EPA announces crackdown on mountain top removal

[pscot]

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/04/01/breaking-news-from-epa-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-mountaintop-removal/

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson invoked the rule of science and law today–and for the first time raised the concern of the health care crisis in the coalfields from mountaintop removal.

The EPA administrator announced a major decision today to clamp down on Clean Water Act violations from mountaintop removal mining–yes, the EPA administrator actually used the words “mountaintop removal” and not “mountaintop mining” in the press conference today–and effectively bring an end to the process of valley fills (and the dumping of toxic coal mining waste into the valleys and waterways).

Citing new EPA studies that conclusively demonstrate that “burial of headwater streams by valley fills causes permanent loss of ecosystems,” the EPA issued new conductivity levels “to protect 95% of aquatic life and fresh water streams in central Appalachia.”

In responding to this benchmark set on measuring conductivity levels from mining discharges to streams and waterways, Jackson declared in the question and answers with journalists: “No or very few valley fills that are going to be able to meet standards like this.”

In the words of 95-year-old Ken Hechler, the former West Virginia congressman who introduced the first bill in Congress to stop mountaintop removal and strip-mining in 1971, “This is a great victory for the Clean Water Act and justice.”

[Skink]

1. another April fools joke.

Got me again. What next the SEC going after the big banks?:beer:

[pscot]

3. I wondered about that,

since this seems to have been part of a joke post initially. So I checked. It's on the EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/

[tabasco]

2. I'm sure this would have happened under a McCain/Palin administration.

There are idiots on this site who say there is no difference and they are not tombstoned.

:wtf:

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. EPA Issues Comprehensive Guidance to Protect Appalachian Communities From Harmful Environmental ...

Read all about it...

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e77fdd4f5afd88a3852576b3005a604f/4145c96189a17239852576f8005867bd!OpenDocument

EPA Issues Comprehensive Guidance to Protect Appalachian Communities From Harmful Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Mining

Release date: 04/01/2010

Contact Information: EPA Press Office, [e-mail]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a set of actions to 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 comprehensive guidance sets clear benchmarks for preventing significant and irreversible damage to Appalachian watersheds at risk from mining activity.

Mountaintop removal is a form of surface 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.

"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’s why EPA is providing even greater clarity on the direction the agency is taking to confront pollution from mountain top removal,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We 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.”

...

(More details at the link.)

[babylonsister]

5. Rec'd. nt