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This news story originally provided by the The Chicago Tribune
Environmentalists hail decision in West Virginia case
By Michael Kilian
Washington Bureau
Published July 10, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A federal court decision blocking the coal industry from
dumping more mountaintop mining waste into some West Virginia valleys and
streams was hailed by environmental groups Friday as a major victory because of
its potential effect on the mining method everywhere.
This increasingly common mining method involves using explosives to blow off the
tops of mountains to expose coal seams.
Though coal companies routinely restore vegetation to the flattened mountaintops
after the coal has been extracted, large amounts of waste produced in the
process have been dumped in surrounding valleys and streams.
Under a nationwide permitting system enacted by Congress, the dumping has been
allowed to proceed with permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has
been granting them solely based on its determination that such dumping would
have minimal environmental impact.
The federal court decision, rendered late Thursday and released Friday, held
that this practice circumvents the Clean Water Act, which calls for advance
notice, public hearings and a period of public comment before a dumping permit
is granted.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin's ruling applies only to the southern
judicial district of West Virginia. But it has national implications because
mountain mining and valley dumping have become widespread.
"These `valley fills' bury streams under tens of thousands of tons of waste
rock and dirt, killing all aquatic life below," said a statement from the
Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "For
years, the Corps of Engineers has granted coal companies permits to destroy more
than 1,200 miles of Appalachian streams under the nationwide permitting
program."
Goodwin's order barred the Corps of Engineers from issuing any more permits for
dumping in the area and called for the revocation of 11 permits already granted.
"This huge court victory blocks the valley fills already authorized by the
corps and prevents the agency from authorizing any new fills," said Joe
Lovett, executive director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the
Environment. "This decision won't stop mining in West Virginia, but it will
finally force the Corps--and Big Coal--to comply with the law."
Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, a party to
the case, said the group's lawyers are reviewing the ruling and that no decision
on whether to appeal has been made.
"We were disappointed by the decision," she said. "We find it
confusing, because the same court, with a different judge, held in 1999 that the
Corps should be paying more individual attention to permits."
Raulston said mining interests were also disappointed because of the economic
impact of the decision.
"There is a tremendous demand to meet the nation's electricity needs,"
she said. "Energy sources in most of the nation are operating at full
capacity. In Appalachia, production is below capacity because of confusion over
permitting policies."
The Corps of Engineers and the Justice Department said they would not comment
until government lawyers had an opportunity to evaluate the ruling.
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