Obama EPA Says Yes To Destructive W.Va. Coal Mining
With all eyes turned to the dirty disaster in the Gulf, things have a taken a turn for the worse in Appalachia, too.
It was just three months ago when the EPA said it was going to strengthen permitting requirements for mountaintop removal mining to prevent "significant and irreversible damage to Appalachian watersheds at risk from mining activity."
It was a move celebrated in Appalachia by residents who finally believed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson when she said, "Coal communities should not have to sacrifice their environment or their health or their economic future to mountaintop mining. They deserve the full protection of our clean water laws."
Residents of the area have seen their communities ravaged by the effects of MTR mining, which has already destroyed 500 mountains and buried 2,000 miles of rivers and streams, poisoning drinking water and threatening environmental and human health.
But, unfortunately, EPA's apparent conviction seems to have been short-lived.
The agency has quietly, in an unpublicized decision, given what appears to be a green light to Arch Coal for their Pine Creek strip mine in Logan County, West Virginia. Rainforest Action Network reports that the permit would allow the company to mine through nearly 3 miles of streams that are already threatened with dangerous levels of pollution. Additionally, the mine would yield 14.3 million tons of coal, which translates into over 40 million tons of CO2 emissions when burned.
Why the apparent contraction between EPA's words and action? Apparently Arch Coal made some minimal amendments to their original application, but the changes only addressed 22 percent of the potential damage of their project. As local writer Jeff Biggers explained, "The EPA's pander is a wake-up call that nothing less than an act to abolish mountaintop removal operations, such as the Clean Water Protection Act, will bring this egregious human rights and environmental violation to an end."
The action is also in the wake of the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), who, in the years and months before he died this week, came out against the destructive practice of MTR.
At the same time, West Virginians have been trying to carve out a space for a renewable energy industry to generate green jobs and clean energy, to get out of the vice grip coal has on their state. The BBC reported a few days ago about a new solar power initiative in the state, and there has been an ongoing effort to establish wind power in place of coal. Now if only the EPA could do its job of stopping the environmental abuses that the coal industry is continually allowed to dish up.
Photo credit: Jake McClendon
Tara Lohan
is a senior editor at AlterNet.org where she heads up the environment, water, and food sections. Her work has appeared on the websites of The Nation, Mother Jones, the Huffington Post and in Yes! Magazine.
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