West Virginia's Senators Fight For Mega Coal Mine Approval

In all honesty, being an environmentally sound lawmaker in a state in which the biggest lobbying arm is the coal industry has its difficulties.

Coal is the resource that cradles Appalachia in its economic arms. However, there is a fine line between economic prosperity and destroying the natural landscape of this world. The two U.S. Senators from West Virginia seem perfectly fine with crossing this line.

The coal gods will be smiling down on their patron saints in the United States Senate. West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, both Democrats, recently sent a collaborative letter to U.S. EPA requesting they not veto a permit for Spruce Mine No. 1, the largest and most robust mountaintop removal operation that has ever been proposed in the state of West Virginia.

Their request competes with the recommendations of EPA's own representatives in the region. In October, EPA regional administrator Shawn M. Garvin said the Spruce Mine permit, granted hastily during the Bush years, should be revoked.

The review by Garvin found the strip mining would deliver "unacceptable adverse effects on wildlife" and "bury approximately 6.6 miles of high quality headwater streams," just a handful of the destructive consequences of allowing Arch Coal's mega mine to go forward. The project, in Logan County, is to be located in a watershed where several streams are already polluted from coal mining. If the proposal were to materialize, inherent water quality problems in this area would be amplified.

The renewed support from the Senatorial pair drives another bituminous nail into the coffin of Appalachian mountains.

The Obama Administration has attempted to shift gears on mountaintop removal mining, away from the calamity of the Bush years, by having EPA reconsider permits such Spruce Mine No.1. West Virginia's Congressional representation is making this process much more difficult. This shouldn't be unexpected, especially from Manchin, who received several campaign donations from companies like Patriot Coal and Arch Coal (the owner of the proposed mine).

Championing the idea that this behemoth mine will bolster the state's tepid and faltering economy, Manchin and Rockefeller claim foul-play from EPA. Manchin has even gone so far as to claim that the EPA is "waging a war against Appalachian coal-mining."

At least without a veto, West Virginia can expect the great economic prosperity that mountaintop removal mining has always brought, right? Actually, probably not. Coal mining communities in Appalachia have long been some of the poorest in the nation, and this is no accident. The profits of stripping the landscape line company coffers, not community bank accounts.

Fear not, hopeful mountain advocates, for EPA would be hard-pressed to simply cave on one of the biggest strip-mining proposals this country has ever seen despite the harping from Congress. Let your voice be heard and sign this petition urging the EPA to say no to Spruce Mine No.1, because fortifying an economy shouldn't come at the expense of the mountains and the people who live around them.

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Photo Credit: tango.mceffrie on Flickr