2ndUPDATE: EPA Halts Largest Arch Coal Mountaintop Mining Permit
(Adds reaction from Sen. Rockefeller; adds that conflict has been playing out
for weeks; updates with background on EPA mountaintop mining initiatives.)
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday
put the brakes on an Arch Coal Inc. (ACI) operation in West Virginia, the first
time in 37 years the agency has used its power to hold up a previously issued
mountaintop mining permit.
The EPA told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers it was taking the unusual step
to halt the largest such project ever permitted in Appalachia because of the
magnitude of potential environmental damage, including the burial of more than
seven miles of streams. The move escalates a battle between the EPA and the
Corps that has been playing out for weeks.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, (D., W.Va.) said he was "very frustrated" with the EPA.
"When businesses makes good faith efforts and fully comply with all applicable
laws and regulations, they must have the confidence that the commitments made by
the government will be honored," he said in a statement.
The EPA said that the action begins a new review process that could lead the
agency to restrict or prohibit mining at the Logan County, W.Va., site. Arch
Coal and the Corps have 15 days to respond.
Mountaintop mining involves blasting off the tops of mountains to get at the
coal seams underneath. The mountaintops are remade with rubble created from the
explosion, though debris also trickles into valleys, threatening water quality.
The EPA has been scrutinizing the activity, most recently holding up 79 permit
applications in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The agency's effort
to change an already issued permit ratchets up its initiative. The EPA said that
its efforts regarding the Arch Coal site in Logan County represent "an unusual
set of circumstances" that "we do not expect to be repeated again."
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; Siobhan.Hughes@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-16-091811ET
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