Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship remained cool and unapologetic over his company’s role in the Upper Big Branch disaster during last week’s Senate hearing on mine safety. Legislators in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services grilled Blankenship over his company’s safety record, as they attempted to determine what must be done to improve mine safety and enforcement following the worst mining accident in 40 years.
According to Blankenship, the 23 fatalities at Massey mines in the 10 years prior to Upper Big Branch were “about average.” “Massey does not place profits over safety,” he emphasized. “We never have and we never will. Period. From the day I became a member of Massey’s leadership team 20 years ago, I have made safety the number one priority.”
Cecil E. Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America contested Blankenship’s claims. “I can’t come up with another coal company that’s had 23 miners in 10 years die,” he testified. “This isn’t average. This is deplorable.”
“This is the worst fatality rate in the industry either way you look at it, either before the explosion or after the explosion,” Roberts said.
West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd was similarly unconvinced. “I cannot fathom how an American business could practice such disgraceful health and safety policies while simultaneously boasting about its commitment to the safety of its workers,” the senator stated. “This is a clear record of blatant disregard for the welfare and safety of Massey miners. Shame.”
Frustration was also directed at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) – the federal agency that enforces safety in mines. The agency’s resources are useless, Senator Byrd argued, if MSHA is not “demanding safety in the mines.”
We’ve come a long way in raising awareness about the devastation caused by mountaintop removal coal mining. Yet many Americans still don’t know that their electricity might be coming from destroyed mountains.
That’s why iLoveMountains.org has teamed up with Ashley Judd and The Alliance for Appalachia to create a television commercial that will get the message into America’s living rooms.
The ad uses the most talked about ad in America’s history – President Johnson’s “Daisy Girl” – to convey the severity of mountaintop removal. But we need your help to get it on the air.
Could you contribute $50, $100, or any amount you can afford to get the ad on the air?
“Reclaimed” Portions of Black Mtn in Wise County, VA.
Undeterred by the concerns of local communities, peer reviewed scientists, and the federal government, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) recently announced approval of a vast 1,230 acre surface coal mine permit for A&G Coal’s Ison Rock Ridge Mine in Wise County, Virginia.
This is crushing news for the communities and ecology of southwestern Virginia, as according to Mike Abbott, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, “all that’s needed now for mining to begin is for A&G Coal to submit its bond and fees to DMME.” Less than a quarter of the site can be mined at this point, though, as A&G still requires a fill permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before it can mine all 1,230 acres.
Threatened communities are numerous. Portions of the mining permit extend within the town of Appalachia. The massive operation will condemn tourism in nearby Derby. Andover, Osaka, and Inman also face significant risk. Inman, in particular, faces immediate risk; the community sits directly below the site area DMME has deemed mineable.
Considering the history between the town of Inman and A&G, the issuance of DMME’s permit is additionally unjust. In 2004, A&G operations caused a boulder to tumble from another nearby mine site into Inman, killing three-year-old Jeremy Davidson in his bed.
The surface mine also constitutes a serious threat to the area’s environment. As noted previously, the operation would destroy over 1,200 acres. In addition, it would fill three miles of streams within the Powell River watershed with over 11 million cubic yards of mining waste. Area streams are already significantly impacted by surface mining; the DMME itself has recorded conductivity readings at Looney Creek and Callahan Creek that are nearly 60% higher than new rules outlined by the Obama Administration.
Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, a Wise County community organization, has been fighting A&G’s permit for three years. Sam Broach, president of SAMS explains: “They’re not looking out for the safety of the people and environment, and they’re going to blast this mountain despite the federal rules. Basically, we’re going to keep up the fight. We’re not quitting here. They only care about the bottom dollar, and we care about the future of our community.”
Update!
Following the Virginia DMME’s announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the department noting “the NPDES permit cannot be issued until EPA withdraws its objection.” The NPDES Clean Water Act discharge permit referred to in this letter would be required for any mining to occur on the site.
This week miners, activists, and the United Mine Workers of America called for Massey Energy to hold CEO Don Blankenship and members of the company’s Board of Directors accountable for numerous safety violations, including those which led to the death of 29 miners in the April 5 explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, W. Va. Massey Energy has totaled 52 work-related fatalities in the last decade.
Tuesday, officials at Massey Energy held their annual shareholder’s meeting at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Va. Outside of the hotel, protesters chanted “Kill no more,” and held banners reading “Don Belongs in Jail, Not Boardrooms,” and “Massey: Killing Miners, Killing Mountains.”
The demonstrations were aimed at encouraging Massey shareholders to deny re-election to board members who have overseen the company’s systematically neglectful safety record.
