Mountaintop removal coal mining continues to raise controversy in the US. The latest row started last Friday when the EPA announced its proposal under the Clean Water Act to significantly restrict or prohibit mountain top mining at the Spruce No. 1 surface mine in Logan County, West Virginia. Spruce No.1 mine is one of the largest mountaintop removal operations ever proposed in Central Appalachia. The project was permitted in 2007 and subsequently delayed by litigation.
National Mining Association (NMA) Senior Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Bruce Watzman said “NMA is deeply disappointed. EPA is proposing an unprecedented veto of a previously permitted project at the Spruce No. 1 mine. The existing permit for the Spruce operation was issued after a 13-year process that included a full environmental impact statement and reviews by both state and federal agencies, making the Spruce project the most reviewed coal mine in the nation’s history.
“EPA’s proposed action adds further uncertainty for jobs and economic security throughout Appalachia. We remain hopeful this and other permitting obstacles can be favourably resolved in the near future.”
The Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy claims Spruce No. 1 mine would bury over 11 km of headwater streams, directly impact 922 ha of forestland and degrade water quality in streams adjacent to the mine. “EPA’s proposed determination comes after extended discussions with the company failed to produce an agreement that would lead to a significant decrease of the environmental and health impacts of the Spruce No. 1 mine.”
EPA has used its Clean Water Act veto authority in just 12 circumstances since 1972 and never for a previously permitted project. The proposed determination, signed today by EPA Regional Administrator for the Mid-Atlantic, Shawn Garvin, identifies numerous potential adverse impacts associated with the Spruce No. 1 project:
- Water Quality Impacts: The mine will cause adverse impacts to drinking water, native aquatic and water-dependent communities in the Spruce Fork watershed. Drainage from the Spruce No. 1 project is likely to include high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) and selenium which adversely affect the naturally occurring aquatic communities
- Fish and Wildlife Impacts: Mining waste placed into headwater streams will impact fish and wildlife which depend for all or part of their lifecycles on these headwater systems. Ecosystem functions performed by headwaters are lost when the headwater stream is buried or removed. These functions are lost not only to the headwater stream itself, but also to downstream aquatic ecosystems
- Mitigation Impacts: The project’s mitigation plan inadequately evaluates the nature and extent of mining related aquatic impacts and therefore fails to replace streams’ lost ecological services. Natural stream channels buried by mining will be replaced, in part, by ditches being built to drain stormwater off of the mine, not to compensate for natural stream losses. These ditches will also drain water contaminated by mining into streams adjacent to the mine
- Cumulative Mining Impacts: EPA believes that the Spruce No. 1 project, in conjunction with numerous other mining operations either under construction or proposed for the Coal River basin, will contribute to the cumulative loss of water quality, aquatic systems, and forest resources. The Coal River basin is already heavily mined and substantially impaired. Landscape and site specific assessments reveal that past and current mountaintop mining has caused substantial, irreplaceable loss of resources and an irreversible effect on these resources within the Coal River basin.
A final decision to restrict or prohibit the Spruce No.1 mine will be made in EPA Headquarters based on a recommendation from the Regional Administrator, public comments, and discussions with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Mingo Logan Coal Co.
