[I thought this sounded almost too good to be true. But at the end they have the Rainforest Action Network -- one of the many groups who've been doing these dump mud and raise banners protests we've seen so much of in last month -- calling it a "leap" in the right direction. So maybe one more good thing just happened. Although I'm not competent to judge, knowing nothing of the technical details.]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/apr/01/obama-administration-mining
[Alternate URL: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/04/02-2 ]
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Guardian/UK
New Regulations Will Put an End to Mountaintop Mining
by Suzanne Goldenberg
Obama administration proposals will make destructive
mountaintop mining operations effectively impossible
The Obama administration effectively called time Thursday on one of
the most destructive industries in America, proposing new
environmental guidelines for mountaintop mining removal.
The move was seen as a bold action
from the White House, which has in the past disappointed
environmental organisations for failing to move more aggressively on
pollution and climate change.
But in a conference call with journalists, just an hour after the
administration for the first time finalised regulations setting
limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars, officials spelled out
guidelines that they acknowledged would make it virtually impossible
for mining companies in Appalachia to carry on with business as
usual.
The economics of mountaintop mining removal involve a highly
destructive practice of blasting through hundreds of feet of
mountaintop to get at thin but valuable seams of coal. The debris is
removed to "valley fills", and nearly 2,000 miles of streams in
Appalachia have been buried beneath such fills.
In recent years, opposition to the practice has spread from local
activists to celebrities, with Robert Kennedy Jr and Darryl Hannah
demanding an end to the method.
Lisa Jackson, the head of the Enviromental Protection Agency, said
today it is unlikely that valley fills would meet the new standards.
"You are talking about either no or very few valley fills that are
going to be able to meet standards like this," she said. "What the
science is telling us is that it would be untrue to say you can have
any more than minimal valley fill and not see irreversible damage to
stream health."
Jackson said the new guidelines were not intended to end coal
mining. But she admitted it would be hard work for mining companies
to meet the new standard.
"They are going to require folks to roll up their sleeves to protect
water quality," she said. "We believe that they are often going to
need adjustment to projects proposed because of these new
guidelines."
The guidelines laid out by Jackson today would set limits on
conductivity in streams near mining sites. The electrical
conductivity of streams is seen as a measure of the presence of
harmful pollutants.
Officials said the new policy, which will apply to all new proposals
and some 79 permits now under review, would protect 95% of aquatic
life in streams in Appalachia.
EPA scientists have established that streams with conductivity
greater than a certain level - 500 microsiemens per centimetre, a
measure of salinity - were irreparably damaged. Officials said today
the EPA would block any proposed operations projected to exceed its
figure.
Today's guidelines mark a gradual tightening of conditions for
mountain coal mining. Last week, the EPA took the rare step of
vetoing a West Virginia mine that had already been granted a permit.
Tbe EPA said the Spruce Number One mine, which was approved under
George Bush administration in 2007, would bury up to seven miles of
stream, and that toxic chemicals would hurt aquatic life. If
approved, it would have been the largest mine in West Virginia.
The National Mining Association immediately condemned the move,
saying it would cost jobs throughout Appalachia.
The Rainforest Action Network said: "The EPA has finally taken a
leap to protect America's mountains and drinking water."
© 2010 Guardian News and Media Limited