Nine public investors have already called for the resignation of Blankenship and members of the board of directors. The group includes institutions such as the California State Teachers’ Retirement System and multiple state treasury offices. The group collective owns $64 million in Massey stock.
Private investor Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, which owns 1000 shares of Massey Energy, filed a lawsuit against the company on April 15.
“The wrongdoing in question is strongly suggestive of a corporate culture that regularly and consciously ignores sustained and systematic red flags that the company’s mining operations are in violation of state and federal mine safety laws and therefore unreasonably unsafe.” -Allegations in lawsuit brought by Manville Personal Injury against Massey Energy
CtW investment group has also publicly called for Massey board member resignations. “In 2009, when the company had more violations than in any prior year, and was warned more than any other company, Blankenship got the maximum payout [over $2 million] for bonus money tied to safety,” said Michael Garland, a spokesman for CtW. Read CtW’s letter to Massey shareholders and the public.
Fortune 500 recently reported that Massey’s Safety, Environmental and Public Policy committee (of which seven of the board’s nine members serve on,) met only four times in 2009. The Compensation committee, however, met ten times in 2009.
Outside the shareholder’s meeting, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) protested Massey’s predominantly non-union workplaces. UMWA members have long been advocates of worker-safety rights, and they said Massey’s refusal to unionize put workers in fear of having their job terminated if they reported safety violations to company officials.
As union members demonstrated outside, members of the Washington D.C. based environmental group Rising Tide unfurled a large banner in the hotel’s rotunda. The banner read “Massey: Stop Putting Profits Over People.” Kate Finneran and Oscar Ramirez, both members of Rising Tide, were arrested and held in a Richmond jail for trespassing.
Monday, EmmaKate Martin and Benjamin Bryant, activists with environmental group Climate Ground Zero were arrested for blocking the road to Massey’s regional headquarters in Boone County, W. Va. The pair held a banner with the same slogan, and intended to hold their blockade until the meeting to encourage Massey’s shareholders to hold the company accountable for their safety violations.
Massey continually prioritizes profits over people. It is time for the people of Appalachia and America – be you shareholder or worker, young or old – to reject Massey and work together to create something better in its place. -Martin and Bryant’s open letter regarding their non-violent protest. Read the full letter.
Martin and Bryant were arrested Monday and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. A Boone County magistrate set their bail at $100,000 each. They remain in jail while their attorneys plead for a reduction of the amount. Find out more about their case.
Despite the diverse protests, Massey’s board was re-elected, though not unanimously. Company officials said the win was by “majority,” but refused to release the exact figures. The Coal Tattoo blog reported that UMWA President Cecil Roberts said, “That tells you they got clobbered, considering the fact that they didn’t have anybody running against them. They ran unopposed and almost lost.”
Blankenship defended his company’s safety record, saying “environmental stewardship has become part of this company’s DNA.” The company is currently facing criminal investigation by both the Department of Justice and the Mine Health and Safety Administration at the Upper Big Branch disaster site, and is in court for 971 violations of the Clean Water Act in 2009.
“Past error is no excuse for its own perpetuation. Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” – Robert Francis Kennedy
It’s been over 7 weeks since the deadly explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine claimed the lives of 29 American Miners in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The incident, which was our nation’s deadliest mining accident in 40 years, was unquestionably made more tragic by the fact that it was preventable. In order to ensure that no similar, preventable, coal-related tragedy occurs, it is critically important that we recognize the full breadth of the coal industry’s impact on Appalachian communities and ecology, while collectively accepting shared responsibility for addressing its transgressions. Step one, as they say, is admitting we have a problem.
Upper Big Branch
In the wake of the April 5 explosion, it became increasingly apparent that Massey Energy’s UBB was outrageously mismanaged. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued the mine over 500 citations in 2009 alone (amounting to $897,325 in proposed penalties) and over 50 citations in March of 2010 alone. MSHA has pointed out that “Massey failed to address these violations over and over again.” Clearly, UBB indicates that something is amiss in the coal industry, but how far does this problem go?
Massey Energy Company
Let’s take a closer look at Massey Energy, the company (currently being investigated by the FBI) that owns UBB. NYTimes reports that in the past 10 years, there have been 52 deaths at Massey mines. In 2006, a fire at Massey’s Aracoma Alma mine killed two miners, and the company eventually paid $4.2 million in criminal fines and civil penalties. In 2009, Massey was charged with $12.9 million in proposed fines for safety violations. The company appealed 75% of the violations, and awarded its CEO, Don Blankenship, a stunning $2 million safety bonus the same year.
