The People Comment Passionately On
Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

July 24, 2003

Comments by Liz Garland, West Virginia Rivers Coalition

I am Liz Garland, of West Virginia Rivers Coalition in Elkins, West Virginia. I am a resident of WV and am concerned for our rivers and streams, as is the membership of WVRC. We will submit detailed written comments. Today, I will be brief.

The recommendations of the DEIS include:

1) Giving more authority to the Office of Surface Mining, regarding protecting the waters of WV, by combining permitting processes of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the Clean Water Act.

This move undermines the Clean Water Act, administered by EPA. The CWA is the foundation of water protections in state and federal laws governing mining.

2) Giving the Corps of Engineers discretion over issuing a general Nationwide Permit or a more protective Individual Permit.

The CWA requires an Individual Permit apply to actions causing more than minimal impact to the waters of the United States. Valley fills cannot be considered to cause minimal impact. The draft EIS demonstrates this. The Corps must not allow mountain top applications as Nationwide Permits.

3) The most destructive recommendation is the demise of the buffer zone rule.

The buffer zone rule gives 100' buffers to perennial and intermittent streams from mining activities. All sorts of development activities require buffers-- construction, agriculture even forestry. Mining operations should not be exempt from buffering our streams.

Let me briefly address economic impacts.

Jobs are important to West Virginians. But, the reality:

Tthis study says surface mining is less than 25% of all mining jobs. Surface mining is between .3% and 11% of county employment numbers in our coalfield counties. And, with 2,639 permits allocated, only 342 include valley fills from 1985 through 2001.

We can save coal jobs without valley fill operations.

To conclude: The intent of this report is to consider "processes to minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, the adverse environmental effects to waters of the United States affected by mountaintop mining operations and by valley fills".

Based upon all the data set forth in the report, the only alternative which would satisfy that intent has not been proposed...

To disallow aquatic life destroying valley fills in the practice of mountain top removal.