'It Will Cause a Domino Effect'

It's about the economy. That was the message supporters of the largest mountaintop removal mining (MTR) site in West Virginia took to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday night during a public hearing at the Charleston Civic Center.

The hearing was to gauge the public's response to a possible veto of a water permit related to Arch Coal's Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County. Each speaker was given a strict two minute time limit to give his or her spoken statement.

Citizens like Debbie Thompson expressed their concern about their neighbors losing jobs at the mine and the potential effect that could have on their own employment.

"It will cause a domino effect," Thompson told EPA officials on stage. "I'm employed at the Logan County Board of Education and it will affect me and my coworkers eventually."

However, others applauded the EPA's decision saying the environmental effects of surface mining were too detrimental to the state. Junior Walker of Whitesville said he grew up with black water running from his faucets, and he didn't want to see future generations have that same experience.

"I'm just really glad the EPA has finally decided to stand up and be the Environmental Protection Agency instead of the Economic Protection Agency," Walker said.

Environmentalists like Danny Chiotis of the West Virginia Environmental Council also testified that the economic effects did not equal out to the environmental effects. He made the claim that many of the MTR sites in the state were not being restored. Only 1-2% of Mountaintop Removal sites (400,000+ acres in WV alone) are properly reclaimed or developed.

"Most of the sites are not being reclaimed. We're not developing these sites. What we're going to have is a flat West Virginia," Chiotis said.

The mine at issue is owned by an Arch Coal subsidiary. Mingo Logan Coal Co. was issued a water quality permit by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to mine the 2,300-acre Spruce site in early 2007, though a court fight has held up mining there.

The EPA wants to revoke the permit, which authorizes the company to create six valley fills for placement of excess spoil material, because mining at the site could damage downstream water quality. EPA has suggested the Corps failed to comply with clean water laws.

Those with the mine industry countered by saying that they were acting within the confines of the law and have been restoring the land properly. Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association, told the EPA's representatives that the agency had overstepped its boundaries when it chose to revoke the Spruce permits.

"Revoking a permit that was lawfully issued almost three years ago with your agency's blessing after more than 10 years of the most comprehensive environmental review, again by your agency, is as troublesome, unnecessary, and arrogant as anything we've ever seen in West Virginia," Raney said.

The hearing Tuesday lasted nearly five hours with over a hundred speakers from West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. The EPA will also take written comments on the Spruce permit until June 1st. Those statements can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov.

Source:
West Virginia Metro News, "'It Will Cause a Domino Effect'", accessed May 19, 2010