EPA issues strict new guidelines for surface coal mining.

[cali]

By TIM HUBER, AP Business Writer Tim Huber, Ap Business Writer – 2 hrs 23 mins ago

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Obama administration Thursday spelled out tighter water quality standards for surface coal mines in Appalachia in a move that could curtail mountaintop removal mining.

The policy will sharply reduce the practice of filling valleys with waste from mountaintop removal and other types of surface mines in a six-state region, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said.

The policy met with immediate praise from opponents who consider mountaintop mining too destructive and disappointment from mine operators who say the new approach will eliminate many valuable jobs.

The agency also released two reports discussing watershed damage in the region from surface mining. Burying streams with mine wastes increases salt levels in waterways downstream, hurting fish and other aquatic life, the EPA said. Jackson said the new policy should protect 95 percent of aquatic life.

"You're talking about either no or very few valley fills," Jackson said. "That's just the truth, that's the science of it."

"These new guidelines will reduce the destruction caused by mountaintop removal, and communities will be able to focus on building a clean energy economy," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mountaintop_mining

[cali]

1. so no comments?

Interesting how anything positive coming out of the administration sinks like a stone.

[KittyWampus]

8. Regarding Coal- I've posted several times the best we can do is lobby for higher standards

on extracting it. For the environment and the people digging it out.

I know someone who worked on the biggest financial deal made in the history of western civilization about a year ago. It was coal mines.

We will be using coal. Best we can do is fight to try and limit damage.

[maxsolomon]

2. quid pro quo - is this what he gave up offshore to get?

no resistence from coal state senators.

personally, i'd like to force the coal companies to rebuild the destroyed mountains to original topo.

[cali]

4. first of all, the offshore drilling is limited and will likely never come to pass

secondly, there's also the new mileage standards and climate change legislation.

[foxfeet]

3. Good. It's a start.

The Repugs will flog this mercilessly in the coal field communities as destroying the local economy. Job creation programs would help mitigate this criticism.

[cali]

5. kick. this is a big deal.

[IDemo]

6. Great news

Here's a short overview of the human and environmental effects of mountaintop coal removal:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/mining/mountaintop_removal/index.html

Can you think of a more destructive way to extract resources than blowing up a mountain? How about if the waste from doing it is dumped straight into mountain streams?

Mountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining in which the tops of mountains are literally blasted off to access seams of coal. It takes place in the Appalachian Mountains, one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth. During mountaintop removal, diverse hardwood forests teeming with life — turtles, bats, wildflowers, snakes — are blown to bits. After all life on the mountaintop is destroyed, the carnage is pushed directly into streams, right on top of rare salamanders, crayfish, and mussels — so all life in surrounding streams is destroyed. The toxins from mining wash downstream, killing wildlife outright and poisoning the animals that manage to survive in the toxic environment — which, as part of the food web, then spread the poison to other creatures. Water birds and mammals eat poisoned fish and die themselves, or else they lose the ability to reproduce. Contaminants from mountaintop removal even poison the drinking water of downstream communities. And this form of mining makes a twofold contribution to climate change: The forests destroyed in the process no longer store carbon, and the burning of the coal that’s mined releases carbon into the atmosphere. The lost forests don’t grow back. The effects of mountaintop removal are permanent.

Mountaintop removal destroys lives and communities. Citizens living in mining areas say it’s like being in a war zone. Blasts shake houses, crack windows and foundations, ruin wells, send boulders careening into homes, and coat everything in dust. In 2004, a three-year-old child was killed in his sleep when a boulder from a mine site crashed into his home. Stripped mountains cause devastating flooding and landslides. Locals who speak up against mountaintop removal are harassed by coal thugs who kill their pets, threaten their children, and try to run them off roads.

Mountaintop removal perpetuates poverty. It’s highly mechanized and employs few people. The counties with the most mining remain the poorest counties in Appalachia. Economic studies in West Virginia and Kentucky have shown that mountaintop removal mining costs states more revenue than it produces. Industry claims that mountaintop removal creates flat spaces for development, but only 3 percent of former mine sites are developed. Surface mining destroys the potential for development based on tourism and sustainable forest products.

Mountaintop removal has annihilated more than 500 mountaintops and 2,000 miles of streams — and the Center is working to stop mountaintop removal before it annihilates any more. Through outreach, education, and activism, we’re spreading the word: Don’t let anyone convince you that coal is clean. There’s no such thing as a clean coal mine.

[Union Yes]

7. Great news. knr nt

[DCKit]

9. "...disappointment from mine operators..." They must be doing something right. n/t

[foxfeet]

10. A good organization to support:

http://ilovemountains.org/

They work to end mountaintop removal.

[yowzayowzayowza]

11. Oh, that war mongering corporate stooge fooking up again.

Doomed we are. DOOMED!!! Woe is me.