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MINING: West Virginia uneasy about move by EPA
AP File Photo
Mountaintop-removal mining was photographed in 2008 at Kayford Mountain, W.Va. Coal River Mountain is in the background.
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Published: March 29, 2009
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
The Obama administration's decision to hold coal-mining permits to a high environmental standard has struck a note of economic fear in Appalachia, where mining -- including the kind of mining that blows up mountaintops -- has been a shield against the hard times afflicting the rest of the nation.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week that it will take a closer look at 150 to 200 coal-mine-permit applications under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The EPA singled out two proposed surface mines in West Virginia and one in Kentucky as a start.
In a break from Bush-administration policies, the EPA is asserting its authority under the federal Clean Water Act to scrutinize plans to dump mine waste into streams and wetlands.
The National Mining Association estimates that the EPA's reviews could threaten 77,500 coal mining jobs and 385 million tons of annual production in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, Ohio and the Illinois Basin.
But environmentalists see the EPA's decision as an opportunity to end mountaintop-removal mining and the region's dependency on coal, and to spark new jobs by developing sources of renewable energy.
Mountaintop-removal mining is an efficient but destructive practice where ridgetops are blown up to expose multiple coal seams. Tons of rock, dirt and debris are typically dumped in fills that bury valleys and streams.
Destroying the mountains "also destroys the economic potential of Appalachia," said Matthew Wasson of Appalachian Voices, which is based in North Carolina. "This decision rekindles hope for a new economy in Appalachia built around green jobs and renewable energy."
Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia met with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the EPA to clarify the EPA's intentions.
"I told them we are looking for a balance between the environment and the economy, and they assured me that they will work with us to find that balance," Manchin said. He said that state officials would meet with the EPA and coal companies to work out agreements on the applications.
West Virginia is the nation's second-largest coal producer. More than 90 percent of the state's electricity and about half of the nation's comes from burning coal.
Coal helps keep West Virginia state government in business.
Despite its long history of poverty, West Virginia has mostly avoided the budget deficits facing other states because of soaring coal prices that exceeded $120 a ton last year. Coal prices are now falling, but state budget planners still predict that total severance-tax collections will surpass $400 million this year. The state is expected to receive $320 million of that, or about 8 percent of West Virginia's total general-revenue collections.
Elsewhere in Appalachia, Kentucky and Virginia -- which are less dependent on energy production -- haven't fared as well. Both have been dealing with big budget deficits.
Of the estimated 550 mines in West Virginia, 44 percent are surface mines. The importance of surface mining has increased in recent decades as thick underground seams have been mined out. Rock and dirt not used to reclaim the mines are dumped in valley fills.
"There isn't very much coal production that can be done in a state without a valley fill," said Randy Huffman, the secretary of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
Rory McIlmoil, an activist with West Virginia's Coal River Mountain Watch, said that environmentalists now have at least a six-month window in which to strengthen arguments for the creation of "green" jobs in alternative-energy industries.
Restoring former mine lands, building wind farms and developing sustainable-forestry jobs are all part of the solution -- and all jobs that strip miners can be trained to take, McIlmoil said.
The president of the Kentucky Coal Association, Bill Caylor, predicts economic devastation for the eastern half of his state, the nation's third-largest coal producer behind Wyoming and West Virginia.
"We would lose half our production in east Kentucky," Caylor said. That adds up to more than 46 million tons from mines that employ more than 6,000 miners earning $354 million in direct wages.
Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said he too is trying to clarify the EPA's intentions so permits could be reviewed and issued more quickly.
Chuck Nelson, a retired underground coal miner, said that coal mining and environmental protection are not an either-or proposition.
"We worked underground before mountaintop removal. We had 68,000 coal miners in West Virginia, and that was in 1977," said Nelson, 53, a member of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. "They don't have to blow the mountaintops off and destroy the communities to get the coal."
The coal industry has been bracing for tougher permitting standards since March 2007 when a federal judge in West Virginia ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hadn't done enough to determine whether valley fills would damage water resources downstream. The ruling was later overturned.
Mountaintop mining became a topic of debate during last year's presidential elections when both candidates said they opposed the practice. John McCain said he would ban it. Barack Obama said he had concerns but stopped short of calling for a ban.
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