SOUTH

© Corbis / Cindy Kassab

Tennessee Moves to Block Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Tennessee submitted a petition in October to the federal government to block mountaintop mining on stateowned ridgelines, the Environment News Service reports.

The petition on mountaintop removal may be the first of its kind filed by a state government, the news service reports. The document was filed with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining and asks the federal government to study and begin a public dialogue on the suitability of state-owned lands in the Northern Cumberland Plateau for mountaintop removal mining, according to the news service.

If the petition is approved it would prevent surface mining of coal for 600 feet on each side of the ridgelines in the Northern Cumberland Plateau, creating a 1,200-foot ridgetop corridor that encompasses an estimated 67,000 acres, according to the news service.

Although the state controls the surface rights to the area covered by the petition, others own the mineral rights, The Tennessean of Nashville reports. Chuck Laine, president of the Tennessee Mining Association, told The Tennessean the state could only afford the property surface rights but not the mineral rights. His group opposed the measure and said it’s a move by the state to take the mineral rights away from the owners without proper compensation, according to the newspaper.

Supporters of the petition say the mountaintop removal mining endangers the environment in the area. Much of the land covered in the petition is upstream from the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area—a major recreational economic engine for the state, the news service reports. Recreational activities offered in the Big South Fork National River and Recreational area represent a $10 million to $16 million economic benefit a year for to the region, according to a 2005 report by the National Park Service.

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INSURANCE FRAUD

In a down economy, Arkansas is seeing more cases of insurance fraud, according to the Arkansas News Bureau. Insurance fraud cases investigated by the state increased from 356 cases in 2005 to 536 cases in just the first eight months of 2010, Greg Sink, director of the Arkansas Insurance Department’s criminal investigation division, told the news bureau.

REVENUES UP

Here’s some news officials aren’t used to hearing: Tax revenues were up in Georgia for September, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The Georgia Department of Revenue collected $1.45 billion in tax revenue in September, a 5.7 percent increase from last September, the newspaper reports. That’s three consecutive months of tax revenue growth for Georgia.

OIL SPILL EFFECTS

State officials will be dealing with the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for years to come, according to The TimesPicayune. In fact, the Louisiana legislature formed a Joint Natural Resources Committee to address the impacts of the oil spill on the state’s seafood industry and the environment, the newspaper reports.

FORECLOSURES

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Foreclosure Task Force launched an informative foreclosure website in October to assist residents facing the possibility of losing their home through the foreclosure process, according to a press release from McDonnell’s office. The website—www.virginiaforeclosureinfo.com—provides information on locating housing counselors, frequently asked questions and other foreclosure resources. “This newly designed website will provide Virginians with important information on the state’s foreclosure problem,” McDonnell said in the release.

SCHOOLS

North Carolina’s Board of Education approved changes to the way public schools are graded, according to the News & Observer in Raleigh. The changes mean the schools will be graded on how well they prepare students for college and the work force, as well as how many students enroll in challenging math classes, the newspaper reports. Those changes also mean test scores will have less significance for high schools, according to the newspaper. The board wants to implement the new system in 2013, but the plan would require action from the legislature, according to the News & Observer.

To learn more about these and other developments in the Southern Region, visit: capitolideas.csg.org and www.slcatlanta.org.