West Virginia’s Gov. Joe Manchin announced last week that his state will be suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over coal mining permits that were purposely delayed.
“In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began interfering with the surface coal mine permitting process in West Virginia,” said Gov. Joe Manchin in a statement last Wednesday. “Through a series of questionable and unlawful actions, the U.S. EPA has implemented policies and procedures that have delayed the permitting process and halted the issuance of new mine permits.”
The governor continued that certain federal government entities including the EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of the Interior delayed the issuance of 23 pending coal mining permits in West Virginia with only 2 being approved since 2009. Manchin alleges that no specific law or government regulation has kept the permits from passing, only a political policy agenda specifically coming from the executive branch of government.
The remaining 21 permits have since been withdrawn or are still pending.
“These actions by [the] U.S. EPA are threatening not only to end surface coal mining in West Virginia, but to affect all forms of mining in the state,” said Manchin. “[The] U.S. EPA has also usurped the authority of the state and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to oversee and regulate important aspects of our environment, like water quality.”
The EPA said last month that there is “a growing body of scientific literature, including previous and new studies performed by EPA, [that] show significant damage to local streams that are polluted with the mining runoff from mountaintop removal.”
The EPA did not have an immediate response to the lawsuit.
Virginia and Kentucky are being urged to join the lawsuit, which has been in the works for several months. Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Kentucky also regularly apply for mining permits.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works conducted a study recently which outlined the approximate loss of nearly 18,000 new and existing jobs as a result of the EPA’s actions.
Additionally, nearly 80 small businesses will also be affected. The coal industry employs several tens of thousands more, which may be affected by future permit restraints.
About 45 percent of the U.S.’s power comes from coal.
The basis for the EPA’s stance in these matters appears to be the higher water quality standards declared on March 24, 2009. These standards are based around the degradation of streams beneath mountaintop mining, which could get buried by mining runoff and sediment.
“We have raised numerous concerns with U.S. EPA over its policies: We’ve reached out to the EPA to try and find common ground. We have asked time and again for clarity in the permitting process. We’ve asked simply for the opportunity to obtain a work permit, not a handout,” complained Gov. Manchin. “Despite our efforts, the EPA has continued to overreach; they have proven that they are trying to regulate what they can’t legislate.”
The Federation for American Coal, Energy, and Security (FACES of Coal) consisting of over 70,000 members, chimed in on the matter.
“EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s crusade against the coal industry is one of the worst kept secrets in Washington, D.C.” said Bryan Brown, executive director for the West Virginia FACES of Coal campaign in a press release on facesofcoal.org last week.
Brown added that FACES of Coal and 2,000 other coal supporters lobbied Capitol Hill a few weeks ago over coal mining issues, including job losses and permit problems.
“In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began interfering with the surface coal mine permitting process in West Virginia,” said Gov. Joe Manchin in a statement last Wednesday. “Through a series of questionable and unlawful actions, the U.S. EPA has implemented policies and procedures that have delayed the permitting process and halted the issuance of new mine permits.”
The governor continued that certain federal government entities including the EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of the Interior delayed the issuance of 23 pending coal mining permits in West Virginia with only 2 being approved since 2009. Manchin alleges that no specific law or government regulation has kept the permits from passing, only a political policy agenda specifically coming from the executive branch of government.
The remaining 21 permits have since been withdrawn or are still pending.
“These actions by [the] U.S. EPA are threatening not only to end surface coal mining in West Virginia, but to affect all forms of mining in the state,” said Manchin. “[The] U.S. EPA has also usurped the authority of the state and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to oversee and regulate important aspects of our environment, like water quality.”
The EPA said last month that there is “a growing body of scientific literature, including previous and new studies performed by EPA, [that] show significant damage to local streams that are polluted with the mining runoff from mountaintop removal.”
The EPA did not have an immediate response to the lawsuit.
Virginia and Kentucky are being urged to join the lawsuit, which has been in the works for several months. Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Kentucky also regularly apply for mining permits.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works conducted a study recently which outlined the approximate loss of nearly 18,000 new and existing jobs as a result of the EPA’s actions.
Additionally, nearly 80 small businesses will also be affected. The coal industry employs several tens of thousands more, which may be affected by future permit restraints.
About 45 percent of the U.S.’s power comes from coal.
The basis for the EPA’s stance in these matters appears to be the higher water quality standards declared on March 24, 2009. These standards are based around the degradation of streams beneath mountaintop mining, which could get buried by mining runoff and sediment.
“We have raised numerous concerns with U.S. EPA over its policies: We’ve reached out to the EPA to try and find common ground. We have asked time and again for clarity in the permitting process. We’ve asked simply for the opportunity to obtain a work permit, not a handout,” complained Gov. Manchin. “Despite our efforts, the EPA has continued to overreach; they have proven that they are trying to regulate what they can’t legislate.”
The Federation for American Coal, Energy, and Security (FACES of Coal) consisting of over 70,000 members, chimed in on the matter.
“EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s crusade against the coal industry is one of the worst kept secrets in Washington, D.C.” said Bryan Brown, executive director for the West Virginia FACES of Coal campaign in a press release on facesofcoal.org last week.
Brown added that FACES of Coal and 2,000 other coal supporters lobbied Capitol Hill a few weeks ago over coal mining issues, including job losses and permit problems.
