Thursday, January 13, 2011
EPA Revokes Arch Coal's Spruce No. 1 Permit
WEST VIRGINIA....
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made good on a 9-month-old threat Thursday when it revoked a Clean Water Act permit for Arch Coal's Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County, saying it would cause irreparable damage to the environment. EPA says the nearly 2,300-acre operation would bury 7 miles of streams and would likely hurt downstream water quality. St. Louis-based Arch Coal had planned to invest $250 million in the project, creating 250 jobs. The mine was permitted in 2007 but has been delayed by lawsuits. Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin vows to continue with all efforts to get the decision reversed. In a letter to President Obama, Senator Jay Rockefeller expressed outrage at the decision, saying it is wrong and unfair, and this fight is not over. West Virginia Second District Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito says, for nearly a year, the EPA kept the permit in limbo, and, while being purposefully slow to act, put hundreds of mining jobs at stake. Capito says this action is hard evidence of the EPA’s anti-coal agenda, as well as their intent to use their regulatory authority to dismantle the coal industry.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made good on a 9-month-old threat Thursday when it revoked a Clean Water Act permit for Arch Coal's Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County, saying it would cause irreparable damage to the environment. EPA says the nearly 2,300-acre operation would bury 7 miles of streams and would likely hurt downstream water quality. St. Louis-based Arch Coal had planned to invest $250 million in the project, creating 250 jobs. The mine was permitted in 2007 but has been delayed by lawsuits. Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin vows to continue with all efforts to get the decision reversed. In a letter to President Obama, Senator Jay Rockefeller expressed outrage at the decision, saying it is wrong and unfair, and this fight is not over. West Virginia Second District Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito says, for nearly a year, the EPA kept the permit in limbo, and, while being purposefully slow to act, put hundreds of mining jobs at stake. Capito says this action is hard evidence of the EPA’s anti-coal agenda, as well as their intent to use their regulatory authority to dismantle the coal industry.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 10:36 PM 
