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Protect Appalachia’s Water from Mountaintop Removal
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
Later this month Administrator Lisa Jackson will retire as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During her term, the EPA took several important steps to encourage coal companies to do more to protect the water in Appalachia from destructive coal mining practices. Unfortunately it was not enough: a key guidance that EPA issued to protect Appalachian streams and communities is not legally binding.
Half-measures like these are unacceptable when the health of entire communities are on the line.
Mining companies and state agencies — who have made it clear that they will do everything they can to avoid these kinds of recommendations — need to be held accountable. We need real protections. The EPA must issue legally binding water quality standards for conductivity under the Clean Water Act to to protect streams and communities in Appalachia from mountaintop removal mining pollution.
Lisa Jackson made it clear that destroying mountains in Appalachia and poisoning streams and communities was not acceptable. We need to make sure her successor works alongside President Obama to finish the job.
April 19th, 2013 at 11:05 am
By mining like that they take the top of the mountain and they blow it up and dump right off the edge into the valleys and streams. I’m not saying that we should get rid of coal mining, that would be the last thing I want to do because, West Virginia’s economy is almost fully based on coal mining. I see why they are doing mountaintop removal, because it is the cheapest and shortest way to mine for coal mountain and down in those valleys are streams that are full of trout. They are harming many plants and animals by contaminating the water. Any animal that walks down to the stream and drinks the water is more than likely going to get sick and possibly die from the water. All the fish in that water are going to be contaminated. It can even contaminate us humans. We can be contaminated by drinking the water or eating the fish and animals that drink and swim in the water.
April 23rd, 2013 at 10:48 am
I think that mountaintop removal is bad for many different reasons. It pollutes valleys and streams. It doesn’t allow us to grow any crops in that area because there is no top soil. I’m not trying to say that we should get rid of coal mining I just think that we can mine in efficient ways. Coal is one of the United states biggest exports if we got rid of coal mining our economy would plummet down. With mountaintop removal we are not just contaminating our selves we are contaminating the fish plants and animals.