In 2003 Massey Energy paid Sylvester, West Virginia residents close to half a million dollars after these residents argued that coal dust from one of the company’s processing plants was impacting their health and property values. In 2004 the company paid $1.54 million to 245 residents of Mingo County, W. Va., after a jury concluded that Massey had acted “with malicious, willful, wanton, reckless or intentional disregard for plaintiffs’ rights,” when it destroyed those residents’ water wells by mining beneath their homes.
In October of 2000, a Massey owned sludge impoundment in Martin County Kentucky failed and leaked more than 300 million gallons of sludge. This sludge killed 1.6 million fish, and contaminated over 27,000 people’s water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called it the largest environmental catastrophe in the history of the southeastern United States.
In 2008 the EPA fined Massey $20 million for 4,500 violations of the Clean Water Act. This was the largest fine in the history of the law. Then, in 2010 four environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the company citing evidence that, unbelievably, Massey’s Clean Water Act violations had, increased in frequency since its record 2008 fine.
And let there be no mistaking, Massey is also the country’s number one producer of mountaintop removal coal, and as such, bears a large degree of responsibility for the wholesale destruction Appalachian mountains, streams and communities.
Beyond Massey
Massey is a problem for Appalachia that is hard to understate, but sadly coal industry transgressions don’t stop there. After the UBB tragedy, MSHA undertook a five day inspection blitz that targeted 57 mines notorious for safety violations. The blitz resulted in an astounding 1,339 citations. In May, Joseph Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health remarked, “After last month’s tragic reminder of the consequences of failing to make safety a priority, it is appalling that these operations continued to flout fundamental safety and health standards.”
Things have gotten so bad in Kentucky that earlier this year the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, Sierra Club, Public Justice, and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth filed a formal petition with the EPA asking the federal agency to take over administration and enforcement of the state’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. The group urged this was necessary because of Kentucky’s alleged “capitulation to the coal industry and its complete failure to prevent widespread contamination of state waters by pollution from coal mining operations.”
Any and all coal companies that practice mountaintop removal force Appalachian communities to contend with contaminated drinking water, powerful blasting, airborne dust, and increased flooding (among other things). After coal is extracted from an area, ancient mountains, streams, and valleys that enriched Appalachian communities for generations are reduced to barren wastelands, toxic dumps, and piles of rubble. Mountaintop removal, which occurs in KY, WV, VA and TN, is responsible for the destruction of over 500 of the most biologically diverse mountains on the planet. Around 1.2 millions acres and 2000 miles of vital headwater streams have been destroyed in central and southern Appalachia by the practice. Besides Massey, Alpha Natural Resources, Patriot Coal, Arch Coal, International Coal Group, and Consol Energy produce a heck of a lot of mountaintop removal coal.
Check out some of the press they’ve gotten
“Since April 5, when the Massey-owned Upper Big Branch mine exploded, killing 29 workers inside, Patriot’s 11 underground coal mines in Appalachia have racked up roughly 350 safety violations, according to a review of federal records by TWI. The violations include scores of citations indicating problems with ventilation systems and the accumulation of combustible materials — the very conditions thought to have caused the deadly blast at the UBB project.” – The Washington Independent
“Environmental groups have been fighting the Spruce Mine since 1998, when it was proposed as a 3,113-acre mine that would bury more than 10 miles of streams in the Pigeonroost Hollow area near Blair. Arch Coal had proposed it as a continuation of its Dal-Tex mountaintop removal operation.” – The Charleston Gazette
“Roughly four years after a methane explosion led to the deaths of 12 coal miners at the International Coal Group‘s Sago Mine in Upshur County, not all the regulatory reforms suggested in the wake of the tragedy have been put into effect.” – The State Journal
“Two West Virginia environmental groups say they will sue Consol Energy because of its continuing “harmful pollution” in Dunkard Creek, where a massive fish kill occurred last September.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Recognizing the Impact
So, apparently coal companies besides Massey are having a negative impact on Appalachia. But how much of an impact?
Well, according to 2009’s Hendryx study, coal mining costs Appalachia $42 billion every year as a result of negative health impacts and loss of life. A 2010 paper published in the journal Science and entitled “Mountaintop Mining Consequences” found that “The scientific evidence of the severe environmental and human impacts from mountaintop removal is strong and irrefutable. Its impacts are pervasive and long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices successfully reverse the damage it causes.” Considering these findings, is it any wonder that year after year, Gallup-Healthways’ Well-Being Index ranks the states of Kentucky and West Virginia second to last and dead last respectively?
