April 03, 2009

The Obama administration may clip the wings of mountaintop mining. Long a highly contentious issue, the White House is parting ways with that of its predecessor by ordering its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review all of those pending permits -- a matter that clearly pits economic and environmental interests against one another.

At issue are roughly 200 applications that seek to get at underlying low-sulfur coal beds that rest inside the Appalachian Mountains. Mining operators must now shear off the tops of those mountains and put the resulting refuse aside, typically in the streams and valleys below. It's a mining form that divides the coal-rich region and now one that could be outlawed under federal legislation.

During the Bush years, officials yielded to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had the right to determine if such mining practices harmed water quality. But at the directive of President Obama, the EPA will now use its power under the Clean Water Act to require tougher oversight and perhaps block some proposed deals.

"I have directed the agency to review other mining permit requests," says EPA administrator Lisa Jackson. "EPA will use the best science and follow the letter of the law in ensuring we are protecting our environment."

The EPA, which is required by the Clean Water Act to review mining applications and to provide guidance, is uneasy. Specifically, it said to the corps that the strip mines would likely lead to poorer water quality while also causing significant degradation in streams. It also said that proposed steps to offset those harmful effects are not adequate.

Active litigation in this area has caused the corps to issue far fewer permits since 2007, creating a backlog. The EPA says that it expects to be actively involved in the review of those permits, noting that thousands of them have been granted since the practice began in the middle 1980s. It also says that about 1,200 miles of streams have been buried while 380,000 acres of forestry have been devastated, and all the result of strip mining.

The National Mining Association says that if the EPA is allowed to stall or deter future mountaintop permits, it could jeopardize 385 million tons of annual coal production in the Appalachian region. That production, in turn, provides electricity for millions of Americans -- power that is far less costly than prevailing alternatives such as natural gas. Altogether, it says that mining pays 77,000 people in Appalachia a high wage and that those citizens are dedicated to the communities where they both work and live.

"EPA is holding up lawful permits for operations that are responsible for providing affordable coal-based electricity for 77 million households throughout the East," says Hal Quinn, chief executive of the mining association. "This action is bad for American jobs and for American energy security."

The EPA's Scrutiny

The EPA's scrutiny of mountaintop mining will begin with two sites in West Virginia and Kentucky, both of which the agency said would result in significant and adverse consequences to water quality. The corps must now perform an environmental impact statement in one case and suggest mitigation standards in the other.

It all comes atop a court ruling issued by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond in February that overturns an earlier decision by a U.S. district judge in West Virginia. That previous judgment would have required the corps to issue more detailed permits.

It's a tough balancing act. West Virginia, the nation's second largest coal-producing state behind Wyoming, gets more than 90 percent of its power from coal. The industry also provides the state treasury with hundreds of millions each year. News reports say that there are roughly 550 mines in the state and of that, about 44 percent are surface mines. Meantime, the Kentucky Coal Association says that if mountaintop mining practices are blocked, the eastern portion of that state could lose half of its production capability.

For its part, the corps says that it has adhered closely to the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, maintaining that the mines for which it has issued permits will cause "no significant impact." It opposes EPA's more aggressive position, forcing the White House's Council on Environmental Quality to mediate a deal. The coal sector, meanwhile, says that after an area is mined, it must be "reclaimed" and turned into something useful such as schools, shopping malls and recreational sites.

Environmental and some community groups remained undeterred. They say that mountaintop mining is not just harmful to local water supplies but also that it will continue to increase the nation's reliance on coal. Their immediate agenda is to get Congress to pass the Clean Water Protection Act to prohibit the dumping of rock and other debris into the streams below and they therefore applaud the administration's review of the 200 pending surface mining applications.

"Taken together, these pending permits threatened to lay waste to nearly 60,000 acres of mountain landscape, destroy 400 valleys and bury more than 200 miles of streams," writes Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The environmental community hopes that stricter oversight will encourage the region to diversify into renewable energy sources.

The Obama administration now finds itself in the midst of a ferocious fight. Trying to balance the economic and environmental passions of Appalachia could divert its attention from the broader national goal of fiscal recovery. Under any scenario, the outcome of the issue will affect America's energy future and the fuels that its citizens use.

 

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Ken Silverstein EnergyBiz Insider Editor-in-Chief
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