EPA Takes Step Toward Vetoing Permit For Mountaintop Mine in West Virginia

摘要

The Environmental Protection Agency Oct. 16 said it will for the first time exercise its authority to review a Clean Water Act permit already issued for a mining operation, a step toward what may become an EPA veto of the permit for one of the largest mountain-top mining operations in Appalachia.rnEPA explained its action in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which in 2007 issued the permit for the Spruce No. 1 mountaintop removal project, an Arch Coal Inc. mine in southern West Virginia. The letter said EPA remained concerned, "in light of new data and information since permit issuance," about adverse water quality impacts from the Logan County mine.rn"We intend to issue a public notice of a proposed determination to restrict or prohibit the discharge of dredged and/or fill material at the Spruce No. 1 Mine project site," the letter said.