Yesterday was one of those days that helps restore your faith in fairness and the rule of law. After years of controversy, when environmental groups like Kentucky Waterways Alliance were about to give up on EPA ever properly regulating pollution from coal mines, EPA issued new guidelines designed to help protect Appalachian streams and communities from significant and irreversible damage.
Let me be perfectly clear. In taking this action, EPA is only doing their job. They are proposing new limits on pollutants discharged from mining operations to protect our streams and human health under the Clean Water Act. Other industries must comply with the Act, so why shouldn’t mining companies be held to the same federal laws enacted almost 40 years ago, designed to protect our most precious natural resource – water?
EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson stated, “Let me be clear. This is not about ending coal mining. This is about ending coal mining pollution.”
In a few weeks we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day came early this year for the thousands of people in Appalachian communities impacted by pollution from coal mining. While communities will still have to deal with the terrible legacy of pollution left by decades of mining – there is now hope that new mining permits will not allow companies to profit by destroying local streams and water supplies.
Kentucky Waterways Alliance will post more information on this issue on our web site, including news coverage of the issue, a formal statement and the new EPA detailed guidance. Look here.
