EPA announces plan for surface mining study

CHARLESTON, W.VA. — The Obama administration is planning a new scientific study of how surface coal mines affect the environment in Appalachia.

The study is supposed to examine the loss of streams, water quality and the effect of mining on aquatic life, according to a regulatory notice filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Surface coal mines may be degrading water quality and harming aquatic life, according to the notice published Friday in the Federal Register.

The assessment also is expected to evaluate restoration and recovery methods used by mine operators, the EPA said. However, the study is not going to include cultural, aesthetic and human health effects.

The study is the new administration's latest action targeting a practice known as mountaintop removal mining. The highly efficient mining method involves blasting away mountaintops to expose multiple coal seams and, in most cases, filling nearby valleys with rock placed atop intermittent streams. The practice is widely disliked by environmental groups including the Sierra Club, which have criticized Obama for not doing more to eliminate it.

Earlier this month, the EPA announced plans to give 79 permit applications in four states additional scrutiny. The agency said it wants to make certain the proposed mines won't cause water pollution and violate the Clean Water Act. An initial review concluded all 79 probably would affect water quality and require additional study, the EPA said.

Forty-nine of the permits are for mines in Kentucky, the nation's No. 3 coal-producing state. The list also includes 23 mines in West Virginia, the nation's No. 2 producer behind Wyoming, six in Ohio and one in Tennessee.

The EPA said it expects to submit a final list of which permits among the 79 will undergo additional scrutiny in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers, which actually issues clean water permits for surface mines.

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Information from: The Charleston Gazette, http://www.wvgazette.com