DEP Biologist: Agency Chief Huffmans Testimony to Congress Was Ill Informed

In August, the Charleston Gazette reported on an internal memo written by a WV Department of Environmental Protection biologist. The memo said that DEP Secretary Randy Huffman was ill informed when he testified before Congress about the damage being done by mountaintop removal coal mining.

Huffman spoke before a Senate subcommittee in June, saying that theres little evidence that mountaintop removal is doing much damage to Appalachian streams. OVECs Maria Gunnoe also spoke before that subcommittee about the impacts mountaintop removal has had on her family, her community and the streams near her home.

The three-page memo, written by Doug Wood, a stream assessment biologist with the DEPs Division of Water and Waste Management, conveyed Woods hope that Huffman "will be better informed the next time he represents our agencys current state of knowledge to federal authorities and elected representatives."

Wood wrote about numerous reports he has produced since 2002. Wood wrote, "it appears that Secretary Huffman is unaware of the findings of our efforts to understand the effects of mountaintop coal extraction to aquatic ecosystems in West Virginia."

The Gazette reported that Wood didnt send his memo directly to Huffman, but rather sent it to his DEP supervisors. One of them, Pat Campbell, told reporter Ken Ward Jr., "Im really not so much concerned about the content, but with how this document got to you," Campbell said. "This was an internal memo that nobody has had a chance to read yet."

Campbell told the Gazette he was preparing a memo for Huffman, because he had also noted an inaccuracy in Huffmans testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works.

The week after the Gazette article ran, DEP issued a statement in response, which Ward posted to his Coal Tattoo blog, and which confounded many Tattoo readers with its circular logic.

To read Woods memo, with explanations on the science that says mountaintop removal is negatively impacting streams, and to explore the DEPs convoluted follow-up and reader reaction, see "WV DEP responds to Gazette article on MTR memo" at blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/