The press releases and prepared statements are starting to flow in to EPA’s announced crackdown on mountaintop removal …

This came in from Jennifer Chavez, attorney with Earthjustice:

This is a strong signal that the Obama administration is taking the right steps towards recognizing the importance of sound science and the law when it comes to mountaintop removal mining. Today’s announcement and letters from the EPA to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers demonstrate a fresh perspective on the need to completely review the destructive impact that mountaintop removal mining has on streams and water quality throughout Appalachia. This is a victory for the people of Appalachia and for one of the must fundamental goals of the Clean Water Act: to prevent our entire nation’s rivers, streams and lakes from being used as waste dumps.

 

The EPA has promised to use the best science and follow the letter of the law to review pending mountaintop removal mining permits, and we applaud this monumental decision. We certainly hope that the EPA recognizes what we have known all along: that mountaintop removal mining permanently and completely destroys streams across Appalachia and causes severe harm to water quality in downstream communities. Nearly 30,000 Earthjustice supporters have joined thousands of others in writing to President Obama to fully review the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining, and we are pleased to see that their voices have been heard. While the Obama administration reviews the permits, it is critical that we continue working to protect the lasting American legacy of the mountains and streams in the communities of Appalachia.

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope issued this statement:

We applaud EPA Administrator Jackson for her timely decision to intervene and review the most destructive form of coal mining. With the bulldozers and dynamite standing by, the Obama administration has taken decisive action to protect the streams, mountains and communities of Appalachia ... Today’s announcement sends a clear signal that it is time to move beyond coal and toward clean energy solutions that will create good, green jobs here in America.

Reviewing the permits will stop the bleeding, and now EPA should begin to fix the Bush-era regulatory loopholes that made mountaintop removal possible. We applaud Administrator Jackson’s and President Obama’s continued commitment to science and environmental justice. We thank the community activists who have fought long and hard to protect their mountains and to ensure a sustainable future for Appalachia.

Then, the National Mining Association issued this response to the EPA action:

This action, which applies to all mining-related 404 permits in the region,  puts thousands of mining jobs and coal production in Appalachia at risk.  While on the one hand the administration is spending billions in stimulus jobs, it is taking away the highest paying jobs in the region by delaying needed permit approvals.  This is not good for jobs or for energy security.

Here’s a statement from Jon Devine, senior attorney for the water program at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

The EPA is taking an overdue step in the right direction to clean up America’s waterways. The Obama administration is taking firm action to reconsider the mining industry’s practice of dumping coal mining waste into America’s waterways, which is especially harmful to people in Appalachia. Well over a thousand miles of America’s streams, rivers and waterways have been damaged or destroyed by mountaintop removal mining, and it’s time for the industry to clean up its act.

Today’s action shows that EPA, under Administrator Jackson, is willing to consider scientific evidence of harm downstream from mountaintop removal coal mines and valley fills. If the Corps follows EPA’s lead, it will be difficult to permit these operations.

Unfortunately, EPA’s action falls short in at least one crucial aspect – the agency appears to be content to have the Corps continue to permit the disposal of mine waste in streams and other surface waters. The Bush administration created this scheme by adopting a policy loophole in 2002 which is fundamentally inconsistent with the principles that underlie the Clean Water Act. The EPA and the Corps should now move quickly to rescind the Bush waste rule.

This statement came in from Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.:

 “Today’s move by the EPA is a potentially troubling one at a time when we want to encourage economic growth and keep people working in West Virginia,” said Capito. 

“The EPA must act in good faith in working with the Army Corps of Engineers to find common ground on the hundreds of permits in question.  West Virginia’s miners deserve a constructive dialogue, not stonewalling at a time when jobs are at stake.

“I’m concerned about the real prospect of an anti-coal political agenda that blocks permits indefinitely at the cost of West Virginia jobs. 

“Energy independence means a common-sense approach that includes clean coal while striking a legitimate balance with environmental concerns.”

Finally, there was this release issued by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition on behalf of various coalfield citizens groups:

March 24th, 2009 Hope is alive in the mountains and valleys of  Appalachia
Obama Administration halts mountaintop removal permits for further review

Citizens from across Appalachia strongly applauded the EPA’s decision to  deny permits for two mountaintop removal coal mining operations — and put hundreds more mountaintop coal-mining permits under review until the agency can evaluate the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining on the nation’s streams and wetlands.
During the campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama promised to end mountaintop removal, and to make protecting Appalachian streams a top priority of his EPA. Today, the Obama Administration and the EPA have taken a critical first step which will protect the economy, environment and energy future of Appalachia.

“This decision illustrates a dramatic departure from the energy policies that are destroying the mountains, the culture, the rivers and forests of Appalachia and our most deeply held American values,” said Bobby Kennedy Jr, President of the Waterkeeper Alliance.  “By this decision, President Obama signals our embarking on a new energy future that promises wholesome, dignified, prosperous and healthy communities that treasure our national resources.”

Chuck Nelson, a retired deep miner and board member of the Huntington, W.Va.-based Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition said, “After being stepped on by the Bush Administration for eight years, I hope this burden’s about to be lifted up off our community. I’ve been seeing people suffering, and watched the mountains literally coming down on top of people, and this decision couldn’t have come at a better time to save my river and save these mountains.”

Mountaintop removal is preferred by coal companies because it employs fewer workers. Coal mining once provided over 120,000 jobs in West Virginia alone, but that number has dropped to less than 15,000. Instead of bringing wealth to the region, areas of high strip-mining and mountaintop removal have remained some of the most impoverished counties in the United States.

At a time when the Obama Administration is so clearly focused on rebuilding the economy, this decision creates the perfect opportunity to jumpstart the economy of the region in a way that is environmentally sound and sustainable for this and future generations in Appalachia.

“Not only does mountaintop removal coal mining destroy mountains, it also destroys the economic potential of Appalachia,” said Dr. Matthew Wasson, Director of Programs for the environmental non-profit organization Appalachian Voices. “This decision rekindles hope for a new economy in Appalachia built around green jobs and renewable energy.”

Carl Shoupe, a retired coal miner and member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth in Harlan County, KY said, “We finally have an administration in place that uses scientific reasoning to make decisions instead of ideology. We fought for this for years–I hope the EPA comes through and permanently stops the permits in our community.”

Appalachia is rich with alternative energy potential and green job opportunities in many places which were slated to be blasted, such as Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. A recent study has shown that more jobs, more energy, and more tax income for the surrounding communities by can be created by harnessing the wind potential of Coal River Mountain, rather than blasting the top off the mountain and shoving the waste directly into streams.

“If the EPA bases their conclusions on science, logic, common sense, and human decency, they will abolish mountaintop removal.  If they base their conclusions on coal industry lobbyists’ influence, they will do a disservice to the citizens.  The EPA needs to include the citizens most directly impacted by mountaintop removal in making their determination and not rely upon dirty coal industry pressure,” said Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch.

Rick Handshoe, a KFTC member of Hueysville, KY said, “I was hoping Obama would take action in the first 100 days. It’s a victory that they are even looking at the impacts of these valley fills.  There are nine existing valley fill permits in my neighborhood and three more valley fill permits proposed with a mile radius.”

Both a majority of the American people and Appalachian voters oppose mountaintop removal, and the citizen groups fighting to end mountaintop removal applaud President Obama’s decision to listen to the American people. Indeed, this important reversal of these dangerous Bush Administration policies is truly change we can believe in.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Mountaintop Removal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.