Accepting Responsibility
“Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.” – Stephen Jay Gould
The fact is Americans across the country contribute to coal industry injustices in Appalachia. Coal-fired power plants from coast to coast either purchase mountaintop removal coal directly, or purchase coal from companies connected to the devastating practice. (Click Here to See if Your Zip Code is Connected)
Leaders of nine large investor groups heavily invested in Massey Energy recently called for the resignation of three Massey directors following the disaster at Upper Big Branch. Who are these investors? The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the North Carolina Retirement System, the Office of Connecticut State Treasurer, the Illinois State Board of Investment, the Maryland State Pension and Retirement System, the New York State Controller, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the Oregon State Treasury, and the Pennsylvania Treasury collectively own 1.4 million shares of Massey Energy valued at over $64 million.
As long as we demand “cheap” fossil fuels, mining companies will continue to have incentives for prioritizing production over worker safety and over the health of Appalachian communities and ecology. It’s easy to think of the problems associated with coal mining as distinctly Appalachian problems, but responsibility for the coal mining industry’s impact extends beyond the region. It extends, beyond Massey, beyond the entire coal industry, and beyond even the agencies that regulate coal mining. Truly, the responsibilty for these problems is shared by all who use electricity in this country.
Moving Forward
We in America owe Appalachia serious investments in just and sustainable jobs. The region has long contributed to the American workforce, and the industrial might of our country has been fueled by the tremendous efforts of the Appalachian people.
Diversification of the area’s economy will give men and women employment opportunities beyond those offered by dangerous, destructive, law evading, companies such as Massey. One way we can immediately take a step in the right direction is by getting our Representatives and Senators behind the Rural Energy Savings Program Act (HR 4785). Click here to learn more.
In order to prevent another coal-related tragedy Appalachian miners need enforced safety regulations, and Appalachian communities and ecologies need an end to mountaintop removal. The region needs these things immediately. Please join us in supporting Congressman Rahall for his efforts to improve miner safety, and in asking Congress to support two bipartisan bills aimed at sharply curtailing mountaintop removal: the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) in the House and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) in the Senate.
THE MYTH OF MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL RECLAMATION
New Research by NRDC and Appalachian Voices Shows Extent of Mining and Exposes the False Promise of Post-Mining Restoration
WASHINGTON (May 17, 2010) – Roughly 1.2 million acres, including 500 mountains, have been flattened by mountaintop removal coal mining in the central Appalachian region, and only a fraction of that land has been reclaimed for so-called beneficial economic uses, according to new research by environmental groups.
A study by Appalachian Voices, which analyzed recent aerial imagery of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee, confirms for the first time the extent of mountaintop removal throughout the region; nearly half of which has taken place in Kentucky.
“The fact that coal companies can blast away the tops of 500 of the oldest and most biodiverse mountains on the continent shows an utter disrespect for the communities that have to live with the destruction of their land, air and water,” said Matt Wasson, with Appalachian Voices.
The mining industry has long exploited a federal statutory provision that exempts them from restoring the land to its “approximate original contour” if there is a plan to develop the land for “equal or better economic use” such as “industrial, commercial, residential or public use.” However, NRDC’s analysis – released today in its report Reclamation FAIL – confirms that nearly 90 percent of mountaintop removal sites have not been converted to economic uses.
“Mining companies don’t love mountains but they love bragging about how they restore mine sites for the benefit of local communities,” says NRDC’s Rob Perks. “Our study exposes Big Coal’s broken promises by proving that post-mining economic prosperity is a big, flat lie.”
NRDC examined 500 mountaintop removal sites in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. Of these locations, 90 were excluded from the study due to active, ongoing mining activity. Of the 410 remaining sites surveyed:
366 (89.3 percent) had no form of verifiable post-mining economic reclamation excluding forestry and pasture
26 (6.3 percent of total) yield some form of verifiable post-mining economic development
Only about four percent of mountains in Kentucky and West Virginia, where 80 percent of the mining is occurring, had any post-mining economic activity. Virginia had the highest proportion of economic activity on its reclaimed mountaintop removal sites at 20 percent. Tennessee, which has relatively little mountaintop removal compared to the other three states, had no economic activity on the six sites examined in that state. Overall, economic activity occurs on just 6 to 11 percent of all reclaimed mountaintop removal sites surveyed as part of this analysis.
“This research shows what a sacrificial lamb Kentucky has been for an industry that is not interested in any kind of restoration,” said Mick McCoy, a member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, noting that Kentucky has more destroyed mountains and acreage than other states. “Here in Martin County, more than 25 percent of the land has been leveled by coal companies yet we are among the poorest of counties not just in Kentucky, but the entire country.”
“We watch our Appalachian communities being destroyed every day with the false promise of reclamation,” said Lorelei Scarbro, with Coal River Mountain Watch in West Virginia. “We, the citizens living at ground zero are losing our way of life and our history with every mountain they take. I am heartbroken to think what my grandchildren will have left when they grow up if we don’t stop this rogue mining.”
