Salazar Moves to Withdraw 11th Hour Mountaintop Coal Mining Rule-Restores Protections

[kpete]

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior

Salazar Moves to Withdraw 11th Hour Mountaintop Coal Mining Rule
Restores Protections Against Dumping in Streams

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced his determination that the mountaintop coal mining “stream buffer zone rule” issued by the Bush Administration is legally defective. Salazar directed the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to file a pleading with the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. requesting that the rule be vacated due to this deficiency and remanded to the Department of the Interior for further action.

“In its last weeks in office, the Bush Administration pushed through a rule that allows coal mine operators to dump mountaintop fill into streambeds if it’s found to be the cheapest and most convenient disposal option,” said Secretary Salazar. “We must responsibly develop our coal supplies to help us achieve energy independence, but we cannot do so without appropriately assessing the impact such development might have on local communities and natural habitat and the species it supports.”

Under the Bush rule, coal mine operators are able to dispose of excess mountaintop spoil in perennial and intermittent streams and within 100 feet of those streams whenever alternative options are deemed "not reasonably possible." Disposal into streambeds is permissible when alternatives are considered "unreasonable," which occurs under the Bush rule whenever the cost of pursuing an alternative "is substantially greater” than normal costs.

The Bush rule replaced a rule that had been on the books since the Reagan era rule of 1983. The Reagan era rule provides greater protection for communities and habitat by allowing the dumping of overburden within 100 feet of a perennial or intermittent stream only upon finding that such activities “will not adversely affect the water quantity or quality or other environmental resources of the stream. Two lawsuits were filed immediately after the Bush rule was published.

Read more: http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/042709.html

[Demeter]

1. and another Brick Falls off the Wall of Shame

[elleng]

2. I guess its something,

certainly far from perfect. Coal will be one of this admin's most difficult challenges, imo.

[pleah]

3. K&R Great news!

[elleng]

4. More, from WaPo:

'Some environmentalists, however, were disappointed by Salazar's move, arguing that more needs to be done and that the federal government has failed to enforce its own rule governing mountaintop mining practices for decades.

The ongoing dispute centers on a 1983 law that bars mining operators from dumping the massive piles of debris -- which stem from blowing off the tops of mountains to get to the coal -- within 100 feet of any intermittent or permanent stream if the material would harm a stream's water quality or reduce its flow. But federal and state courts have issued conflicting interpretations of the law, and widespread dumping continued. The government estimated that about 1,600 miles of streams in Appalachia have been wiped out since the mid-1980s.

In December the Office of Surface Mining issued a rule that required companies to avoid the 100-foot stream buffer zone if they could do so, but it allowed them to continue dumping if it was unavoidable. Environmental groups filed two separate lawsuits challenging the rule. . .

Earthjustice senior legislative counsel Joan Mulhern, who represents a coalition of community groups in one of the lawsuits before the U.S. District Court, said vacating the Bush rule "would be meaningless" if Interior doesn't crack down on the ongoing dumping in streams across Appalachia.

"They're going back to status quo, which is a good rule, but it's not being enforced," she said. "This gets us nowhere if the stream buffer zone rule is not enforced to prohibit mountaintop removal and valley fills."

Interior spokesman Frank Quimby would not say whether the department would prohibit such activity, saying the administration was seeking "to develop a comprehensive policy on mountaintop mining" in the months ahead. "This is not the end of what the administration proposes to do about mountaintop mining," he said.'

LET US PRAY.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[Petrushka]

14. And . . . here's something from the industry magazine COALAGE . . . re: Sen. Byrd & MTR

http://www.mountaintopmining.com/articles/coalage.htm

"Stream buffer zone" applied strictly to MTR mining seems
like a bad joke to folks who see more and more small streams
buried in more and more hollows . . . permitted to be filled
with mine wastes from underground coal mining.

[elleng]

16. Petrushka! in WV!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnVpm6ZjtZY

My daughter's at WVU.

Seems to me that making rules about where the 'trash' goes does little if anything. We really need ban on mountaintop mining; I'm not holding my breath waiting for that.

[Petrushka]

34. As they do in coalfields all over Europe . . .

. . . "Take that gob and shove it . . . back in the mine!"


P.S.
Thank you for the Stravinsky.

[Thothmes]

35. You bet, lets send thousands more into the ebony tombs

that are coal mines. Stripping is much safer for the humans that are involved in it. What we need to do is engineer a way to stop using coal for power generation.

