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Archived Coal Issues: |
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Litigation filed to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from rubber-stamping massive coal mining operations by using it's Nationwide Permit #21(NWP21).
October 23,
2003. As you know, these valley fills bury hundreds of miles of valuable headwater streams in the region. The Mountaintop Removal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) currently being conducted by several federal and state agencies conservatively estimates 1200 miles throughout the Appalachian region have already been destroyed. To date, all but one of these valley fills in West Virginia have been authorized by the Corps using NW21. In our view, this is a clear violation of NEPA and the Clean Water Act which both require the Corps to forgo the use of these rubber-stamp authorizations for activities that will have more than minimal environmental impact. Just imagine, the Corps' entire permitting scheme for mountaintop removal mines is based on the assumption that these mines have minimal impacts on the environment! The Corps has so twisted the law that it believes it may authorize even the most destructive mines with little or no environmental scrutiny. We believe that even the United States Army Corps must follow the laws passed by Congress and we intend to force the Corps to comply with the Clean Water Act and with NEPA, even if the Corps would prefer to ignore them. In granting these permits the Corps is also allowing for the elimination of hundreds of acres of upland forest and streamside riparian areas that are essential to the ecological health of our streams. The use of NW21 has already allowed nearly 1 million acres of the most productive and diverse temperate hardwood forests in the world to be permitted for destruction without regard for the cumulative impacts on the region's economy or resources. It is estimated that that number could reach 1.5 million acres in the next decade. Permit appeal challenges WV Division of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)'s avoidance of Buffer Zone, Selenium and Topsoil Substitute issues.
October 29, 2003. This will be a landmark case in our efforts to rein in mountaintop removal - win or lose. We believe the buffer zone rule prohibits filling intermittent and perennial streams. If we are successful in persuading the State courts in West Virginia that our interpretation of the law is the correct one, the size of strip mines in the State will be significantly reduced and reclamation practices will be improved so that the sites will actually support mixed native hardwood forests after mining. Intervention in the industry appeal of WVDEP's denial of a mine permit that threatens the Potomac and Blackwater Rivers.
October 15, 2003. Though media attention to AMD has dwindled with the more recent shift to mining in lower sulfur coal seams and the massively destructive mountaintop removal operations, long term AMD from mining in acid prone areas in the 1980's and 90's has left a devastating legacy. Low pH, and heavy loads of metals including iron, manganese and aluminum from those operations have killed thousands of miles of streams and created astronomical treatment costs, as well as large deficits in state reclamation funds (predicted to be in the millions of dollars in West Virginia alone). Extensive pools of acid water have also flooded underground mine workings in northern West Virginia and the pressure in these pools has begun to force the acid water to break out into streams and wells further contaminating waters in the area. Permitting the Mettiki "E" mine will once again open the door for additional mining throughout acid prone areas across the country and further destruction of surface and ground waters for recreational, domestic and industrial use in major portions of PA, WV, KY, Tenn. Ill. and Ohio. Now, Governor Wise's former Chief of Staff has joined ranks with Mettiki Coal Company and continues to pressure WVDEP to back down on the denial. Yielding to pressure to reverse this decision will turn back the clock on decades of work by citizens across the state, region and nation to hold firm the sections of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the Clean Water Act that prohibit the production of AMD. To assure that federal and state law are strictly adhered to, Center lawyers have intervened in support of WVDEP on behalf of three state groups: WV Rivers Coalition, Trout Unlimited and WV Highlands Conservancy. NEWBREAK: The center has filed an appeal on this case go to ISSUES: COAL DRAFT EIS.
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