 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2013-03-07 00:00:00

Coal Risk Update March 2013

Arch Coal, Blair Mountain, and Bank Human Rights Commitments
BankTrack publication
2013-03-07 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack
2013-02-05 00:00:00

Coal Risk Update February 2013

Selenium Risk at Alpha Natural Resources’s Mountaintop Removal Mines
BankTrack publication
2013-02-05 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack
2012-05-01 00:00:00

Coal Finance Report Card 2012

Dirty Money, U.S. Banks at theBottom of the Class
BankTrack publication
2012-05-01 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2011-11-15 00:00:00

Bank of America: Risking Public Health and the Climate

NGO document
2011-11-15 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network
2011-07-12 00:00:00

Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2010: Bank of America

Annual report
2011-07-12 00:00:00 | Bank of America
2011-04-05 00:00:00

Policy and Practice

2011 report card on banks and mountaintop removal
BankTrack publication
2011-04-05 00:00:00 | BankTrack, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club
2011-03-02 00:00:00

Global Citizenship Report 2010: Citi

Annual report
2011-03-02 00:00:00 | Citi
2011-02-02 00:00:00

2010 Sustainability Report: Morgan Stanley

Annual report
2011-02-02 00:00:00 | Morgan Stanley
2010-10-25 00:00:00

CSR report 2010

Annual report
2010-10-25 00:00:00 | PNC Bank
2010-06-02 00:00:00

Bankers on Tenterhooks

Climate change: co-funded by banks operating in Belgium
NGO document
2010-06-02 00:00:00 | Netwerk Vlaanderen
2010-05-13 00:00:00

Policy and Practice: report card on banks and mountaintop removal

BankTrack publication
2010-05-13 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-30 00:00:00

Letter from Wells Fargo to RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack on Mountaintop Removal

Correspondence
2010-04-30 00:00:00 | Wells Fargo
2010-04-29 00:00:00

Response UBS to NGO letter of 100414 concerning MTR

Correspondence
2010-04-29 00:00:00 | UBS
2010-04-15 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to Morgan Stanley

Correspondence
2010-04-15 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-15 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to UBS

Correspondence
2010-04-15 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-15 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to Bank of America

Correspondence
2010-04-15 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-15 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to GE Capital

Correspondence
2010-04-15 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-14 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to JPMorgan Chase

Correspondence
2010-04-14 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-14 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to PNC

Correspondence
2010-04-14 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-14 00:00:00

Mountaintop Removal request for information letter sent to Wells Fargo

Correspondence
2010-04-14 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2010-04-14 00:00:00

Letter from RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack to Citigroup on Mountaintop Removal

Correspondence
2010-04-14 00:00:00 | RAN, Sierra Club, BankTrack
2007-11-11 00:00:00

Banks, Climate Change and the New Coal Rush

NGO document
2007-11-11 00:00:00 | RAN
2007-10-24 00:00:00

The biggest cause of climate change: Coal-fired power plants

NGO document
2007-10-24 00:00:00 | Rainforest Action Network (RAN)
0000-00-00 00:00:00

Citi CSR Policy in regards to Mountain Top Removal

Bank policy
0000-00-00 00:00:00 | Citi

RBS Mountain Destruction Protest at RBS Bank headquarters AGM, Edinburgh

2013-05-14
Friends of the Earth Scotland demonstrators protest and lobby outside the RBS bank's AGM, held at Gogarburn, the bank's global headquarters. RBS is providing finance to companies involved in the wholesale destruction of the Appalachian mountains in the USA and elsewhere by 'blowing away' mountain tops to mine coal deposits. Mountain top removal (MTR) wrecks the environment, impacts on health and contributes to climate change.

Marsh Fork Protest

2009-06-23
Anti-Mountain Top Removal rally in the Coal River Valley.

Bob Kincaid on Bank of America AGM 2012

2014-05-13 12:17:43

Paul Corbit Brown at AGM of E.On 2013

On Mountaintop Removal
2014-05-13 11:57:24

Paul Corbit Brown at Credit Suisse AGM 2013

On Mountain Top Removal Mining
2014-05-13 11:52:49

Pledge to End Mountaintop Removal

2011-08-02 16:21:20

The Last Mountain

Documentary on Mountaintop Removal.
2011-04-18 12:50:45

Marie Gunnoe Speaks out about Flooding

Goldman "Enivironmental Nobel" Prize winner, Marie Gunnoe, describes the flooding at her home in Bob White, West Virginia, as a direct result of Mountain Top Removal.
2009-07-06 09:31:35

I love mountains

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

Stopping the Coal Rush

Rainforest Network

Global Finance Campaign

Appalachia Rising: More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal

A protest against mountain top removal

Facebook: Hands off Appalachia

Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery of Paul Corbit Brown, campaigner for the US NGO « Keeper of the Mountain »

CoalSwarm

National Resources Defenses Council - No more Mountain Removal

Updates

2015

2015-12-03 00:00:00 | Former Massey Energy executive found guilty of conspiracy

According to The Atlantic: the former Massey Energy executive, Don Blankenship,  was found guilty of conspiracy, but acquitted of securities fraud and making false statements related to the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in 2010.