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The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.3 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing. To learn more about NRDC’s campaign against the world’s worst coal mining, visit: NoMoreMountaintopRemoval.org
Appalachian Voices is a regional, non-profit organization that brings people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains with offices in Boone, NC; Charlottesville, VA; and Washington, DC. To learn more, visit: AppalachianVoices.org
Students at the University of North Carolina won a commitment from campus administrators to phase out the use of coal to generate power at the Chapel Hill campus by 2020. The student-led Coal-Free UNC campaign also pushed administrators to end the use of mountaintop removal coal as quickly as possible.
UNC’s campus is currently powered by a coal-fired co-generation plant, which heats and powers the university’s infrastructure. Last fall, after being approached by the Coal-Free UNC student group, school Chancellor Holden Thorpe appointed an Environmental Policy Task Force to find an alternative to coal-fired power.
There are coal cars pulling up on rail up to the plant and that’s not particularly good symbolism for a university that teaches people about climate change and the frontiers of energy research.
-UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp
The task force set the coal deadline at May 1, 2020, though an aspirational date of 2015 has been set as well.
Appalachian Voices’ Matt Wasson, who testified before the Energy Task Force on April 14th, clarified that the university was purchasing coal from mountaintop removal mines in Virginia, despite a claim on the university’s website to the contrary. Wasson declined to criticize the University for “unwittingly” using mountaintop removal coal and attributed the misunderstanding to the changing definition of the practice.
But Wasson also left no doubt about the University’s connections to mountaintop removal, using Google Earth to show task force members images of widespread destruction caused by the specific mines with which UNC currently has contracts.
Wasson also told the task force that eliminating the use of coal by 2015 was both reasonable and prudent.
The next mission for the task force and student environmental groups is to decide on an alternative fuel for the plant and to find ways to reduce energy demand and increase efficiency on campus.
“Our Greatest Resource” – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.
The recent explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in my home county of Raleigh, which killed 29 West Virginians and injured 2 others, has brought West Virginia statewide sorrow and worldwide attention.
Reflecting on President John F. Kennedy’s death, Robert F. Kennedy once said, ” A tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom.”
As we seek to understand how and why the Upper Big Branch disaster occurred, we might also re-examine conventional wisdom about the future of the coal industry in our state.
Americans depend mightily on our coal to meet their energy needs. Coal is the major source of electricity in 32 states, and produces roughly half of all the electricity consumed in the United States.
As West Virginians, our birthright is coal. The ancient fossil is abundant here, and is as emblematic of our heritage and cultural identity as the black bear, the cardinal, and the rhododendron.
Indeed, the coal severance tax codifies the philosophy that the coal belongs to all West Virginians, and that they deserve meaningful compensation for its extraction. This philosophy has also been embraced nationwide, through the Black Lung Excise Tax, the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee, and several other existing and proposed programs that provide additional compensation to the people and places that produce our coal, oil, gas, and other energy resources.
Coal brings much needed jobs and revenue to our economy. But the industry has a larger footprint, including inherent responsibilities that must be acknowledged by the industry.
First and foremost, the coal industry must respect the miner and his family. A single miner’s life is certainly worth the expense and effort required to enhance safety. West Virginia has some of the highest quality coal in the world, and mining it should be considered a privilege, not a right. Any company that establishes a pattern of negligence resulting in injuries and death should be replaced by a company that conducts business more responsibly. No doubt many energy companies are keen for a chance to produce West Virginia coal.
The industry of coal must also respect the land that yields the coal, as well as the people who live on the land. If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated.
The sovereignty of West Virginia must also be respected. The monolithic power of industry should never dominate our politics to the detriment of local communities. Our coal mining communities do not have to be marked by a lack of economic diversity and development that can potentially squelch the voice of the people. People living in coal communities deserve to have a free hand in managing their own local affairs and public policies without undue political pressure to submit to the desires of industry.
We have coal companies in West Virginia which go out of their way to operate safely and with minimal impact on our environment. Those companies should be commended and rewarded.
But the coal industry has an immensely powerful lobby in Washington and in Charleston. For nearly a hundred years they have come to our presidents, our members of Congress, our legislators, our mayors, and our county commissioners to demand their priorities. It is only right that the people of West Virginia speak up and make the coal industry understand what is expected of it in return.
The old chestnut that coal is West Virginia’s greatest natural resource deserves revision. I believe that our people are West Virginia’s most valuable resource. We must demand to be treated as such.
Yesterday, the EPA issued their long awaited proposal for new rules on how to regulate the disposal and storage of coal combustion waste (CCW), the byproduct of coal-fired power plants.
Since December of 2008, when more than 1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash spilled into the Emory River from a breached impoundment at the TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant, environmental and industry groups have been waiting with tense anticipation to see how the Administration will approach regulating this highly toxic waste.
