Mongiardo leads defense of mountaintop removal

As expected, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's announcement Tuesday that it would review valley fill permits for their impact on water quality brought a storm of protest from the coal industry and its backers. In Kentucky, Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo seemed to be leading the charge, telling WYMT-TV News that he "worked all day and into the nightâ€ to contact the Obama administration to protest EPA's action.

The EPA issued a clarifying statement late Tuesday, assuring the coal industry that it had not blocked any valley fill permits, even suggesting that it may not block any.

"We fully anticipate that the bulk of these pending permit applications will not raise environmental concerns.  In cases where a permit does raise environmental concerns, we will work expeditiously with the Army Corps of Engineers to determine how these concerns can be addressed."

We tried to report this accurately in our original blog post Tuesday, that the EPA did not shut down any coal mines and did not block any valley fill permits, but that it would consider scientific data in its review of permits. As Rick Handshoe pointed out, "It's a victory that they are even looking at the impacts of these valley fills."

What the EPA did do was send two letters to the Army Corps of Engineers that questioned the Corps' readiness to issue permits to two specific valley fills, including one in Pike County, Kentucky.

Congress may soon weigh in on the destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining. On Wednesday, U.S. Senators Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit the dumping of mining waste into streams. The Appalachia Restoration Act would amend the Clean Water Act to prevent the dumping of what is known as "excess spoilâ€ from mountaintop mining into streams and rivers. The intent of this legislation mirrors that of the Clean Water Protection Act that has been introduced in the U.S. House.

"The two letters reflect EPA’s considerable concern regarding the environmental impact these projects would have on fragile habitats and streams,â€ said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a press release. The letter stated that the coal mines would likely cause water quality problems in streams below the mines, would cause significant degradation to streams buried by mining activities, and that proposed steps to offset these impacts are inadequate.

None of that has mattered to the Corps, which has routinely issued valley fill permits under the pretense that dumping mining wastes into streams does not have a significant environmental impact. So the EPA's announcement is significant because it is a major shift in the "turn a blind eye" policy of the Bush administration.

Besides expressing serious concerns about those two permits, EPA also indicated it wanted more dialogue with the Corps and would review other valley fill permits. Apparently that dialogue hasn't started yet. On Wednesday, the Corps' Louisville office issued a permit for the Thunder Ridge mine in Leslie County, near the home of KFTC member Daymon Morgan. That valley fill is already the subject of a lawsuit by several environmental groups.

A distinction we try to make clear: a valley fill permit is not the same as a permit allowing the company to mine using mountaintop removal or any other mining method. Those permits are usually issued by the state.  Valley fill, or "404" permits (referring to the section in the Clean Water Act), are issued by the Corps of Engineers. The EPA has overall responsibility for enforcement of the CWA, including some oversight authority over the Corps' actions.

But just the possibility that the damage to water quality might become a factor in the granting of valley fills permits apparently sends fear into the coal industry because there is an overwhelming body of scientific data that shows filling our headwater streams causes significant and permanent damage to both those headwater streams (which are eliminated) and for many miles downstream. The hope is that this might matter to the Obama administration, and Tuesday's announcement excited so many people because it was the first indication that it will.

• Mountaintop Removal Blow-Back


• Corps escalates mountaintop removal mining fight