Everyone engaged in the fight over mountaintop removal is anticipating a big announcement next week (possibly Tuesday or Wednesday) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
NRDC and our grassroots partners want to put a stop -- once and for all -- to this extreme strip mining method, which involves clear-cutting forest cover, blasting rock and rubble with high explosives, scraping out thin coal seams with giant drag lines and heavy machinery, and then dumping leftover dirt and toxic debris into adjacent valleys, thereby polluting and burying the streams below.
First, a quick recap:
Back in March, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson weighed into the controversy surrounding the federal government's routine rubber-stamping of permits resulting in the destruction of hundreds of Appalachian peaks by coal companies. She sent shockwaves by exerting her agency's authority to hold up two pending mountaintop removal permit applications to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over concerns about harmful water quality impacts. (Three additional permits were rejected the following month.)
Although a welcome development, EPA's action turned out to be a mere baby step. Unlike we had hoped, the agency made clear that it was not halting, holding or placing a moratorium on all mountaintop mining permit applications. But in a radio interview in April, Administrator Jackson reiterated her agency's newfound commitment to closely reviewing each and every mining permit "with an eye towards tracking down and identifying any significant impact on water and water quality", and wouldn't hesitate to reject permits if necessary. (A few days later, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar got in the act by moving to revoke the Bush administration notorious "buffer zone rule" change under which coal companies now legally use rivers and streams as dumping grounds for mining waste. Unfortunately, a federal court later rebuffed Salazar's attempt.)
Alas, momentum shifted in May, when the EPA abruptly and inexplicably approved 42 of 48 pending mountaintop removal permits in Appalachia. The following month brought a mixed message, as Obama administration officials announced "unprecedented steps to reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop coal mining" in the six Appalachian states of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. More promise than policy, administration pledged to increase permit scrutiny and enhance coordination among EPA, Interior, and the Corps. Shortly afterwards, EPA published a list of 108 pending permit applications from mining companies seeking to conduct mountaintop removal operations.
Here's a helpful timeline courtesy of Ken Ward, which boils down to this:
- Under the multi-agency agreement, EPA requested additional information on each of these 108 permits, and committed to spending to 45 days assessing potential environmental impacts, identifying those projects about which it has "concerns," and recommending actions to minimize or remedy potential environmental damage. The clock on this review runs out on the day after Labor Day.
- At that point EPA is supposed to provide the Corps with this list and also to release it to the public on the web. Then, within 14 days, each EPA region is supposed to identify to EPA HQ those permit applications "raising concerns" and those not raising concerns. Any permit not on the list can be issued immediately by the Corps.
- Beyond this process there remain other requirements and requisite timelines. But the bottom-line is that EPA is expected soon to release a list which in essence likely will show which of the 100+ pending mountaintop removal permit applications may be approved, which will be held up for further review, and possibly which cannot proceed at all due to environmental impact concerns.
So, the clock is winding down to a decision by EPA that may well determine where the Obama administration stands on regulating mountaintop removal. NRDC's position is that the nation's premier environmental protection agency should stop trying to mend the practice; EPA should end it.
***This post originally appeared on the NRDC Switchboard.
Rob Perks runs NRDC's Center for Advocacy Campaigns. Their shop exists to guide NRDC's policy and program experts in shaping and executing strategic campaigns on the institution's priority issues. Their goal is to mobilize not just NRDC supporters, but millions of Americans in environmental advocacy. He started at NRDC in the legislative program handling media relations, and up until the fall of 2005 managed our popular and effective 'Bush Record' project. He left to build the Outreach & Communications department at American Rivers before returning to NRDC in the spring of 2007. During my 15-year environmental career he has led campaigns in Florida for U.S. Public Interest Group; organized the grassroots for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia; directed national field operations for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER); and served as the youngest-ever executive director of the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation in North Carolina. He graduated from The College of William & Mary in Virginia and earned his M.S. in environmental policy at The University of Montana.
