Coal River Mountain Watch

Coal River Mountain Watch Our mission is to stop the destruction of our communities and environment by mountaintop removal…

Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW) is a grassroots organization begun in 1998 in response to the fear and frustration of people living near or downstream from huge mountaintop removal sites. We began as a small group of volunteers working to organize the residents of southern West Virginia to fight for social, economic, and environmental justice. From our humble beginnings, we have become a major fo

rce in opposition to mountaintop removal. Our outreach coordinator, Julia Bonds, was the 2003 Goldman Prize winner for North America. CRMW's efforts figure prominently in several documentaries, books, and articles. We oppose new mountaintop removal permits, monitor existing permits for violations, promote policies to end this process, and clean up our streams and community. Our greatest achievement was securing a new school for the students of Marsh Fork Elementary School. The old school was beside a coal preparation plant, 2.8-billion-gallon sludge dam, and thousand-acre mountaintop removal site.

04/22/2026

Shelter-in-place ordered for 1-mile radius of Catalyst Refiners, Nitro, West Virginia on April 22, 2026.

04/12/2026
04/12/2026
On April 5, 2010, the Upper Big Branch mine operated by Massey Energy in our community exploded, killing 29 miners. Mass...
04/05/2026

On April 5, 2010, the Upper Big Branch mine operated by Massey Energy in our community exploded, killing 29 miners. Massey CEO Don Blankenship was convicted of conspiracy to violate safety laws and spent one year in a comfortable prison, where he wrote a book about being a political prisoner. Massey subsidiaries were sold to Alpha Natural (now Metallurgical) Resources, keeping most management and practices of ignoring regulations they deem inconvenient. Since the beginning of 2025, Alpha has had 3 fatalities within 7 miles of our office, most recently on April 2. Condolences to all who have lost loved ones to Alpha’s practice of profit over people.

4 mine fatalities in our communities within 7 miles of Coal River Mountain Watch’s office since the beginning of 2025: 3...
04/04/2026

4 mine fatalities in our communities within 7 miles of Coal River Mountain Watch’s office since the beginning of 2025: 3 for Alpha Metallurgical Resources and one for Lexington Coal Company. The most recent was April 2, 2026, for Alpha, just 3 days before the 16th anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners in our community.

Another story about WVDEP whining about federal oversight, as WVDEP lets Lexington Coal Company operate in a perpetual s...
03/31/2026

Another story about WVDEP whining about federal oversight, as WVDEP lets Lexington Coal Company operate in a perpetual state of violation and fails to collect over $6 million in years-old delinquent fines. https://www.wvowradio.com/post/wvdep-pushing-back-against-possible-federal-intervention-at-boone-county-mine. Photo is from a Coal River Mountain Watch video shot during a flight by our friends at SouthWings.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is defending its oversight of a Boone County coal mine permit that federal regulators have been reviewing for months.WVOW NewsTWILIGHT State officials sent a letter on March 23rd to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in r...

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7503 Coal River Road
Naoma, WV
25140

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+13048542182

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