Cancer causing pellets are being dropped along the Mountain Valley Pipeline path in WV
Pellets used to prevent erosion and provide soil stabilization have been dropped near the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Greenville, WV. The pellets were dropped from a helicopter and have been found to contain a cancer-causing chemical called acrylamide. Organic farmers in the area say the pellets were dropped on their farm, a quarter mile away from the pipeline, and that the pellets contaminated their soil, risking their livelihood. Complaints about the pellets were made to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and to Mountain Valley Pipeline but the pellet drops have continued, this time in Monroe County, WV.
186 acres added to the Cherokee National Forest
The Conservation Fund in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service has announced the addition of 186 acres to the Cherokee National Forest. The land is located in the tri-corner area of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, less than 20 miles east of Abingdon, VA and only two miles from the Virginia Creeper Trail. Known as Divided Mountain because of its location spanning the Tennessee Valley Divide, the property protects headwaters of Whetstone Branch and Valley Creek of the South Holston River watershed and Big Horse Creek of the North Fork New River basin. The new purchase connects over 127,000 acres of contiguous public land. The property will be managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of Cherokee National Forest.
