Bush mining regulatory change denounced by coal company neighbors

[Judi Lynn]

Bush mining regulatory change denounced by coal company neighbors


By JOHN HEILPRIN
The Associated Press
3/30/04 7:05 PM


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tales of floods and flattened peaks and of homes swept away or devalued in central Appalachia were laid out Tuesday by opponents to the Bush administration's plan to ease a buffer-zone regulation protecting streams from coal mining operations.

Testifying at an Interior Department hearing on the proposal, Mary Miller of Sylvester, W.Va., said the value of her home had dropped from $144,000 to below $12,000. Residents in her coalfield town won economic damages last month suing a mining company over coal dust covering their homes, vehicles and other property.

"I'm out here now trying to save my home," said Miller. "I don't have much left anyway. I don't have many years left. But I'm thinking about the water shortage for my children."

The department in January proposed easing a 1983 rule that set limits on coal mining near streams. Current policy says land within 100 feet of a stream cannot be disturbed by mining unless a company can prove it will not affect the water's quality and quantity.
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