Archive for September, 2009
In this amazing interview by the New York Times, Jennifer Hall-Massey of Prenter, WV explains how water pollution, caused by underground coal sludge injections, has impacted her family and community.
Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering – by CHARLES DUHIGG
Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, W.Va.
In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — caused painful rashes. Many of his brother’s teeth were capped to replace enamel that was eaten away.
Neighbors apply special lotions after showering because their skin burns. Tests show that their tap water contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system.
“How can we get digital cable and Internet in our homes, but not clean water?” said Mrs. Hall-Massey, a senior accountant at one of the state’s largest banks.
She and her husband, Charles, do not live in some remote corner of Appalachia. Charleston, the state capital, is less than 17 miles from her home.
“How is this still happening today?” she asked.
Here is the full article…
Toxic Waters: Coal in the Water
You also HAVE TO watch this slide show narrated by Jennifer. Her first line: “There were 6 of our neighbors within a 10 house span… half of them died. We lost our little brother.”
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Says Congress Should Follow-Up By Approving Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310)
“I fully support EPA’s decision to halt these permits and applaud the agency for recognizing the importance of protecting clean water. Clean and healthy water is a requirement for healthy people, especially growing children. Congress should follow through on this momentum and pass the Clean Water Protection Act to completely shut down the devastating practice of mountain top removal and to preserve clean water.”
Don’t miss this commentary by Sierra Club’s Bruce Nilles and Mary Anne Hitt at DailyKos.
And the National Mining Association weighs in, via Coal Tattoo
“EPA’s announcement today to halt 79 pending coal mining permits continues the moratorium on Eastern coal mining that jeopardizes the livelihoods of tens of thousands of American workers and their communities.
“By deciding to hold up for still further review coal mining permits pending in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, the agency damages a weak economy struggling to recover in the worst recession in post-war history. “EPA has adopted its own process and criteria for reviewing coal mine permits that is the responsibility of the Army Corp of Engineers. No one outside of EPA –not even the Corps – knows what criteria EPA has used to now find these 79 permits insufficient. Permit applicants do not know what conditions outside the bounds of the existing regulations they must meet to obtain a permit.
“In effect, EPA is imposing new regulations that have not been proposed or publicly reviewed as required by law. This action reinforces our earlier call for a transparent process that gives coal operators confidence in the regulatory process.
“We’re at a loss to understand how EPA’s moratorium on coal mining aligns with the public interest and the Administration’s attempt to restore economic growth and create high wage jobs.”
Kate Sheppard has a good piece at the Washington Independent, and Ken Ward over at Coal Tattoo breaks this down in traditional Coal Tattoo style.
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are here (.xls)
100% of the MTR permits (79 of 79) were kiboshed.
Why is the number of permits 79 and not 86 or 108?
Via EPA’s Q&A:
An initial list of 108 pending Clean Water Act permit applications for proposed coal mines was provided by the Corps and published at the same time as the June 11, 2009 MOU. The original group of 108 projects included 13 projects whose permit applications have subsequently been withdrawn by the mining company, 8 projects for which permit issuance was imminent and occurred prior to, or concurrent with, the publication of the list, 3 projects for which an ongoing enforcement action currently precludes a permit decision, 1 permit application not complete, 1 project for which the work does not require a permit, and 5 underground mining projects determined not appropriate for the ECP. Also, 2 additional projects were added to the original list. In summary, 31 projects were removed from the original list of 108, and 2 were added, resulting in a total of 79 projects identified as remaining on the ECP list
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The following email was sent to the 37,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.
Dear mountain lover,
We have great news!
The Obama Administration has heard you! Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed all 79 mountaintop removal permits they were reviewing on temporary reprieve. This represents the biggest step ever taken toward reining in the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains by mountaintop removal coal mining.
The release of a list of 79 permits begins a 14-day countdown in which the EPA regional offices must respond to the EPA headquarters' recommendations. While we applaud the current decision by the EPA, these permits could still be approved.
