Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia: Perpetual Money Pit

Yearly coal mining in the Appalachia costs $9-$76 billion more than it brings in.

Health Costs Far Outpace Coal RevenueLooking at statistics from 2005 (the latest for which mortality rates are available) the researchers found that though coal mining brought in about $8 billion to the state coffers of Appalachian states, the costs of the shorter life-spans associated with coal mining operations were nearly $17 billion to $84.5 billion.

Coal mining areas in Appalachia were found to have nearly 11,000 more deaths each year than other places in the nation, with 2,300 of those attributable to environmental factors such as air and water pollution.

- Brewskie

EPA Strips Mountaintop Removal Mining Permits

The EPA has ground to a halt hundreds of mountaintop mining permits to better access its impact on land and streams.

Between 150 and 200 applications for new or expanded surface coal mines, many mountaintop removal operations, are pending before the federal government. EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the agency does not expect problems with the overwhelming majority of permits.

The permits are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, an agency that has been criticized by environmental groups and has been sued for failing to thoroughly evaluate the environmental impact of mountaintop removal.

Under the Clean Water Act, companies cannot discharge rock, dirt and other debris into streams unless they can show that it will not cause permanent damage to waterways or the fish and other wildlife that live in them.

Last month, a three-judge appeals panel in Richmond, Va., overturned a lower court's ruling that would have required the Corps to conduct more extensive reviews. The appeals court decision cleared the way for a backlog of permits that had been delayed until the lawsuit was resolved.

The EPA's action on Tuesday could leave those permit requests in limbo a little
longer.

[...]

The EPA said in a statement that it would be actively involved in the review of the long list of permits awaiting approval by the Corps, a signal that the agency under the Obama administration will exercise its oversight.

The EPA has the authority to review and veto any permit issued by the Corps under the Clean Water Act, but under the Bush administration it did that rarely.

[...]

Mountaintop mines in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee produce nearly 130 million tons of coal annually _ about 14 percent of the nation's power-producing coal _ which in turn generates electricity for 24.7 million U.S. customers, according to industry estimates.

- Brewskie

Court Has Enough Power to Knock Down Mountains

A federal appeals court ruled in favor of mountaintop removal today, overturning a ruling that would require additional environmental review of mountaintop removal in Appalachia.

The article can be read here, and here are some excerpts:

A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled 2-1 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to issue Clean Water Act permits for mountaintop removal coal mines without more extensive reviews. The court also overturned a related ruling that using ponds to remove sediment from streams at mountaintop mines violates the Clean Water Act.

The rulings are a blow to environmentalists and coalfield neighbors who oppose the highly efficient but destructive practice that exposes thin, shallow coal seams. Rocks, dirt and other debris typically are dumped into valleys containing intermittent streams, which is how clean water rules become involved.

The decision is a big win for mine operators. The coal industry says most of the nearly 130 million tons of coal produced at mountaintop mines in Appalachia goes to generate electricity for 24.7 million U.S. customers. Moreover, mountaintop mines employ some 14,000 people across West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Mountaintop permits have slowed to a trickle since March 2007, when the Corps was ordered by U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers to rescind several permits. It was Chambers' ruling that the appeals court overturned.

For a better narrative of how mountaintop removal mining is executed, what its environmental impact is, please read this article from Wired magazine.

- Brewskie