Coal lobbyist calls EPA's review of mountaintop removal permits 'state-sponsored terrorism'

After raising concerns about "potentially significant water quality and environmental issues," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week sent 79 pending permits for mountaintop removal coal mining operations for in-depth review by its own water-quality experts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.



The move has sparked some strong words from mining defenders, with Roger Horton -- an employee at a mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia and founder of the pro-mining lobby group Citizens for Coal -- calling the decision "state-sponsored terrorism."

Horton made the remark during an interview this week with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, reports Ken Ward Jr. at the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette's Coal Tattoo blog. Said Horton:

We're very angry. We're fed up and we're not going to take it anymore. In our minds, this is nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism.  And we're going to let those folks in Washington hear from us soon. ... They're simply destroying our lives and stealing our families future as surely as if they broke into the homes at night.

Horton's group is also the force behind the tourism boycott of Tennessee by West Virginia and Kentucky miners upset that U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is sponsoring legislation that would limit mountaintop removal coal mining.

The National Mining Association, Kentucky Coal Association and West Virginia Coal Association have also denounced the EPA's decision. Ohio Coal Association President Mike Carey said that "EPA is playing with fire."

The Obama administration has pledged to take "unprecedented steps" to reduce the environmental impact of mountaintop removal mining, which has destroyed more than 470 peaks across Appalachia and buried or polluted more than 1,200 miles of headwater streams.

As Ward reported on this week's announcement by the EPA:

In a letter to the corps, EPA assistant administrator Peter S. Silva wrote that the permits "have not yet adequately demonstrated that anticipated adverse environmental and water quality impacts have been fully avoided and minimized as required" under the federal Clean Water Act.

Appalachian Voices and the Alliance for Appalachia have created an interactive map giving the location and other details of the mining operations affected by the EPA review.

North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices applauded EPA decision to subject the pending permits to the 60-day extended review process. However, it also pointed out that such an administrative approach is only a short-term strategy for halting the destruction of mountains.

"The theme of our campaign has always been, 'They're blowing up our mountains and there ought to be a law,'" said Willa May, the group's executive director. "We will continue to work for passage of the Clean Water Protection Act in the House and the Appalachia Restoration Act in the Senate, both which would permanently end this destructive practice."

(Photo of an Appalachian peak destroyed by mountaintop removal mining by Vivian Stockman of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, taken during a flyover courtesy of SouthWings.)