OVEC Action Alert - March 28, 2004

Last Pester on the Buffer Zone Hearings

Thirsty for Knowledge?

Buffer Zone Public Hearing Talking Points

Buffer Zone Sample Written Comments

LAST PESTER ON BUFFER ZONE RULE CHANGE PUBLIC HEARING 

Please come out Tuesday, March 30--if you want to see an end to mountaintop removal! Join us at 5:30 p.m. outside the front entrance to the Charleston Civic Center (200 Civic Center Drive). The hearing itself is from 6-9 p.m. We'll hand out talking points to help you make your own comments about the rule change. We'll also hand out Friends of the Mountains stickers you can sport inside the hearing.

See the (not-yet-finalized) talking points and a sample written comment letter below.

If you are on our mailing list, you should have received our latest newsletter by now. Read more about the Buffer Zone public hearing and why it's so important for you to be there!

Buffer Zone Flyer
Rule Change May Alter Strip-Mine Fight
Buzz Off the Buffer Zone!

Written comments on the proposed Buffer Zone rule change are due by April 7. Send an email to: osmrules@osmre.gov(note--their e-mail was down recently), Or write:

OSM, Administrative Room 101 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20240

Or send comments automatically from the Heartwood Alerts page.

Return to Index

THIRSTY FOR KNOWLEDGE? 

April 3: 9 p.m. WVSC Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers Street in Charleston. "Thirst," a documentary about multi-national corporations that are taking control of water supplies around the world and the grassroots opposition to this trend. Following activists in places ranging from India to California, "Thirst" explores the complex issue of the commodification of natural resources. This documentary is part of the Full Frame Documentary Films Syndicated Film Festival. General Admission is $7 per film for adults and $6 per film for students. For more information and show times for "Thirst" and the other films, please visit the WV's State College Capitol Center website.

April 1-4: 2004 WVSC Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers Street in Charleston. Full Frame Documentary Films Syndicated Film Festival. Click here for schedule.

Return to Index

BUFFER ZONE PUBLIC HEARING TALKING POINTS 

My name is _________________. I live on ______________________ (creek or river). I am asking you to please keep the Buffer Zone Rule intact, because the rule is supposed to protect our water, and so protect us from the effects of mountaintop removal. (Tell your story.)

Talking points: buffer zone rollback would harm communities and the environment

--The buffer zone rule protects streams from mountaintop removal. The stream buffer zone rule prevents coal mining activities from disturbing land within 100 feet of an intermittent or perennial stream, unless industry can demonstrate that it would not harm water quality or quantity. The 1983 rule is a critical part of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), and it protects streams from the devastating impacts of mountaintop removal.

--Mountaintop removal harms the environment. In mountaintop removal, coal companies use dynamite to literally blow the tops off mountains and then dump the thousands of tons of resulting debris into nearby valleys. These "valley fills" bury streams, obliterate aquatic life and destroy forests.

--Mountaintop removal harms communities. Appalachian communities living near mountaintop removal operations have been devastated by the harmful practice. In some cases, entire communities have been forced to leave their generations-old homes. In others, residents are subjected to daily blasting, harmful coal dust and other impacts that harm public health, lower property values and destroy the unique culture of the region.

--The Bush administration's own scientists concluded that mountaintop removal is devastating. In the volumes of studies accompanying a recent Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), the administration itself acknowledged that mountaintop removal has devastated the environment. The DEIS concluded that the practice has already damaged or destroyed 1,200 miles of streams, and that current and future mountaintop removal could impact 1.4 million acres of forests and as many as 244 species of wildlife. It also stated that without new limits, mountaintop removal will destroy another 350 square miles of mountains, streams and forests.

--Instead of enforcing the law, the Bush administration is trying to change it. Federal and state agencies have often approved mountaintop removal and valley fill permits in violation of environmental laws such as SMCRA. Rather than require the coal industry to comply with the law, the Bush administration is attempting to rewrite it in order to legalize waste dumping in streams. The administration's new proposal would take the "buffer" out of the buffer zone rule, eliminating the prohibition against disturbing area within 100 feet of streams. Instead, coal companies would be free to dump waste directly into streams as long as they show that they've minimized the amount of this waste.

--The buffer zone rollback contradicts public opinion. During a public comment period on the DEIS, more than 82,000 citizens submitted comments to the administration. The vast majority of these comments urged the administration to protect the environment by placing new limits on mountaintop removal, and by opposing attempts to weaken the buffer zone rule and other existing safeguards.

--The Bush administration should enforce the law and withdraw its proposed rule. The Bush administration should withdraw its proposed rule and instead enforce the existing buffer zone rule. This is the best way to continue protecting communities and the environment from harmful mountaintop removal.

Return to Index

BUFFER ZONE SAMPLE WRITTEN COMMENTS 

Written comment deadline: April 7, 2004

Sample written comments to the agency:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Administrative Record, Room 101 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20240

Comments by email: osmrules@osmre.gov (Note that OSM's e-mail was recently shut down.)

I am opposed to any attempt to weaken or eliminate the stream buffer zone rule that has protected streams from coal mining activities for 20 years. The changes to this rule proposed by the Bush administration would eliminate important protections for streams and allow Mountaintop Removal coal mining companies to further destroy and degrade waters in the Appalachian region with their waste. The Bush administration should withdraw this attempt to weaken stream protections and, instead, leave the existing stream buffer zone rule in place.

According to the administration's own recently released studies on mountaintop removal coal mining, the immediate and long-term environmental impacts of this form of coal mining are severe and irreversible. Lapses in the enforcement of the buffer zone rule, which prohibits coal-mining activities from disrupting areas within 100 feet of streams unless those activities in no way impact water quality or quantity, have allowed more than 1200 miles of streams to be buried or degraded by mining waste.

The proposed rule changes would weaken stream protections that have been in effect for over two decades. The administration should not go forward with any rulemaking that would weaken these protections. Instead, it should enforce the rules as they are currently written, as this is the best way to protect streams from the destructive effects of Mountaintop Removal mining.

Sincerely,

(Your Signature)

Return to Index