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Aaron Isherwood
Senior Staff Attorney
Sierra Club Environmental Law Program
85 Second Street, 2d Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105-3441
Phone: (415) 977-5680
Fax: (415) 977-5793

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=167241.0

For Immediate Release -- March 26, 2010
Contact: Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, 512.477.2152

EPA Recommends No Mining at Biggest Proposed Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine

Statement from Sierra Club Director of Environmental Quality Ed Hopkins

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recommended restricting or prohibiting mining at the nation’s largest proposed mountaintop removal coal mining site, the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia.

In response the Sierra Club's Director of Environmental Quality, Ed Hopkins, issued the following statement:

"It is good to see the EPA applying more scientifically rigorous analysis to these permits. The best available science tells us that proposed mines like the massive Spruce Mine would pollute waterways, destroy mountains and devastate communities.

"We hope that the agency follows through on this recommendation. This massive mine would bury seven miles of streams, destroy thousands of acres of land and disrupt local communities. Mountaintop removal coal mining is an egregious environmental injustice and an embarrassment for America.

"Local residents have been actively challenging the approval of this permit at the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County for more than twelve years. With the 40th anniversary of Earth Day approaching, it's time for the Obama administration to fix the Bush administration rulemaking that allows mines to fill waterways with waste."

EPA's proposed determination is attached.

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Oliver Bernstein
Senior Communications Strategist
Sierra Club
Phone: 512.477.2152
Cell: 512.289.8618