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This article originally provided by
The
Charleston Gazette
Agency reinstates permit in Kentucky
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials on
Wednesday escalated a fight with the Environmental Protection Agency
over the regulation of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Read more in Coal Tattoo
At the same time, coalfield politicians rushed to insist that new
policies should not threaten strip-mining jobs, while environmental
groups urged a broader discussion of transitioning to more
underground mining and finding "green jobs" for the Appalachian
region.
Just one day after EPA began to more closely review corps permit
proposals, the corps office in Louisville, Ky., reinstated a permit
that had previously been suspended after environmental groups sued
in federal court to stop it.
"For the Corps of Engineers in Louisville and I'm sure for a lot
of other districts as well, it's business as usual," said Carol
Labashosky, a corps Louisville district spokeswoman.
But environmental groups were quick to blast the permit issuance.
"The ink is not even dry on yesterday's announcement by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency telling the corps that upcoming
permits for mountaintop removal mining will be reviewed for
environmental harm before being issued," said Joan Mulhern, senior
legislative counsel for the group Earthjustice.
"It's outrageous that the corps has gone ahead and issued a new
permit for more mountaintop removal to a coal company in Kentucky
with apparent disregard of the administration's position.
"We will be watching to see if the EPA steps in again in reaction
to the corps' flagrant misconduct," Mulhern added. "Does the left
hand even know what the right hand is doing?"
The corps action comes as coalfield politicians raced to clarify
that the EPA has not placed a moratorium on new mining permits, and
to oppose any Obama administration changes in policy that would cost
strip-mining jobs.
"Let me make very clear - America has over a 200-year history of
mining West Virginia coal, and that is not going to change any time
soon," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. "Coal is an incredibly
valuable resource and any alarmist reports suggesting that the EPA's
recent letters are the end of coal mining are inaccurate and
unhelpful."
House Natural Resources Chairman Nick J. Rahall said about 50
corps permit applications have already been sent to EPA for its
review.
"This is something that has not been done with the past
administration over the past eight years," Rahall said. "The EPA
doing permit-by-permit reviews is a normal process that the agency
should have been doing all along."
Joe Lovett, director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy
and the Environment, criticized Gov. Joe Manchin for immediately
meeting with White House officials to defend mountaintop removal.
Lovett said the industry should shift to more underground mining and
reclamation of abandoned mines.
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