Valley fill bill

The West Virginia Senate Energy Industry and Mining Committee is meeting Wednesday to discuss SB 588, a bill introduced by Sen. Jon Blair Hunter, which would ban valley fills.

The committee will hear first from representatives of the WV Coal Association who oppose the bill.

They will be followed by the bill's supporters, including attorney Joe Lovett, novelist and former Mountain Party candidate for governor Denise Giardinia and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy mining chair Cindy Rank.