As it turns out, they’re still waiting. The EPA actually issued two proposals which, as James Bruggers of the Louisville Courier-Journal reported, can be simply (though far from completely) summarized as follows:
One approach would eventually phase out coal ash storage ponds. The other would would allow ash ponds, but only if they have plastic liners.
The EPA will decide which of those approaches to adopt following a 90-day public comment period that began yesterday. While EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson heralded the action as “the first-ever national rules to assure the safe management and disposal of coal ash,” reporters like Bruggers and Ken Ward at the Charleston Gazette saw EPA’s announcement as more of a “punt.”
Environmental groups had a mixed reaction, expressing enthusiasm for the EPA’s overall 563-page analysis, which, despite Jackson’s apparent ambivalence, provides enormously compelling scientific evidence that should favor the more stringent proposal for regulating CCW under hazardous waste provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. But groups also expressed some frustration at the Obama Administration’s unwillingness to follow the EPA’s analysis to its logical conclusion.
But whichever path the EPA ultimately chooses, Big Coal scores thanks to an issue that was entirely excluded from the scope of both proposals: the virtually unregulated practice of dumping CCW into abandoned mines.
To mix a metaphor, in the great 90-day EPA Coal Ash Bowl that began with a punt, the environmental and public health team is down a star player and Big Coal has the ball on the 50 yard line. It ain’t over, but it’s gonna be a rough game.
Dumping coal ash waste into abandoned mines- “Beneficial” for whom?
The industry backlash against any regulation of CCW disposal has long centered on the issue of “beneficial use,” which typically implies using CCW to manufacture wallboard and other construction materials.
According to its promoters, minefilling is a “beneficial use” because CCW is alkaline and, at least the theory goes, dumping it into abandoned mines will neutralize the acidic mine drainage from active and abandoned mines.
The problem with this theory is that there really isn’t any good science to back it up. A study on the water quality impacts of minefilling published by the Clean Air Taskforce in 2007 provided an excellent test of how “beneficial” the dumping of CCW into mine pits actually is. As explained in a more recent and comprehensive report by Earthjustice:
…in two-thirds of all the mines studied, the introduction of coal combustion waste resulted in more severe, long-term water quality contamination than had ever existed at these sites from the mining operation itself. Furthermore, as a practical matter, dumping large quantities of CCW directly into water tables in highly fractured sites under massive quantities of mine overburden makes the prospect of cleaning up resulting contamination far more daunting than halting leakages from conventional landfills and ash ponds.
The pressure on the administration from industry to not designate CCW as a hazardous waste was intense because of the stigma it would put on the use of CCW for “beneficial use” purposes. The unprecedented extent of that pressure from the coal industry was underscored in a letter to the White House signed by 239 public interest organizations from across the country in April. According to the letter:
Industry groups that oppose mandatory federal standards have had nearly 30 meetings with OMB [Office of Management and Budget] on this rule – more than ever before on any single topic. These groups continue to present unfounded claims of power plant closures and exaggerated cost estimates as “fact,” thereby fomenting widespread but unwarranted fear of EPA regulations.
Wait… The coal industry presented exaggerated cost estimates to foment unwarranted fear of EPA regulations? Well I never!
That pressure was clearly effective in that, even if EPA chooses to regulate CCW under the hazardous waste provisions, it will not be labeled “hazardous” so as to avoid the dangerous connotations implied by the label.
But the industry pressure was equally effective in taking regulatory control of minefilling out of the hands of EPA scientists, who are no doubt well aware of the bad science underlying the practice and who are generally very serious about their job of protecting public health. In fact, the EPA already weighed in on the issue:
We believe that certain minefilling practices have the potential to degrade, rather than improve, existing groundwater quality and can pose a threat to human health and the environment.
It’s statements like this that apparently disqualified the EPA from regulating minefilling, which instead will be subject to a subsequent rule-making process headed up by the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). No timeframe was mentioned for when that rule-making would be initiated.
Putting OSM in charge of developing minefilling regulations, even with input from the EPA, is a huge victory for polluters for a number of reasons. First, the OSM is led by Joseph Pizarchik, nick-named “Coal Ash Joe” by community organizations in Pennsylvania for his unwavering support of minefilling when he was director of the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation in that state. Second, the “scientists” at OSM are a very different breed than those at the EPA.
OSM scientists are generally trained in “reclamation science” at one of the big mine engineering programs at schools like West Virginia University and Virginia Tech. The fundamental premise of reclamation science can be summed up in a statement from Dink Shackleford, past executive director of the Virginia Mining Association, who often said: “We have a chance to improve on God’s creation.” The science of mining and reclamation starts with a fundamental premise that must not be questioned- that no matter how toxic the pollution, how much mountain we blast away, that we can engineer nature back to as “good as new” or even better.
