You wouldn't see this story anywhere else. Ken Ward Jr. reports on an offer from the federal government to settle potential penalties against mountaintop mining companies who illegally bury Appalachian streams with fill material. It's a version of the environmental "self-audit." Companies would qualify for reduced fines if they reported their own violations to the EPA and Corps of Engineers, who administer the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit program, and performed any necessary mitigation. As attractive as the reduced fines, however, was the government's offer not to require mountaintop coal mining operators to shut down their operations. Ward, characteristically, was the first and only reporter to write about this as far as we know. The offer was described publicly at an Aug. 26 workshop at a Charleston hotel to describe mountaintop removal permit requirements. "The workshops are open to the public," Ward wrote. "But they are not widely publicized, and Tuesday's was attended almost exclusively by industry representatives." Of course there's more to good basic reporting like this than being the only reporter to show up at a meeting. The Gazette, principally with Ward's reporting, has covered the mountaintop removal issue thoroughly and steadily for at least five years -- and has the awards to show it.

See: http://wvgazette.com/section/News/2003082632 and http://wvgazette.com/static/series/mining/