Between the Lines Q&A

A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release Jan. 12, 2010

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Big Coal Wins as Obama's EPA Grants
Permit for WV Mountaintop Removal Mine

RealAudio MP3

Interview with Janet Keating,
executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

mountain_top

In early January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the first mountaintop-removal coal mining permit in West Virginia among the 23 in the state it had delayed for further scrutiny. The EPA issued a permit to the Patriot Coal Corporation's Hobet 45 mine with the condition that the company reduce by half the number of miles of streams buried. Throughout Appalachia, the EPA has held 79 permits for a more thorough review, a departure from the Bush administration's practice of rubber-stamping virtually all such applications from coal companies.

On Jan. 8, a panel of experts published a report in Science Magazine about the health and environmental impacts of mountaintop removal, the first such study ever undertaken. The report's 12 environmental scientists concluded that the evidence that mountaintop removal coal mining destroys streams and threatens human health is so strong that the government should stop granting new permits for it.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, one of the grassroots groups in West Virginia fighting to stop mountaintop removal mining -- which destroys mountains -- pollutes streams and spreads air contamination by blasting tons of rocks with millions of pounds of dynamite. She explains why her group condemns the EPA decision to grant the permit to the Hobet mine, and how opponents hope to end the destructive mining practice.

JANET KEATING: We hope it's not a trend, and that particular permit, there's an indication that the company -- and this is a massive permit -- we're talking 25 square miles. That is huge, because it's been permitted in sections, so you can imagine the concerns over just the cumulative impacts in the watershed that this mine might have. So the company apparently plans to truck some of the waste off the site and put it in other areas where they've already mined -- other valley fills, I assume -- and somehow, they're only going to be covering half the six miles that had originally planned to be covered, so we're having three miles of streams covered and somehow, magically, none of the selenium that's in the waste is going to get into the streams now. And they say they're going to be able to avoid impacts to streams. I don't know how that's possible. They're going to somehow route or engineer this mine so they will avoid the streams that are already there -- any of the runoff. And in fact, they're planning on putting some of the waste back on top of the site. I just think it's junk.

I think what really happened at the Hobet site is, it's a political deal. This is by far, I think, one of the largest union mines -- there are very few union mines left. I think the politicians were pressured by the union, and the EPA was pressured by the politicians, and this particular permit got issued. And even if they're able to avoid mining through half the streams, that doesn't really give much solace to the people that are living with the impacts of the mining -- the dust, the explosions, the health issues that occur as a result of being exposed to the dust, the water that gets despoiled in the long run. So, ancient mountains are still being blown to bits.

BETWEEN THE LINES Well, besides restricting the number of miles of streams that can be buried from six to three, the EPA added other restrictions to the permit that are supposed to protect water quality.

JANET KEATING: You know, I honestly don't trust that, and the reason why is our state agency -- if they're going to be the ones to enforce any monitoring once any violations are found, and I suspect they will be -- what are they going to do about it? Because you know, for example, earlier this year the EPA stepped in and had to sue Massey Energy for more than 4,500 violations to the Clean Water Act, because the state wasn't doing anything. Period. The state missed out on any fines, and maybe it's not necessarily the fault of the state; maybe they don't have adequate personnel -- I know there are 90 vacancies at DEP. But nevertheless we don't take a lot of solace that they're going to monitor more.

BETWEEN THE LINES Janet Keating, the day after the EPA issued the Hobet mine permit, the first-ever peer-reviewed study of the impacts of mountaintop removal was published in Science magazine, which is about the most prestigious magazine in the field. It's a long time coming, but the authors have called for an end to the practice. What do you think of the study?

JANET KEATING: They're saying that there's plenty of evidence that mountaintop removal is causing irreversible harm to the watershed and affecting people's health. How do you get around that at this point? How does anybody issue another permit? The Obama administration has said, early on, that they'd be making decisions -- that their EPA would be making decisions -- based on sound science. And I guess our point of view would be if that is indeed true, then future permits, or permits that are still [under consideration] -- I guess that would be 22 permits -- they won't be issued at all, not for mountaintop removal. And we're not saying, don't mine the coal; we're saying don't mine the coal that way.

BETWEEN THE LINES When I was in West Virginia, I met people who are just against mountaintop removal, but support underground mining. But others are saying we just have to leave coal in the ground, both because of coal's impact on the communities there and because of its heavy carbon footprint, which causes climate change.

JANET KEATING: Well, I think it's unrealistic to say, stop all coal mining here, because 98 percent of West Virginia's electricity comes from coal mining. What would we do in the interim? So, I think there has to be a transition, and I truly believe that's going to be really important. I think a transition would actually provide more jobs, if we can transition to renewable energy here, you know, retool some of our old industrial facilities that have shut down…

BETWEEN THE LINES After the Hobet mine permit was granted, anti-mountaintop removal forces urged supporters to contact the EPA and call for an end to mountaintop removal, and apparently the EPA's phone lines were jammed with people doing just that.

JANET KEATING: I quite honestly believe it's going to be the people across the country that are going to help us stop this. We can't do it alone; the politics are just too corrupt here. It's going to take a nation to help us.

Contact Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition by calling (304) 522-0246 or visit their website at www.ohvec.org

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Melinda Tuhus is a producer of Between The Lines, which can be heard on more than 45 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine,Between The Lines for the week ending Jan. 22, 2010. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Melinda Tuhus and Anna Manzo.

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