{"id":501485,"date":"2010-04-01T16:44:33","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T20:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenrightnow.com\/?p=10374"},"modified":"2010-04-01T16:44:33","modified_gmt":"2010-04-01T20:44:33","slug":"epa-issues-new-guidance-to-restrict-mountain-top-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/501485","title":{"rendered":"EPA issues new guidance to restrict mountain top mining"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mountaintop<\/p>\n

Mountaintop removal coal mine in southern W.V. encroaching on a small community. (Photo: Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition\/Vivian Stockman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

From Green Right Now Reports<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday announced a new policy to protect communities and waterways from the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining.<\/p>\n

The EPA said its new actions will further clarify and strengthen environmental permitting requirements for Appalachian mountaintop removal and other surface coal mining projects, in coordination with federal and state regulatory agencies. Using the best available science and following the law, the agency said the comprehensive guidance<\/a> will set “clear benchmarks for preventing significant and irreversible damage” to Appalachian watersheds at risk from mining activity.<\/p>\n

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune called the new policy “the most significant administrative action ever taken” to address mountaintop removal coal mining, in which explosives are used to access coal seams, generating large volumes of waste that bury adjacent streams. The resulting waste that then fills valleys and streams can significantly compromise water quality, often causing permanent damage to ecosystems and rendering streams unfit for swimming, fishing and drinking. It is estimated that almost 2,000 miles of Appalachian headwater streams have been buried by mountaintop coal mining.<\/p>\n

“The people of Appalachia shouldn’t have to choose between a clean, healthy environment in which to raise their families and the jobs they need to support them. That\u2019s why EPA is providing even greater clarity on the direction the agency is taking to confront pollution from mountain top removal,\u201d EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in a morning press conference. \u201cWe will continue to work with all stakeholders to find a way forward that follows the science and the law. Getting this right is important to Americans who rely on affordable coal to power homes and businesses, as well as coal communities that count on jobs and a livable environment, both during mining and after coal companies move to other sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the new actions, EPA is communicating comprehensive guidance to its regional offices with permitting responsibility in Appalachian states. The guidance clarifies existing requirements of the Clean Water Act permitting programs and details EPA\u2019s responsibilities and how the agency will use its authority to ensure that future mining will not cause significant environmental, water quality and human health impacts.<\/p>\n

The EPA is making publicly available two scientific reports prepared by its Office of Research and Development. One summarizes the aquatic impacts of mountaintop mining and valley fills. The second report establishes a scientific benchmark for unacceptable levels of conductivity (a measure of water pollution from mining practices) that threaten stream life in surface waters. These reports are being published for public comment and submitted for peer review to the EPA Science Advisory Board.<\/p>\n

The agency also announced it will create a permit tracking Web site so that the public can determine the status of mining permits subject to the EPA-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Enhanced Coordination Procedure.<\/p>\n

EPA said it will solicit public comments on the new guidance, which will be effective immediately on an interim basis. EPA will decide whether to modify the guidance after consideration of public comments and the results of the SAB technical review of the EPA scientific reports.<\/p>\n

“Today’s announcement is a major step toward protecting Appalachia’s natural heritage,” the Sierra Club’s Brune said in a statement. “If effectively implemented and vigorously enforced, this policy will largely prevent coal companies from dumping mining waste into streams. We call on other agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of Surface Mining and the Department of the Interior to follow EPA’s lead and take their own steps to protect the region’s communities and water resources.”<\/p>\n

The EPA already has been stepping up restrictions on these mining procedures. It recently proposed to significantly restrict or prohibit mountaintop mining at the Spruce No. 1 surface mine in Logan County, W. Va. because of concerns the mine, as proposed, would bury more than seven miles of headwater streams, directly impact 2,278 acres of forestland, and degrade water quality in streams adjacent to the mine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountaintop removal coal mine in southern W.V. encroaching on a small community. (Photo: Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition\/Vivian Stockman) From Green Right Now Reports The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday announced a new policy to protect communities and waterways from the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining. The EPA said its new actions will further clarify […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4306,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-501485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}