MetroNews - May 11, 2011
Speakers from the Appalachian coalfields delivered a scathing rebuke to the federal EPA during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. Wednesday. The subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held the public hearing EPA mining Policies; Assault on Appalachian Jobs Part II.
Among those testifying was West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts who told committee members the threat to the West Virginia coal industry through actions of the Obama administration is severe.
"The best jobs in our state’s neediest areas are nearly always mining jobs. Per capita income in southern West Virginia, $15,800 in 2006, is about half of the national figure. Yet the average coal job pays more than four times that amount," Roberts told committee members. "A mining income can stabilize a whole extended family in this region, providingsupport for the elderly, a future for children, and a livelihood for many relatives of the wage-earner. Killing off such work will do the opposite: tens of thousands of families and many communities would be thrown into crisis. "
Roberts and others from West Virginia lamented frustration with the EPA's lack of any concern for the economy or jobs in making its decisions. The most glaring example cited by those before the committee was revocation of the Spruce #1 Mine Permit. The EPA revoked the permit even after the agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers had signed off on the plan and work was underway.
"This massive overreach by the EPA has created so much uncertainty within Appalachia, companies are beginning to withdraw their own requests and that means job loss," said Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito. "Companies are not willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a mining operation that could be shut down at a moment's notice."
As the federal unemployment rate continues to run at nine percent or higher, most told committee members the last thing needed in West Virginia right now is more roadblocks to employment. But Roberts cited a report by his own organization that said it's not just direct coal jobs that have suffered or will suffer in the future.
"In 2008, coal companies paid $676.2 million in taxes, amounting to a substantial portion of all state tax revenue. It is the West Virginia Chamber’s assessment that this contribution would shrink to the point of state crisis if 404 mining permits are denied. The loss of property taxes alone would be fatal to local governments," Roberts testified.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was scheduled to be on hand to address the subcommittee, but did not show up. Instead a second tier representative of her office was on hand. Jackson has long been the target of anger and frustration from the Appalachian coal fields since taking the reins of the regulatory agency soon after President Obama's election.
Capito warned fellow committee members, they could be next on the EPA's list.
"If the administration is willing to take drastic measures to destroy coal, what would they be willing to do to the industries in your district?"