Viewed through this distorted lens, replacing the remarkably diverse and productive Appalachian hardwood forests with a barren plain covered in exotic grasses dotted with a few pines becomes an ecological benefit because it “improves forestry;” burying the headwaters of streams in millions of tons of mine waste is an ecological benefit because it “helps regulate stream flow;” and the virtually unregulated dumping of mine waste into abandoned mines is a “beneficial use” of coal ash.
There is a lot at stake for the coal industry in how minefilling is regulated because, according to the Earthjustice report (pdf), the cost of disposal in minefills is 89-95% less than the cost of disposal in engineered landfills. Also according to Earthjustice, about 25 million tons of CCW – 20% of total annual production – is disposed of in abandoned mines. While the EPA estimates that minefilling accounts for just 7% of CCW disposal, Earthjustice explains that the discrepancy is because, “industry and state regulators are hiding CCW dumping in mines behind the labels ‘beneficial use, or ‘recycling.'”
This minefilling loophole will become all the more important as EPA rules make regulated disposal of CCW more expensive. As the financial incentives for utilities to exploit this loophole become stronger, the pressure on the Obama Administration to delay action on minefilling, or to implement weak regulations, will become even more intense. Given that current regulations in most states for CCS minefilling are considerably weaker than regulations on disposal of household garbage, minefilling could quickly become the predominant method for CCW disposal.
How Does Minefilling Affect Health and the Environment?
The lede and photo from a story in the Miami Herald from November, 2009, helps put the health hazards associated with coal ash into perspective:
“When I was pregnant, I was dizzy, vomiting and could barely walk,” said Maximiliano’s mother, Anajai Calcano, 20. “My tooth cracked and fell out. Then my baby was born like that, without arms. Nothing like that had ever happened here before.”
By “before,” Calcano means before a U.S. power company’s coal ash arrived at a nearby port, sitting there for more than two years.
The story goes on to tell how citizens of Arroyo Barril in the Dominican Republican are suing a Virginia-based energy company for a variety of health problems they say resulted from the illegal disposal of coal ash on the shore of the town. The phrase “health problems” hardly does justice to the godawful deformities found in children born of mothers who had abnormally high levels of arsenic in their blood, one of many toxic metals associated with coal ash. Those “health problems” ranged from cranial deformities to missing limbs to organs outside their bodies.
The situation in Arroyo Barril is an extreme example, but it illustrates the general problem of toxic metal contamination of both air and water near coal ash disposal sites. The composition of coal ash includes a high concentration of toxic metals found in coal including arsenic, selenium, chromium, lead and thallium. While conventional disposal of CCW in wet impoundments has had demonstrable impacts on water quality, the practice of minefilling makes the problem of groundwater contamination far worse. According to the Earthjustice report:
The unique geologic characteristics of mines maximizes the risk of contamination from coal ash dumping. Mining breaks up solid rock layers into small pieces, called spoil. Compared to the flow through undisturbed rock, water easily and quickly infiltrates spoil that has been dumped back into the mined-out pits. Fractures from blasting become underground channels that allow groundwater to flow rapidly offsite. Because mines usually excavate aquifers (underground sources of water), the spoil fills up with groundwater. Unlike engineered landfills, which are lined with impervious membranes (clay or synthetic) and above water tables by law, coal ash dumped into mine pits continually leaches its toxic metals and other contaminants into the water that flows through and eventually leaves the site.
There are many cases where water contamination has already been found, according to the Clean Air Taskforce study of 15 minefilling operations in Pennsylvania.
So what’s next?
To be fair to the administration, the EPA specifically referenced a 2006 report on minefilling from the National Academy of Sciences as one of the documents that should guide the rule-making on minefilling. The recommendations of that report, as summarized by Earthjustice, include:
* Generators should pursue safe reuse of coal combustion waste ash before minefilling;
* Disposal sites must be investigated to determine the quality and location of groundwater, groundwater flow paths, the potential for coal ash to react with minerals or groundwater, etc.;
* Coal ash must be kept out of groundwater;
* Monitoring must be designed to detect movement of coal combustion waste contaminants;
* Deeds must record and fully disclose that coal combustion waste was disposed at the mine site;
* Bonds must be adequate to clean up any groundwater damaged by coal combustion waste disposal;
* Public input must be solicited in the development of national regulations and permits issued pursuant to those regulations.
If all of those recommendations were turned into regulations, the problems associated with minefilling would be largely alleviated. But the success of industry in stripping the EPA of regulatory oversight of minefilling provides little confidence that the administration will ignore that pressure when it comes to developing regulations on minefilling.
