Many Suffer As A Result of Illegal Mining

This op-ed by OVECs Janet Keating ran in the Sept. 18 issue of the Charleston Gazette:

Citizen groups involved in the recent lawsuit against Hobet 22 want to set the record straight. There was no compromise. In fact, there was no real choice. Attorneys representing the groups sought a court order to halt any damage to streams at the Hobet 22 mine until a federal judge could hold a full hearing on their new lawsuit over the project.

In a rush to beat the legal system, Hobet Mining Company destroyed miles of streams that community groups sought to save from their expanded mountaintop removal operation. Once the streams were filled, we had no legal case.

Shrouded in secrecy by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and protected by the complacency of public officials, the proposed mine expansion was approved without the opportunity for public input. The mining permit prepared by the Army Corps failed to include limits for selenium, which when released into the environment by mining, causes deformities, reproductive failures, and the eventual collapse of fish populations in nearby waterways. This case is yet another example of the failure of the Corps and its pandering to coal companies rather than carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to the agency.

Because of litigation by citizen groups, the mining company is now required to limit the amount of toxic selenium it releases into local waterways. Hobet must take additional measures to attempt to reclaim the land affected by its mining operation. It is high time that West Virginia state agencies stop giving coal companies a free pass for mountaintop removal. Selenium limits and other safeguards protect the health of our citizens, and its past time the Manchin administration started enforcing them.

In addition to the destruction of several miles of streams, it is neither fair nor morally correct to have eliminated the communities of Mud, Berry Branch and others to make way for the continued pollution from the over 20 square miles of mining at this Hobet operation.

The sad reality is that once again citizens have to force the government to do its job. The Department of Environmental Protection should have already been enforcing selenium limits. The Corps is complicit in issuing permits without public involvement and covertly issuing permits in such a manner that the citizens rights to clean water are trumped by the coal company ready to fill streams at the drop of a hat. Apparently some politicians of this state care only about one industrys corporate welfare, to the extent of encouraging illegal activities that impact citizens living in the southern coalfields.

The governors 11th-hour involvement was too little, too late. Where has he been for the last four years? Many citizens are suffering as a result of illegal mining activity.

As governor, he should be serving everyones interests; after all, most West Virginians are concerned about quality of life, healthy families, and the future of our state.

The groups involved with litigation against illegal mountaintop removal permits will continue to push for increased public involvement and a more open permitting process to ensure instances like this never again happen.