Press Release

April 19, 2005

Contacts: Liz Garland, Executive Director West Virginia Rivers Coalition (304) 637-7201 Joe Lovett, Attorney Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment (304) 645-9006

Groups ask federal agency to stop a new mine permit issued by the state that will create a source for acid mine drainage Request reflects a vote of no confidence in the state's mine permitting process

CHARLESTON, W.VA.-Environmental groups are asking the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to review a coal mining permit granted by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Today, the groups sent a letter to the agency outlining their concerns about the mine, and their reasons for dissatisfaction with the state's permit approval.

The permit allows Mettiki Coal (WV), LLC to proceed with its E-Mine. The mine site drains into the North Fork of the Potomac River, and the Blackwater River of the Cheat watershed.

DEP denied Mettiki a permit in October 2003, and in doing so, noted that the mining activity would violate OSM's rule protecting streams from new perpetual sources of acid mine drainage. Then in May 2004, despite objections from DEP's field staff closest to the mine site, the agency permitted a revised mining application submitted by Mettiki.

Beginning last fall, the West Virginia Surface Mine Board heard an appeal from the West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WVRC), West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and Trout Unlimited (TU). The Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment represented the appellants. Joe Lovett, the Center's lead lawyer, led testimony to reveal flaws in Mettiki's methodology, and noted that the company's application does not provide assurances that surrounding streams won't be damaged from acid mine drainage for years into the future.

Cindy Rank, mining chair for the Conservancy, said, "It is unconscionable for the state to allow the Mettiki permit to proceed. Even today, a great amount of time and money is spent controlling vast underground pools of dangerous, metal-laden mine water."

And, for decades, the state has made huge expenditures to clean up acid mine drainage from abandoned mines, particularly within the acidic coal seams of northern West Virginia.

Yet last month, the Surface Mine Board was unable to conclusively determine if the new mine would cause long term acid mine drainage. A tie vote by the board effectively left DEP's permit intact.

Liz Garland, WVRC's Executive Director, said, "The board's inconclusive vote re-affirms our concerns about Mettiki's application of an untested technology to prevent long-term acid mine drainage and does nothing to assure long-term health for the Cheat or Potomac watersheds."

Although an appeal is possible through the courts, WVRC, the Conservancy and TU, joined now by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), sent a letter today to request that OSM review the mine permit.

Neither DEP nor Mettiki dispute that the mine will produce acid mine drainage, nor do they dispute that it is illegal to create new sources of acid mine drainage with long term discharges. At this juncture, the dispute is whether or not Mettiki can guarantee that their production of acid mine drainage will stop forever once mining and water treatment ceases. Because the dispute is now an issue of science, rather than law, the appellants are seeking an opinion from impartial technical experts at OSM, who are charged with providing oversight to the state's regulatory mining program under DEP's Division of Mining and Reclamation.

"Requesting the OSM review will remove the court's burden to research a question of science," noted Liz Garland. "We hope our request will appropriately give OSM experts the opportunity to explore the extensive testimony and applicable research."

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (Surface Mining Law) was written to protect citizens and the environment from coal mining and reclamation activity. In 1997, OSM issued a policy clarifying the law's position on new mining activity and water pollution: mining should not be permitted if "the formation of a postmining pollution discharge would require long term treatment without a defined endpoint."

"We expect that OSM will welcome the opportunity to review the permit DEP granted Mettiki," said Vivian Stockman, project coordinator for OVEC.

"Cleaning up and preventing acid mine drainage is a top priority for the agency. The case seems clear to us--this mine would be a new, long-term source of acid mine drainage. That's why OVEC joins in welcoming OSM's review."

Acid mine drainage is caused when a sulfur-rich coal seam is exposed and washed by water. The results are streams that run red and orange. The streams are void of life. Healing these streams can take more than 100 years, or very lengthy and expensive treatment.

"It is critical to the health of our rivers, and the fish that thrive in our state's waters, that the letter of the law be followed to prevent the permitting of new AMD producing mines," says Bryan Moore of TU. "We cannot risk the use of untested technology that won't guarantee avoiding the devastation of acid mine drainage years from now."

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