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April 1, 2010 Contact: Vivian Stockman, 304-522-0246Statement from OVEC on EPA's Comprehensive Guidance to Protect Appalachian Communities From Harmful Environmental Impacts of Mountain Top Mining EPAs announcement: ----- Since we started organizing about mountaintop removal a decade ago, we've been imploring regulatory agencies to listen to the people who live near these mining operations. In acknowledging the environmental justice issues of mountaintop removal, the EPA has finally shown it is hearing our voices. Our lawsuits have focused on the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act violations going on here, and now EPA is seeking to clarify how this type of mining should be conducted in order to comply with those laws. We've also tirelessly tried to educate about how this form of mining devastates the land and water we depend on for survival. The EPA's new guidance on stream conductivity and the emphasis on the latest scientific reports show that at least this one government agency is finally listening to scientists, too. While there is much good news for us today, we wonder -- will this help save the community of Twilight in Boone County and so many other communities that are in the mountaintop removal cross hairs? So much depends on how all the guidelines and laws are enforced.
- Vivian Stockman, project coordinator with the Huntington, West Virginia based Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, www.ohvec.org |
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