Mountaintop Removal Mining
On August 24, 2007, the Office of Surface Mining proposed changes to the rule for how coal-mine operators must dispose of the millions of tons of waste resulting from all types of coal mining, including mountaintop removal.
Rather than providing protection for streams, however, the proposed “stream buffer zone” rule weakens existing standards and makes it easier for operators to continue dumping waste in headwater streams.
This proposal applies to waste from all types of coal mining in Appalachia, not just mountaintop removal, so a lot of communities would be affected. It’s especially troubling for Southwest Virginia and Eastern Tennessee, where water quality still suffers from decades of coal mining.
What the Office of Surface Mining is proposing is a giant step backwards. The stream buffer zone rule went into effect in 1983, but has been weakened over time. A 2005 EPA study found that between 1992 and 2002, 724 miles of headwater streams in Appalachia were completely buried. The proposed rule updates this figure with newer data: 342 miles of Appalachian headwaters are slated to be buried from permits issued from October 2001 to June 2005.
The proposed rule pays lip service to protecting the environment, when in fact it contains a laundry list of exemptions and exceptions that leave virtually nothing of the rule.
