This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

OSM blocked from probe into Mettiki mine permit

By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

Interior Department officials have blocked the federal Office of Surface Mining from investigating a West Virginia coal mine that OSM fears would eventually pour acid mine drainage into streams.

Top Interior officials in Washington overturned local OSM experts who were concerned about a state-approved permit for Mettiki Coal Co.

Late last week, Rebecca Watson, an assistant Interior secretary, granted a request from state regulators who wanted to stop the probe.

“Permit decisions and any appeals are solely matters of the state jurisdiction in which OSM plays no role,” Watson wrote in a Friday letter to Joe Lovett, a lawyer with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.

Lovett represents three environmental groups — the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition — that opposed the Mettiki permit.

In May 2004, the state Department of Environmental Protection approved the permit for Mettiki’s E Mine, an underground operation along the Grant-Tucker county line.

Mettiki says it would control acid mine drainage by pumping polluted water into the underground mine works before it is released into streams.

Once underground, the water would be treated with alkaline materials to reduce acidity. It would also be deprived of oxygen to keep more acid from forming.

Last month, three OSM hydrologists issued separate reports that documented dozens of problems with the Mettiki permit and DEP’s review of it.

In their reports, hydrologists Jay Hawkins, Tom Galya and George Gunn said Mettiki’s proposal to abate the acid drainage is “an experimental method ... which has not been successful elsewhere.”

Mettiki and DEP had predicted the E Mine’s discharge would need treatment for 17 years and then be clean. OSM experts projected the discharge could actually contain 30 times the legal limit of iron for decades to come.

Based on his staff’s reports, Roger Calhoun, director of the OSM Charleston field office, launched an investigation of the Mettiki permit.

Randy Huffman, director of the DEP Division of Mining and Reclamation appealed to Calhoun’s boss, OSM regional director Brent Wahlquist. After that, officials from the Interior Department — of which OSM is a part — took control of the matter.

Under the 1977 federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, states are allowed to police their own mining industries. OSM is supposed to make sure the states do a good job.

But exactly what steps OSM should take in monitoring state enforcement are widely debated. Since passage of the law, state regulators and the coal industry have managed to more strictly limit OSM’s involvement.

In her Friday letter to Lovett, Interior’s Watson said, “OSM does not retain ‘veto’ authority over state permit decisions.”

Lovett said he plans to challenge the Interior Department decision.

“OSM professionals documented the problems with the mine plan and the Department of Interior won’t let the experts in OSM do anything about it,” Lovett said. “It is at least very encouraging that the expert staff at OSM agreed with us, and we intend to pursue other remedies.”

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.