Court Cases Confirm EPA's Right to Limit MTR Pollution
Dan Heyman, Public News Service-WV
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/32126-1
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(04/24/13) CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Citizen groups say two big legal victories confirm what they've asserted for years - that mountaintop removal causes dangerous pollution levels, and the Environmental Protection Agency can and should protect the public.
One federal court ruled that the Corps of Engineers has been too lax in issuing mountaintop removal permits, while another ruled that the EPA has the right to veto a Corps permit after it's been issued.
The second decision, which could block the huge Spruce mine in Logan County, is important, said Jon Devine, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council's water program, because it strengthens the EPA's right to enforce clean-water laws.
"The court said clearly - and reaffirmed what the law says clearly - that EPA can act," Devine said.
The court decisions came as a group of independent scientists was calling for a moratorium on mountaintop removal. The Center for Health, Environment and Justice report cited such health effects as higher rates of cancer and birth defects.
Aimee Rist, a mother of two from Fayetteville, said it's deeply troubling to those living close to a mountaintop removal site.
"But I don't want to leave my home," she said. "It's beautiful. The people are wonderful. It just makes you question what my children might be breathing, what they might be drinking in their water."
The researchers believe some West Virginia women's miscarriages could be associated with the mining. It's an emotional topic for Rist.
"I had two miscarriages in West Virginia before I had Emma," she said. "And so I wonder, is it something that I was breathing or something that I was drinking?"
The coal industry argues that the controversial mining practice creates jobs, but some medical researchers estimate it costs more to pay for the damage to human health than the mining pays in terms of economic development.
The report on the health effects of mountaintop removal is online at chej.org.
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