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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15824/story.htm

EPA rule allows mining firms to dump waste in rivers

USA: May 6, 2002

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government last week unveiled new rules allowing

Appalachian coal miners to dump dirt and rubble into streams and lakes,

evoking howls of protest from environmental groups.

The new rules adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army

Corps of Engineers are a boon for coal mining, the life-blood of the economy

in Appalachia, the impoverished region stretching across West Virginia and

Kentucky. The agencies will " apply new conditions to permits issued to

regulate the placement of dirt or rock from mountaintop mining in streams, "

EPA said in a release.

Many coal companies in the region, bisected by the Appalachian Mountains,

rely on a controversial technique known as " mountaintop mining, " where peaks

of hills and mountains are sliced off to expose the coal buried beneath

them.

Coal companies then plow the remaining rubble downhill - often into ravines

or valleys that host rivers or streams.

Environmental groups said the rules are significant weakening of the Clean

Water Act. Joan Mulhern, a lawyer with Earthjustice, called the move " the

biggest threat to our nation's water in decades. "

" Allowing masses of industrial wastes to be dumped into streams, lakes and

rivers ... is contrary to the very purpose of the Clean Water Act and

represents a major weakening of current clean water law, " Mulhern said. She

called the measure " legal relief from the Bush administration " to coal

companies.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will adopt a new definition of the term

" fill material, " which EPA says brings the regulation into line with

existing language in the Clean Water Act. The Army Corps has jurisdiction

over mining waste.

" Mountaintop mining is a long-established practice in Appalachia, " said Army

Undersecretary Les Brownlee, stating that the Army Corps will limit the

amount of rubble coal companies can dump in Appalachian streams.

" We are committed to working with the affected states to reduce

mining-related environmental impacts, while providing the nation with the

advantages of cleaner-burning coal, " EPA Administrator Todd

Whitman said in a release.

EPA says the rule will enhance environmental protection of wetland areas by

prohibiting dumping trash or garbage in them.

" Nothing could be further from the truth, " Mulhern said. " Anyone who has

ever seen what happens when a stream is buried under 900 feet of mining

rubble would not conclude that this is a good thing for water quality. "

More than 1,000 miles of streams in the Appalachia region have been damaged

by mining waste, she said.

Story by Baltimore