Appalachian mountain defenders seen, not heard at House mountaintop removal hearing
Posted May 6, 2011 in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
"I think this was balanced. We had industry here, and we had state regulators here."--Subcommittee Chairman Bob Gibbs, concluding Thursday's hearing on EPA regulation of mountaintop removal
Yesterday's show trial of a House hearing on "EPA mining regulations: Assault on Appalachian Jobs" went pretty much as expected. There was a strong showing of several dozen pro-mountain EPA supporters in the audience. But no scientists, health professionals, citizens affected by mountaintop removal, citizen advocates, or even a representative from the agency in question were invited to testify, yielding a very one-track conversation about the inconvenience of EPA's work to enforce the Clean Water Act.
As West Virginia resident Dustin White told E&E Daily (subscription required), "It's really a slap in the face to the people who are affected by this. They're not hearing the whole story. It's very one sided and very disappointing that our own West Virginia delegation would not invite anyone impacted from the region."
West Virginia's Rep. Nick Rahall is the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and WV Rep. Shelly Moore Capito is a member of the relevant subcommitte; they could well have included other witnesses.
Without anyone from EPA to provide a reality check, witnesses from the coal industry and pro-coal state agencies were free to make overwrought, often unsupported claims about the agency's appropriately stringent review of mountaintop removal permit applications. They complained about EPA's 2010 conductivity guidance, a document clarifying the science that permit reviewers may use to evaluate the water quality impacts of proposed mountaintop removal projects. Industry witness Michael Gardner insinuated that EPA is looking for ways to stop permits. But not in the most compelling fashion, as Ken Ward, Jr. points out over at the Coal Tattoo blog:
I mean … they got two of the four permits they wanted and withdrew the other two from EPA’s consideration. And it sounded like from his written testimony that Oxford didn’t have much trouble getting high-level meetings with top EPA officials to discuss its specific permits — not something that every common coalfield citizen can expect out of their elected officials.
Next week brings a second hearing on EPA mining policies in this subcommittee, and this time, one EPA witness will be present in addition to plenty more industry friends. Expect some fireworks, and stay tuned.
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Comments
Susan Fair — May 7 2011 04:16 AM
I recently saw on PBS the film regarding mountain-top removal coal mining. I was appalled. While I agree that the government must take responsibility regarding this issue, I also believe that Appalachian people can do some things on their own.
The devestation of those mountain tops CAN be reversed. People in the region can adopt a policy of vegetative recycling, i.e., all food and yard waste should be separated out from their normal garbage, picked up, hauled to the tops of those mountains and dumped to form compost piles of rich soil.
It wouldn't take that long before vegetation and trees, and wildlife would return those mountain tops to their natural beauty.
We can beg the government and the companies to take action forever and still not be completely satisfied with what they choose to do or not do. But what we can do on our own is so much easier, and this much can be done by average people and local governments/waste management companies.
Vernon Haltom — May 7 2011 10:15 AM
Returning the mountaintops to their natural beauty would not reverse the devastation. It would not return the lives and health of the people being killed by this process. Mountaintop removal needs to end now.
Greg Proctor — May 7 2011 01:58 PM
For one thing, that property belongs to someone. Telling everyone to spread compost on it could get someone into trouble for trespassing, etc. And the Appalachian people didn't make this mess, the property owners did. They're responsible. They need to be held accountable. But the corporations own the politicians. That's why this happens.
Bert Cohen — May 7 2011 04:32 PM
If people would just go to www.byronwine.com they will read an immense amount of detailed information about the many breakthrough energy technologies that have been developed by independent inventors over the decades, They will also read how they were ALL blocked by various agencies of the U.S. government. For some reason the media continues ignore this super scandal. And where are the environmental organizations in all of this???
Harry Bryant — May 7 2011 11:09 PM
This farce was about jobs... supposedly. But, nothing was said about the jobs that have been lost since surface mining became popular with the coal companies. Nothing was said about jobs that once were for underground miners being replaced by heavy equipment operators from outside the region. Nothing was said about the unemployment that has resulted from real miners being displaced. I feel confident the Lisa Jackson can stand up to these people next Thursday and talk about the impact of surface mining on the environment and the economy and the human health. She should be allowed to call her own expert witnesses, but that will no doubt be blocked by Rahall, Gibbs, et al. It is obvious that these people are not interested in hearing any version of the situation except what their supporters, the coal companies, want to hear.
Dianne Bady — May 9 2011 10:18 AM
One commenter above said
" I also believe that Appalachian people can do some things on their own."
Yes, we in Appalachia have already done much on our own - for over twelve years. In WV thanks to Joe Lovett and other lawyers, as well as citizens working in many ways, much proposed MTR has been stalled or stopped; of course much is still going on.
It is truly hard to comprehend the politcal power of the coal industry here if you are live someplace else - the "coalfields" seem dominated by extractive industry more like a third world resource colony than like the rest of the US.
Watcher — May 9 2011 12:54 PM
And yet you Ms Bady or Mr Ward at the Charleston Gazette don't see this as a " permiting dalay ? Talk about " unsupported claims" 12 years of protesting and legal wrangling!
liz bowman — May 10 2011 09:12 AM
Loss of environment, loss of Appalachian culture which revolves around their natural environment is devastating. Such a waste, for what we call our natural resources. Its a terrible price for the next generation to pay. Only to have industry profit.