EPA sued over mountaintop mining rule

Industry calls it overreaction; EPA says move strengthens reviews

WASHINGTON – Environmentalists sued the Bush administration on Monday, trying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from changing a rule they say keeps mining waste from entering mountain streams.

“The notion that coal mining companies can dump their wastes in streams without degrading them is a fantasy that the Bush administration is now trying to write into law,” said Judith Petersen of Kentucky Waterways Alliance, one of the groups that sued in U.S. District Court in Washington.

At issue is mountaintop mining, in which forests are clear cut and holes are drilled to blast apart rock. Massive machines then scoop coal from the exposed seams. The rock and dirt left behind is dumped into adjacent valleys, changing the natural shape of the earth, lowering the height of the mountain and covering streams.

Current policy says land within 100 feet of a stream cannot be disturbed by mining unless a company can prove it will not affect the water’s quality and quantity. The new regulation would allow mining that would alter a stream’s flow as long as any damage to the environment is repaired later.

MSNBC