[Petrushka]

36. Thousands?

Modern underground mining techniques--such as
shield-support longwall with high-speed conveyor
belts--makes record-breaking production possible
by employing only one or two men to work at the
longwall face where they (**cough**) sorta just
stand around, push the buttons of the real
"miner", and watch out when the hydraulic shields
move forward as that screaming yellow robot chews
through another swath of solidified prehistoric
sunlight trapped in darkness.

Edited to add: Men working at our friendly
neighborhood longwall mine refer to it as
"underground strip-mining . . . ha-ha!"



Thousands? Considering how few human beings are
employed in underground as well as in strip mining
and considering that, since the 70s, longwall mining
has been touted to Congress as just as safe as
strip mining . . . well, now . . . there's very
little likelihood for "...let's send thousands more
into the ebony tombs." when it's becoming more {**uh**)
shall we say "technologically and economically feasible"
to monitor and manipulate a longwall "miner" from an
office chair hundreds of miles away from the minesite
via computer?

"...engineer a way to stop using coal for power generation.",
did you say? Okay. Let's say that we finally git up enough
gumption t' engineer a way. Then what? What we gonna do
'bout all the hundreds of other uses for coal?



(**sigh**)

[Petrushka]

38. What OTHER uses for coal?

http://www.coaleducation.org/lessons/twe/bytree.htm

[Metta]

5. One for us.

Each one fills the bucket more, if only drop by drop, to paraphrase the Buddha.

[Reterr]

6. K&R.eom

[InvisibleTouch]

7. Well, at least he did that right.

Now if only he would restore protection for the Northern Rockies gray wolf. I cannot for the life of me imagine why he dropped the ball on that issue!

[Judi Lynn]

8. It's no small thing overcoming this intention to create real damage. Good for Salazar/Obama.

_Bush has caused so much hardship, made so many destructive decisions it will take a long time to reverse the hardship he has caused.

Glad some real adults finally made it to the White House.

[madrchsod]

9. a step in the right direction

it`s going to take time to make up for the years of the bush disaster

[quidam56]

10. THANK GOD ! Appalachia can't stand anymore of the prosperity-

http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138 Hannity will shit his pants !

[Sunnyshine]

11. KnR- i love mountains

Communities in the Blue Ridge mountains and the people of Appalachia need us to speak out for them. We must stop this insanity right now. These acts are taking place on a massive scale using weapons of self destruction. The high price paid for their pursuits of removing profitable resources from these lands is astounding. These Co.'s do nothing to give back to these people!

But they love George- even though the Energy Giants really loved him more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPixjCneseE&feature=play...

[quidam56]

12. Thank You Sunnyshine ! We are desperate for help.

Appalachia can't stand anymore of MTR. Hannity and all the rest at Fake Noise can say all they want about their heroic, patriotic leader keeping the homeland safe from another terrorist attack. What Bush/Cheney have facilitated and cranked up is TOXIC TERRORISM. They sure like blowing stuff up...

Tim

www.wisecountyissues.com

[Sunnyshine]

13. I have family there, and can hardly believe my eyes. Just total devastation.

I don't understand why we ever allowed this method to be used in the first place. Whose bright idea was this originally?
The people and their lands have been robbed and plundered. Toxic terrorism happening right under Washington D.C.

That is a great resource link. In case you don't have this one, check out http://www.samsva.org /

Keep fighting back!

[Petrushka]

15. Here's another URL . . . the "best" coalfield citizen action group , IMO . . .

http://www.ohvec.org


P.S
Olde native West Virginian here . . . but,
after 74 years, I'll soon be relocating . . .
weary with fighting back.

[Pirate Smile]

17. Obama Seeks to Reverse Mountaintop-Mining Rule

Source: The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Monday sought to reverse a last-minute Bush administration rule that made it easier for companies that mine for coal by shearing off mountaintops to dump waste near rivers and streams.

The action is the latest blow to the coal industry, which defends mountaintop mining as a safer, cheaper alternative to traditional underground mining. Coal companies had supported the Bush rule, which permits companies that blow off mountaintops to get at the coal underneath to avoid maintaining a 100-foot buffer zone between nearby waters if it isn't reasonably possible to do so.

At a news conference Monday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he had asked the Justice Department to ask a federal court in Washington, D.C., to throw out the rule and send it back to the agency. Mr. Salazar said the rule "simply doesn't pass muster with respect to adequately protecting water quality and stream habitat" in affected communities.