The EPA's announcement is part of a coordination procedure outlined in a "memorandum of understanding" between the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Interior to deal with a backlog of permits held up by litigation over the past few years. The EPA has promised a more stringent and transparent review of all mountaintop removal valley fill permit applications, and as of today they have delivered.
The EPA is requesting public comment during these 14 days and we need to send them the message loud and clear to stand firm. No more mountains or communities should be blasted off the map.
However, the EPA is not currently set up to receive these comments, so we will be sending you an alert early next week, providing the tools you need to thank the EPA and to make sure the regional offices keep these mountains and communities safe from mountaintop removal coal mining.
In the mean time, we have set up a new page on iLoveMountains.org where you can see the location and track of the status of the permits pending before the EPA. You can view the permit map and see videos of nearby communities threatened by mountaintop removal at:
http://ilovemountains.org/epa-permit-list/
Just wanted to share the good news – we'll be back in touch next week.
Have a great weekend!
Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org
P.S.–Please help us spread the word on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
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Environmental Groups Cautiously Optimistic Over News
– – – – – –
CONTACT:
Dr. Matthew Wasson, Appalachian Voices – 828-262-1500
Stephanie Pistello, Appalachian Voices – 917-664-5511
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the preliminary fate of 79 valley fill permit applications associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. In a move that pleased environmentalists and coalfield residents in central and southern Appalachia, the EPA recommended that none of the 79 permits be streamlined for approval.
This decision is not final, but is part of a coordination procedure outlined in a June “memorandum of understanding” between the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Interior to deal with a backlog of permits held up by litigation over the past few years. The EPA has promised a more stringent and transparent review of all mountaintop removal valley fill permit applications.
Willa Mays, executive director for Appalachian Voices, a regional environmental group, was delighted about the EPA’s preliminary list. “By recommending these permits not be approved, the EPA and the Army Corps has demonstrated their intention to fulfill a promise to provide science-based oversight which will limit the devastating environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining,” Mays said. “EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Army Corps’ Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Terrence “Rock” Salt have shown exceptional leadership. This is indeed good news especially paired with the fact that 156 members of the House of Representatives are now cosponsors of the Clean Water Protection Act.”
The reaction from coalfield residents was mostly optimistic. Chuck Nelson, retired union coal miner from Glen Daniel, W.Va., and board member of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition said, “By recommending these permits be further reviewed, the EPA is allowing at least a temporary reprieve for the people of Appalachia. It appears the EPA is starting to take the concerns of coalfield residents into account when considering these permits.”
Vernon Haltom, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch in Raleigh County, W.Va., was excited about the announcement. “We who live with the nightmare of mountaintop removal are glad that the EPA is beginning to do its job to protect our communities,” he said. “Our life-giving water resources are priceless, and it’s refreshing to see the EPA finally prioritizing them over coal companies’ short-term profits.”
As outlined in the memorandum, EPA Regional offices will be given 14 days to review and comment on the EPA Headquarters’ recommendations, after which EPA Headquarters can finalize the list.
If the EPA Regional offices agree with the EPA Headquarters’ assessment that these permits have “substantial environmental concerns,” an “enhanced coordination” process will begin, where the EPA and the Army Corps will study each permit on a case-by-case basis. The beginning of each coordination process sets off a 60-day period during which the two agencies must resolve any permit applications. The EPA reserves the right to exercise their veto authority over any of the unresolved permits.
In the past, the EPA was primarily absent from the approval of mountaintop removal permits, allowing the Army Corps to essentially “rubber-stamp” them. “The whole permitting process had become a bit toothless,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson admitted in a recent interview with the Tampa Bay Press. “The Corps of Engineers understands [that] when the EPA has concerns, it’s going to raise them. We’re going to do our jobs.”
In 2002, the Bush Administration expedited the permitting process by classifying mining waste as acceptable “fill material” as defined by the Clean Water Act. Valley fills are created when toxic debris from mountaintop removal mining is dumped into valleys adjacent to the mine sites, burying headwater streams and permanently damaging the hydrology of the watershed system.
