News Release Courtesy of the MTM Coaltion
CHARLESTON – Thursday’s announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of its decision to suspend the use of Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21) in the Appalachian region of six states is discriminatory and threatens the economy of the region.
In a June 17 announcement, the Corps said they will immediately suspend the issuance of mining permits under the NWP 21 standards for the mining industry in West Virginia as well as Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.
The Corps said in a release that the suspension “will remain in effect until the Corps takes further action on NWP 21 or until the program expires on March 18, 2012.”
NWP 21 is used to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities.
“This decision by the Corps is driven by the arrogance of the Obama Administration and the EPA,” said Chris Hamilton, co-chair of the Coalition for Mountaintop Mining. “It is part of a broader attack on the coal industry – particularly the coal industry in Appalachia.
“Why should the coal miners of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Appalachia bear the burden of an unfair and unjust environmental policy – one that clearly discriminates against them and threatens the economy of our region? The Obama Administration and the EPA talk about ‘environmental justice’ but this is neither fair not just. It is discrimination pure and simple.”
Hamilton said the NWP 21 program is vital to the future of the industry, providing a means to quickly and efficiently get needed permits through so that mining activities at already permitted operations can continue without interruption.
“Without the program, coal companies who might need to build a road to or alter a mining plan would have to wait for approval under much-slower individual permitting for an already-operating mining facility,” Hamilton said. “And we have to ask point-blank … why is this decision only being implemented in Appalachia? Why are they not subjecting the coal mines in Obama’s Illinois basin or on federal lands in Wyoming to the same restrictions?”
This past June, the Corps, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the EPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – a process we believe was driven by the Obama Administration’s anti-mining agenda – to review existing permitting policies and procedures. The NWP 21 permit program fell under this review.
One part of the review process was to request public comment on the program. The public comment period was opened in July, 2009 and was subsequently extended in October. During the comment period, a series of public meetings were held on the issue. Approximately 6,000 people attended the hearings, with nearly 400 providing oral testimony. Further, 23,000 comments were received during the comment period, most of which, we believe, were against the revision and asked the Administration to protect Appalachian jobs.
“Having attended several of these meetings,” said Roger Horton, co-chair of the Coalition for Mountaintop Mining and a member of the United Mine Workers of America. “I can tell you most of those in attendance and those making comments wanted to protect our jobs. I believe that same ratio carried over to the written comments and I think it was clear what the people of our region want. We want to keep mining coal. We want to protect our jobs and our communities. This decision is another slap in the face and the fact that it is only directed against Appalachian – against West Virginia coal mining jobs – is ridiculous.
“It is clear that Obama and the EPA simply don’t care about anything other than their radical agenda,” Horton said. “They don’t care about jobs. They don’t care about the working people of this country. All these big government programs they keep rolling out – all these corporate bailouts – who is going to pay for them?”