-snip-
The action comes one month after the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration announced that it would scrutinize 150 to 200 mining permits because of concern about waste dumped into rivers and streams. So far, the EPA has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revoke at least one previously granted permit, and to ensure more safeguards before signing off on a handful of other permits.

"We've seen a real change in the EPA," Consol Energy Inc. Chief Executive Brett Harvey said in an earnings call last week. "There's a lot of resistance to mountaintop mining."



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124086632887760691.html

[jennifercowling]

18. thanks

Thanks for letting us know about this. i had no idea about it. thanks

[bluestateguy]

19. What does West Virginia think of this?

I want those electoral votes in '12.

[SpartanDem]

20. You know we won without them?

[bluestateguy]

22. Yes I'm aware of that

But I want 49 states next time around. I want to finish off the GOP for good.

[Lorien]

25. At the cost of dirtier air and more sick West Virginians?

You know, not every soul who lives there is a miner. Most are sick of being sick!

[FudaFuda]

28. No, not all miners, but almost 100% in WV depend on coal for electricity

West Virginia's about the most economically depressed state in the country, and yet cap and trade would hit us the hardest because coal supplies about 98% of the electricity used here. "American Electric Power" that services the south-central part of the state (including Charleston, the state capitol) is also seeking to raise their rates 45% over the next three years, after already getting a 10% increase last year. That's before even considering cap and trade, which is projected to double the rates we're already paying (assuming it is eventually passed).

So, to answer bluestateguy's question, anything that negatively impacts the coal industry hurts us here. I'm as opposed to mountaintop removal as anyone, and West Virginians are, as a whole, fairly liberal and environmentally conscious. (We love guns, hunting, and ATV's though) But its hard to keep honest blue collar folk focused on the bigger issues when their electric bills triple and their jobs go bye-bye.

Oh, and I'm not sick. But we do have an incredibly high percentage of allegedly 'permanently and totally disabled' former coal miners living on a monthly check that covers the payment on their F150, rifles, and ATV's.

[elleng]

21. Lets see how far it goes.

Without more, I don't know. I'm not terribly encouraged at this point.

[Petrushka]

31. Here's something from 1999 . . . from the industry magazine COALAGE . . . re: Senator Byrd & MTR

Sorta puts things in perspective . . . then AND now . . .

http://www.mountaintopmining.com/articles/coalage.htm

[dgibby]

23. There's a good web site that keeps up with this stuff.

go to ilovemountains.org (I think it's .org). They're very active in fighting this practice.

[Canuckistanian]

24. That's GREAT news

It's about time that someone looked at the long-term damages that mountain-top removal mining does.

And yes, the coal companies might lose profit and people will laid off, but that's just a short-term deal. Destruction of the landscape is causing so much more anguish for people who have no share in this coal wealth.

Coal SHOULD be more expensive than it is. People are already paying for it with destroyed ecosystems, water quality and the natural landscape.

AND it's an extremely dirty source of energy.

Good for Obama.

[Lorien]

26. Did you see the piece NOW did on what mountaintop removal has

done to quality of life there? Rivers and streams are destroyed, cancer and respiratory illnesses are commonplace, and many towns are now completely unlivable. Black soot coats homes-inside and out. It's unreal that such conditions could be allowed today, but then again, what happened after Katrina seemed unreal too.

[Canuckistanian]

27. Got a link?

I've seen a few ads and short presentations about mountain-top removal, but never a whole show.

[NYC_SKP]

29. Not a video link, but here's a PBS link with some info.

http://www.pbs.org/now/science/coalmountain.html

[Canuckistanian]

32. Thanx!

[Petrushka]

30. Here's the URL for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition . . . lotsa info, photos, etc., etc. . .

http://www.ohvec.org


Edited to add:
When in comes to mine wastes being dumped into valley streams,
mountaintop removal coal operators aren't the only culprits . . .
underground coal operations have been burying streams and filling
hollows with mine wastes in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
etc., etc., etc. since Day #1.

[Canuckistanian]

33. Yes, I've seen this before

They look like a very active group.

[Petrushka]

37. LOL . . . wonder if Consol is STILL #1 in longwall coal production and, thus, #1 in . . . . .

. . . mine-waste production from underground mining?

Wonder,too, if Brett Harvey would like to see more changes?
I mean: Wouldn't it be fair to MTR operators, for a change,
(**cough**) if that buffer zone rule was made applicable to
mine wastes deposited in streams by underground mine operators,
too?