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Griles Grilled on Bill Moyers' NOW Friday Night
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
An Army Corps of Engineers press release says, "Federal and state agencies released today for public review a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) recommending new actions to further enhance protection for Appalachian streams from effects associated with mountaintop coal mining."
Further enhance what protections? This little gem of a release has got to be one of the bigger loads of environmental doublespeak to come out of the Bush administration yet!
For the citizen-point-of-view, see the press releases from Earthjustice and OVEC. Earthjustice says, "A long-awaited draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) assessing the environmental and social impacts of Mountaintop Removal coal mining shows that the harm caused by this practice is far more pervasive and permanent than previously believed.
"Yet the draft EIS-released today by the Bush administration-fails to conclude that mountaintop removal mining should be curtailed, or that its impacts should be mitigated or reduced. In fact, the Administration is expected to call for an easing of existing environmental restrictions on this damaging mining method."
Click here to peruse the 5,000-page EIS itself.
We posted several news stories about the EIS toady to the front page of the OVEC website. There will be more stories out tomorrow, and we'll be sure to put those up, too, so please check the website.
The EIS is now open for a public comment period of 90 days, until August 29. As the Earthjustice crew pointed out, that means 55 pages a day until the close of the comment period. Great summer reading! Written comments should be submitted by August 29 to: Mr. John Forren, U.S. EPA (3ES30) 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Please plan to attend one of the two public hearings:
-- July 22 at The Forum at the Hal Rogers Center, 101 Bulldog Lane, Hazard, KY.
-- July 24 at the Charleston Civic Center, Little Theater, 200 Civic Center Drive, Charleston, WV Each hearing has two sessions: 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.
MTR-ENABLER GRILES UNDER BILL MOYERS SPOTLIGHT!
J. Stephen Griles, a "regulator" who is also a former coal lobbyist with ties to a mountaintop removal operation, has his grubby paws all over the EIS. (So does former coal exec and former head of the WV Departmental of Environmental Protection, Mike Castle.) Griles, second in command at the Department of Interior, is under investigation by the Interior Department's Inspector General for apparent conflicts of interest.
Tune in to "NOW with Bill Moyers" this Friday, May30 at 9 p.m. EST on PBS television to see Moyers examine Griles' record at the DOI. NOW's investigation looks at how Griles, who agreed to recuse himself from any DOI business involving former clients, has continued to meet with energy industry insiders who once paid for his services and now stand to benefit from his decisions.
Join us at 5 p.m. Monday, June 23 for a multi-group, multi-state action to demand better enforcement of mining laws and an end to mountaintop removal. We need a big turnout of folks in Charleston, WV, Lexington, KY. and Southwestern PA, so please save the date and ask your friends to join us too. In Charleston, we'll meet at the Office of Surface Mining on 1027 Virginia St. East. More details coming!
Reminder: Check our on-line calendar for other upcoming events. Click here to download a flyer for this event (pdf).
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