epa

The collision between environmental protection and coal extraction is nothing new to the Appalachian states, which are home to some of the largest coal deposits in the world. But in the middle of an unemployment crisis — and with a new administration showing signs of cracking down harshly on the destructive practice of mountaintop removal [...]

At the request of the federal government, a federal judge yesterday put a temporary halt to the legal clash over Appalachia’s largest mountaintop coal mine, the 2,300 acre Spruce No. 1 project in Southern West Virginia.
That project is slated to bury more than seven miles of mountain streams, leading to a protracted legal battle with [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency last week threatened to revoke the permit for the largest mountaintop removal mine in all of Appalachia, citing the harmful effects the project would have on local water quality.

As Kate pointed out a few weeks back, the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month stalled 79 applications for new surface mines in the Appalachian Mountains, citing concerns that those operations would harm local water quality. Today, the agency went a step further, announcing in a letter to the U.S. Corps of Engineers that all [...]

Kate has a great piece today about some of the nation’s polluters embracing once-dreaded regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency in order to fend off the tougher House climate bill. But at least one group has added a twist. The Western Business Roundtable, an industry coalition opposed to the Waxman-Markey bill, issued a statement yesterday [...]

The Obama administration on Tuesday outlined a new set of proposed rules for automobile fuel efficiency and emissions. The new rules follow an  announcement in May that the administration had reached a deal with automakers and state governments to create a unified national standard.
“This action will give our auto companies some long-overdue clarity, stability and [...]

The EPA just issued a statement announcing that they have extended the review period for 79 surface mining permit applications in Appalachia. This means that the permits will not be streamlined for approval, and is in accordance with the Obama administration’s memorandum issued in June to subject coal-mining permits to greater scrutiny.
“The administration pledged earlier [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency last week quietly asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “to suspend, revoke or modify” the coal mining permit for the largest mountaintop removal operation in West Virginia, the Charleston Gazette reported today. In turn, the Army Corps has asked a federal judge for a 30-day stay to review the permit, [...]

The Interior Department just sent over its statement reacting to a judge’s decision today to uphold a Bush-era rule making it easier for mining companies to dump their waste in mountain streams. In toto:
This Administration has shown it is determined to improve mining practices and we will do so within the context of the court’s [...]

A federal judge today blocked the Obama administration’s efforts overturn a Bush administration rule allowing coal companies to dump their mining waste in mountain streams.
The ruling is a victory for Appalachian mountaintop removal operations, where the peaks of mountains are literally lopped off with dynamite and the rock and soil pushed into adjacent valleys, many [...]