“I’m glad the EPA has admitted they have some responsibility for protecting people and nature from mountaintop removal,” said Cathie Bird of Save Our Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee. “But I worry they still don’t get it. This brutal practice kills whole communities and watersheds, and it should be banned, not one permit at a time but once and forever.”
To view the permits in map form, visit the Permit Shortlist Google Map created by Appalachian Voices and the Alliance for Appalachia at http://ilovemountains.org/epa-permit-list.
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For Immediate Release: August 27th, 2009
Contacts: Adam Wells, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, 276.523.4380, 804 240 4372
Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, 512.477.2152
Temporary Reprieve for Virginia Residents, Mountains
Amid Growing Community and Environmental Concerns, DMME to Request More Information on Ison Rock Ridge While Scrutiny on Federal Level Continues.
Big Stone Gap, Virginia – The Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy (DMME) issued a letter late Wednesday once again requesting more information from A&G Coal Company on their controversial Ison Rock Ridge mountaintop removal mine proposed for Wise County, Virginia. The move is a reprieve for the communities, mountains and streams nearby.
Among the concerns outlined in the letter were questions about how the mine plans to proceed in the absence of a required approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and about how the mine will deal with the proposed discharge of pollutants into already polluted streams.
Despite overwhelming local opposition, a growing national movement opposing mountaintop removal mining, and heightened scrutiny from the Obama Administration, A&G has continued to seek to destroy Ison Rock Ridge via mountaintop removal coal mining. The permit, if approved, would decimate over 1200 acres of lush Appalachian hardwood forest and imperil hundreds of people living directly adjacent to the permit boundary.
Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS) along with the Sierra Club have been fighting the permit application for more than two years. “This is encouraging,” said SAMS board member and retired underground miner Bob Mullins, whose back yard abuts the permit boundary. “People living in the shadow of this mine understand just how dangerous things could get. My whole community’s future is at stake here.”
DMME’s action yesterday is further indication that the mine application is in an excessively dangerous and irresponsible location. In addition to being literally in the backyards of residents, the proposed mine would also drain waste-water into the already impaired Callahan Creek. DMME had most recently requested more information from the permit applicant in a letter dated May 8, 2009. The permit application is currently on its ninth revision.
“This is a welcome temporary reprieve for the people of Wise County, but the threat of this enormous mine requires permanent protection for the communities, streams and mountains,” said Pete Ramey, President of SAMS.
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From Ken Ward Jr. and his Coal Tattoo blog:
Late last week — just before the Labor Day holiday — the Obama administration EPA issued a mountaintop removal bombshell: A major letter that blasts a whole host of problems with the largest strip-mining permit ever issued in the state of West Virginia.
EPA experts have concluded that the mine, as currently designed and permitted, would violate the federal Clean Water Act. They’ve urged the Army Corps of Engineers to suspend, revoke or modify the permit. In response, Corps lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers for a 30-day stay in legal proceedings over this permit, to give Corps staffers time to re-examine the project.
read the entire post on Coal Tattoo
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Announced August 27, 2009
Clean Water Act violated in issuance of permits for mining
WASHINGTON – August 27 – Earthjustice and the Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environment have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court that asks the Court to review a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in a controversial mountaintop removal mining case. The case challenges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance of permits allowing companies to dump waste from mountaintop removal mining into streams without following basic requirements of the Clean Water Act designed to prevent irreversible harm to the nation’s waters.
“This case is of great national importance,” said Earthjustice attorney Steve Roady. “The Corps of Engineers is ripping the heart out of the Clean Water Act by granting permits that allow coal companies to permanently entomb vital streams in the rubble of exploded mountains. The destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining is enormous and the adverse impacts on local communities are profound. We’re asking the Supreme Court to hold the Corps accountable.”
Earthjustice and the Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environment filed this lawsuit challenging several West Virginia mountaintop removal permits in September 2005 on behalf of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Coal River Mountain Watch. The lawsuit challenged the Corps’ violation of the Clean Water Act by authorizing the permits to fill 23 valleys and 13 miles of mountain streams in southern West Virginia without first performing even the most basic, legally required assessment of the harm that would occur when the streams are buried forever.
Here’s the entire press release.
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