2014

2014-05-06 00:00:00 | Patriot fasing out of coal, but Alpha and Arch not

Of the three largest producers of MTR coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal, and Patriot Coal, Patriot has already committed to phase out its MTR operations. But Arch and Alpha have maintained a pipeline of new MTR mining permits, even as the financial, regulatory, and reputational risks associated with MTR coal mining have become increasingly acute.

In 2013, top U.S. and European banks exited relationships with producers of MTR coal. As of April 2014, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo had terminated relationships with two of the largest mountaintop removal coal producers, Alpha Natural Resources (9.4 million tons of MTR coal produced in 2013) and Arch Coal (4.6 million tons in 2013). Unfortunately, as these banks exited MTR financing, Barclays scaled up its MTR financing, closing USD550 million in loan and bond transactions in 2013.

2014-02-06 00:00:00 | Federal court protects streams from surface mining

Regulatory and legal risks associated with MTR production have grown in the past 12 months, with a February 2014 federal court decision striking down a Bush-era rule that had gutted protections for streams impacted by surface mining. As the first case study highlights, Alpha Natural Resources’s exposure to citizen lawsuits related to water pollution from its MTR mines more than doubled in 2013, as the company reached a record-setting USD227.5 million enforcement settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice over water contamination from its mines.

2013

2013-05-06 00:00:00 | Bankruptcies

The financial condition of many MTR-producing coal companies continued to deteriorate in 2013. Patriot Coal's 2012 bankruptcy was followed by bankruptcy filings at Essar Energy's Trinity Coal subsidiary in February 2013, and at James River Coal in April 2014. Ironically, the CEO of the #2 producer of MTR coal, Patriot Coal, has emerged as a voice against MTR, remarking that his company's agreement to exit MTR was ultimately good for business, as the second case study explains.

2013 was a painful year to lend to several MTR coal producers. Three European banks, Credit Agricole, ING Capital, and Natixis faced the especially daunting challenge of recovering USD104 million in outstanding loans from their client Trinity Coal in bankruptcy court. After being acquired by the Indian conglomerate Essar Group in 2010 for USD600 million, Trinity, which operates MTR mines in Kentucky and West Virginia, was hit hard by slumping coal markets and failed to make required payments to its suppliers and creditors, prompting over 50 lawsuits against the company.

According to the three banks, Trinity defaulted on over USD104 million in credit obligations to them in 2011. After the company reportedly failed to negotiate with the banks, they filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against it in February 2013. A year later, Trinity's parent company agreed to a USD150 million capital infusion for Trinity as part of a bankruptcy settlement, through which Trinity's unsecured creditors were expected to receive 0.15 to 0.25 on the dollar.

Trinity isn't alone among MTR producers facing acute financial distress. In February 2014, James River Coal, which reported net losses of USD138.9 million in 2012 and was expected to lose USD126.8 million in 2013 according to Bloomberg estimates, renegotiated its revolving credit line with GE Capital and UBS to give it time to explore "strategic alternatives" including a sale of all or part of the company. At the same time, James River forged ahead with a legal battle to secure a permit for a new mountaintop removal mine in Kentucky in the face of legal challenges over the mine's potential impacts on human health and the environment. James River later declared bankruptcy in April 2014.

In contrast to James River, the CEO of Patriot Coal, which agreed to phase out its MTR operations as part of a 2012 bankruptcy settlement, recently expressed a much dimmer view of the viability of new MTR operations. In December 2013, he said that his company's exit from MTR was good for business, helped Patriot avoid growing regulatory, permitting, and litigation risks associated with the practice, and that it is "increasingly unlikely that any producer is going to invest a lot of money in building out a large-scale surface mine in Central Appalachia." Nevertheless, James River appears determined to prove him wrong with their planned MTR mine.

2012

2012-10-30 00:00:00 | Lawsuit Patriot Coal over selenium discharges

Patriot Coal faced a wave of citizen lawsuits over selenium discharges from its MTR mines and saw its seleniumrelated cleanup cost estimates rise to approximately USD449 million just prior to its bankruptcy filing in 2012.

2010

2010-01-31 10:04:06 |

On-going financing of destructive operations.

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