The Institue for Clean Air, Water and Environment

06/10/2026

Thursday evening in Hinton WV

06/04/2026

If you are near Hinton please join me for a special FREE screening and the WV debut of the documentary VS. GOLIATH. This film is part of the award-winning series It will be shown at 7 PM on June 11th at The Historic Ritz Theatre - Digital Cinema & Performing Arts located on 211 Ballengee St, Hinton, WV. There will be social gathering at the theater starting at 6 PM, so come early and visit with your neighbors and talk to all the great groups that will have a table set up in the lobby of the theater.

The theater is located in the beautiful Hinton Historic District, so plant to make an evening of it if you can and browse this beautiful Railroad town. It is also one of the gateway towns to the New River National Park and Preserve.

The movie follows an army veteran, a disabled educator/farmer, an apple grower, a small business owner and indigenous leaders and local residents as they enlist in the battle against a massive gas pipeline that cuts through their community in the mountains of Appalachia. They are joined by neighbors near and far in a showdown against a shadowy corporation and some of the nation’s most powerful politicians. Among those are citizens from West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

The movie includes scenes from across Appalachia, Washington DC and even across the nation. Local residents may recognize their friends and neighbors or even themselves who all came together to resist the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Executive Produced by Award-Winning Actor & Director Don Cheadle and the Solutions Project, the Equation Campaign and Fossil Free Media and Produced by Tikkun Olam Productions, join us for this important screening and conversation. Pre-show social begins at 6 PM, Film starts at 7 with a short discussion to follow.
Special Guest: Russell Chisholm, Maury Johnson, Georgia Haverty and film-make Maggie Lemere. Others will be listed as they become available.

Co-Sponsored by the Protect Our Water Heritage Rightss (POWHR) Coalition, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Summers County Residents Against the Pipeline, Preserve Monroe, Indian Creek Watershed Association, Greenbrier Watershed, West Virginia Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival:, Christians for the Mountains, The Border Conservancy, ARTivism Virginia and Tikkun Olam Productions

05/04/2026

Comments Due Today

Formal comments opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed removal of pyrolysis from Clean Air Act section 129 and the deregulation of air curtain incinerators per proposed rule in Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0068: Standards for Air Curtain Incinerators and Revisions for Temporary-Use Inci...

04/30/2026

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1018554700496616&set=a.171727848512643

UPDATE 4.30.26
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is continuing to monitor a train derailment near the West Virginia–Virginia border in the East River.

No visible contamination has been observed on the water, but crews have deployed containment booms as a precaution. A separate railcar carrying soybean oil leaked about 14-thousand gallons onto nearby soil, but officials say the spill has been contained and has not entered the river.

After further investigation, Mercer County Emergency Management Director Keith Gunnoe said "The oil has not yet made it into the East River stream, but as a precaution, Virginia emergency personnel have already placed water booms in the East River." The DEP says it will continue working with Norfolk Southern to monitor conditions and oversee cleanup efforts.

Photo: Dylan Young

04/29/2026

Tuesday evening, April 28, a Norfolk Southern tanker train derailed 13 cars on the WV side of the bridge near Glen Lyn, VA. Three cars are leaking soybean oil into the East River, a direct tributary into the New River, just a hundred yards away. A hazmat crew has deployed a containment boom to help prevent the oil from spreading further.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Hazmat Unit, the Roanoke Regional Hazmat Unit and a hazmat crew from the nearby Celanese Plant responded to the scene. Local emergency responders from the Rich Creek Fire Department and the town of Narrows also assisted.
New River Conservancy Water Quality Manager, and former fisheries biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resource, John Copeland commented "While a soybean oil spill in the East River is not ideal, other spills involving chemicals would be much worse. As oil is lighter than water, containment booms and vacuum systems should be able to remove the majority of the spill."
New River Conservancy continues to monitor the situation.
Pic: Derailed cars on the bridge over the East River. Oakvale Volunteer Fire Department.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1017740707244682&set=pcb.1017740727244680

Derailed cars over the East River.

04/29/2026

This is critical habitat for nesting Bald Eagles and other fragile species

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=954792057307130&set=a.109301425189535

UPDATE: Norfolk Southern says 13 cars derailed in Tuesday’s derailment at the WV/VA state line in Glen Lyn.

There were no reported injuries to the train crew, and only soybean oil was leaking from the cars, posing no environmental risk, according to the company.

04/29/2026

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1403585905144854&set=a.222806459889477

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗩𝗗𝗘𝗣 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱

CHARLESTON, WV – The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) became aware of a train derailment this afternoon near the West Virginia–Virginia border in the Bluestone River watershed and is actively coordinating with state and local partners to assess the situation.

Initial information indicates the incident occurred near the state line, with some reports placing portions of the derailment just inside West Virginia. At this time, soybean oil is the only substance confirmed to be leaking, and response crews are working to contain the material. There have been no confirmed releases of hazardous chemicals.

The WVDEP is working closely with the West Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Environmental Health Services, emergency management officials, and the railroad operator to monitor conditions and gather additional information on the contents of the affected railcars.

Local water utilities have been notified and are monitoring their systems. Based on current information, there is no indication of an immediate impact to drinking water, but the situation remains under active review.

Norfolk Southern has contractors on site conducting recovery and remediation operations, and WVDEP personnel are engaged to ensure appropriate response measures are in place.

The WVDEP will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as more information becomes available.​​

Press Release:
dep.wv.gov/news/Pages/Statement-from-WVDEP-on-Train-Derailment-in-Bluestone-River-Watershed.aspx

04/15/2026

https://carriewv.substack.com/p/wv-wyoming-county-samsung-school-competition?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv0&fbclid=IwY2xjawRMiutleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeC0go34y2eCzbZLYQnGyfCrInnx9VIA7Y0JagYj-SLvl7Cjjs64zbKzs1lQQ_aem_Ixqjwaa5geA6EsTZg5iL9g

Wyoming County students shouldn’t have to invent their own clean water infrastructure just to survive.