An even greater concern is that the industry will successfully delay rule-making on minefilling for another decade, the way they were able to delay disposal regulations for years until the TVA disaster woke people up to the hazards of unregulated coal ash storage. If their delay tactics are successful, the financial advantages of minefilling will make it the predominant method of coal ash disposal within a matter of years.
And if the momentum generated by the TVA disaster to regulate coal ash disposal is lost, it’s terrifying to think what the next disaster will be that would be needed to motivate agencies to action in the face of enormous industry pressure. As Lisa Evans, an attorney with Earthjustice who has tracked coal ash issues for nearly a decade, told the media in January:
Minefilling coal ash is a slow-motion and invisible counterpart to the TVA catastrophe. There, the destruction was unleashed in a matter of minutes. For communities with water poisoned by the country’s hundreds of coal ash mine dumps, the damage has been gradual and largely unseen, but it also presents a grave threat.
People in coal mining regions have suffered pollution of their water and air for decades, and with the EPA finally beginning to crack down on mountaintop removal mining and the disposal of mine waste into streams, what a tragic irony it would be if pollution from valley fills was replaced by even greater pollution from minefills. That’s the way it’s headed, and it’s going to take the involvement of thousands of Americans to counter the coal industry’s powerful pressure to keep regulations weak or nonexistent.
This is no time to sit on the sidelines – there are 89 days in the EPA’s Coal Ash Bowl, and your help is needed now.
[UPDATE: The link to take action above, “your help is needed now,” is not yet set up by the EPA – I will update again as soon as the EPA gets it straightened out]
In their words, the principle elements of the proposed action include –
Adding more extensive and more specific permit application requirements concerning baseline data on hydrology, geology, and aquatic biology; the determination of the probable hydrologic consequences of mining; and the hydrologic reclamation plan; as well as more specific requirements for the cumulative hydrologic impact assessment.
Defining the term “material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area.” This term is critically important because, under section 510(b)(3) of SMCRA, the regulatory authority may not approve a permit application unless the proposed operation has been designed to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area. This term includes streams downstream of the mining operation.
Revising the regulations governing mining activities in or near streams, including mining through streams.
Adding more extensive and more specific monitoring requirements for surface water, groundwater, and aquatic biota during mining and reclamation.
Establishing corrective action thresholds based on monitoring results.
Revising the backfilling and grading rules, excess spoil rules, and approximate original contour restoration requirements to incorporate landform restoration principles and reduce discharges of total dissolved solids.
Limiting variances and exceptions from approximate original contour restoration requirements.
Requiring reforestation of previously wooded areas.
Requiring that the regulatory authority coordinate the SMCRA permitting process with Clean Water Act permitting activities to the extent practicable.
Codifying the financial assurance provisions of OSM’s March 31, 1997, policy statement2 on correcting, preventing, and controlling acid/toxic mine drainage and clarifying that those provisions apply to all long-term discharges of pollutants, not just pollutants for which effluent limitations exist.
Updating the definitions of perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams.
Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship remained cool and unapologetic over his company’s role in the Upper Big Branch disaster during last week’s Senate hearing on mine safety. Legislators in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services grilled Blankenship over his company’s safety record, as they attempted to determine what must be done to improve mine safety and enforcement following the worst mining accident in 40 years.
This week miners, activists, and the United Mine Workers of America called for Massey Energy to hold CEO Don Blankenship and members of the company’s Board of Directors accountable for numerous safety violations, including those which led to the death of 29 miners in the April 5 explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, W. Va. Massey Energy has totaled 52 work-related fatalities in the last decade. 
It’s been over 7 weeks since the deadly explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine claimed the lives of 29 American Miners in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The incident, which was our nation’s deadliest mining accident in 40 years, was unquestionably made more tragic by the fact that it was preventable. In order to ensure that no similar, preventable, coal-related tragedy occurs, it is critically important that we recognize the full breadth of the coal industry’s impact on Appalachian communities and ecology, while collectively accepting shared responsibility for addressing its transgressions. Step one, as they say, is admitting we have a problem.
Let’s take a closer look at Massey Energy, the company (
Things have gotten so bad in Kentucky that earlier this year the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, Sierra Club, Public Justice, and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth filed a 
The fact is Americans across the country contribute to coal industry injustices in Appalachia. Coal-fired power plants from coast to coast either purchase mountaintop removal coal directly, or purchase coal from companies connected to the devastating practice. (
The recent explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in my home county of Raleigh, which killed 29 West Virginians and injured 2 others, has brought West Virginia statewide sorrow and worldwide attention. 
Yesterday, the EPA 
With this mornings 