We know the West Virginia Coal Association has a master plan for dealing with EPA’s current review of mountaintop removal permits.
And today, the industry front group Friends of Coal sent out an e-mail urging its members and supporters to contact EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson:
It has come to our attention that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is interested in hearing from supporters of mining, and mountaintop mining in particular, as to why it is important to you and its economic role in Appalachia’s economy.
It is highly important that you share your thoughts with EPA Director Lisa Jackson by emailing her at Share|
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I sent my comment!
Dear Administrator Jackson,
Under your leadership, last week the EPA finally began taking a critical look at the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining and valley fills. For too long, mine operators have flaunted spirit and letter of both the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act in order to mine this way. More than a thousand square miles of Appalachia has been permanently degraded by this type of mining, forests lost, streams destroyed.
Surface mining in Appalachia needs to be regulated. It needs to be done according to the law. Enforcing the law will not shut down the Appalachian coal industry. It will not shut down the Appalachian surface mining industry. But it will ensure that when the coal is gone and the mine operators leave, there will be something left of Appalachia for the future.
[...] via Blogs @ The Charleston Gazette – » Hello EPA? It’s Friends of Coal calling …. [...]