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This article originally provided by
The Associated Press
By DINA CAPPIELLO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency put
hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold Tuesday to
evaluate the projects' impact on streams and wetlands.
The decision by EPA administrator Lisa Jackson targets a
controversial practice that allows coal mining companies to dump
waste from mountaintop mining into streams and wetlands.
Between 150 and 200 applications for new or expanded surface coal
mines, many mountaintop removal operations, are pending before the
federal government. EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the agency does
not expect problems with the overwhelming majority of permits.
The permits are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, an agency
that has been criticized by environmental groups and has been sued
for failing to thoroughly evaluate the environmental impact of
mountaintop removal.
Under the Clean Water Act, companies cannot discharge rock, dirt and
other debris into streams unless they can show that it will not
cause permanent damage to waterways or the fish and other wildlife
that live in them.
Last month, a three-judge appeals panel in Richmond, Va., overturned
a lower court's ruling that would have required the Corps to conduct
more extensive reviews. The appeals court decision cleared the way
for a backlog of permits that had been delayed until the lawsuit was
resolved.
The EPA's action on Tuesday could leave those permit requests in
limbo a little longer.
Ginger Mullins, regulatory branch chief for the Corps' Huntington
District, which covers portions of Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia,
Virginia and North Carolina, said the EPA reviews will delay
approval of projects.
"It will take more time," said Mullins.
The EPA said in a statement that it would be actively involved in
the review of the long list of permits awaiting approval by the
Corps, a signal that the agency under the Obama administration will
exercise its oversight.
The EPA has the authority to review and veto any permit issued by
the Corps under the Clean Water Act, but under the Bush
administration it did that rarely.
"If the EPA didn't step in and do something now, all those permits
would go forward," said Joe Lovett, executive director for the
Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment. "There are
permits that will bury 200 miles of streams pending before the
Corps."
The EPA action stunned the coal industry, which had been breathing
easily since the mid-February ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of
Appeals.
"It's almost like the EPA's trying to skirt the 4th Circuit appeals
decision and do whatever they want to do," Kentucky Coal Association
President Bill Caylor said. "We would lose half our production in
east Kentucky."
Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association,
said further delays in the permits would cost the region high-paying
jobs.
"This is very troubling, not only for jobs in the region, but
production of coal generally," said Raulston.
Mountaintop mines in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee
produce nearly 130 million tons of coal annually - about 14 percent
of the nation's power-producing coal - which in turn generates
electricity for 24.7 million U.S. customers, according to industry
estimates.
The low-sulfur, high-energy coal produced from those mines is not
easily replaced. The industry has long maintained that eliminating
mountaintop mining will lead to increased imports from countries
that have far fewer environmental safeguards.
The practice has a huge economic impact in Appalachia. Mountaintop
mines employ some 14,000 people across the four states. Wages
average about $62,000 - high pay for rural Appalachia - and states
make millions in taxes.
"It just absolutely puzzles me as to why the same federal government
that's trying to straighten the economy out wants to dismantle the
economy of another state, particularly as it relates to the workers
at these sites," said West Virginia Coal Association President Bill
Raney. West Virginia is the nation's second-largest coal producing
state behind Wyoming.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin is planning to meet with White House
officials to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to
review mountaintop coal-mining permits. Manchin says he will meet on
Wednesday with Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on
Environmental Quality.
Manchin said in a statement that he plans to discuss the intent of
the ruling. He says he hopes to find a reasonable solution that
helps fulfill the nation's energy needs and keep the jobs dependent
on the industry.
In a separate action, the EPA recommended denying permits the Army
Corps of Engineers was planning to issue that would allow two
companies to fill thousands of feet of streams with mining waste in
West Virginia and Kentucky. The Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that
it was weeks away from issuing both permits.
But in letters sent Monday to the Corps' office in Huntington,
W.Va., the EPA said that Central Appalachia Mining, a subsidiary of
Lexington, Ky.-based Rhino Resources, and Highland Mining Co., a
subsidiary of Richmond-based Massey Energy Co., have not done enough
to avoid and minimize damage to water quality and stream channels.
In the case of the Highland Mining's plans, which would fill in
approximately 13,174 feet of stream in Logan County, W.Va., the
agency said it believes the project "will result in substantial and
unacceptable impacts to aquatic resources of national importance."
Neither Massey Energy Co. nor Rhino Resources immediately responded
to requests for comment.
---
Associated Press business writer Tim Huber contributed to this
report from Charleston, W.Va.
---
On the Net:
EPA Wetlands Site:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands
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