Groups File Federal Suit Opposing Ison Rock Ridge Mining Permit
Two environmental organizations filed a federal legal challenge Thursday to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit needed for surface mining on Ison Rock Ridge.
The lawsuit, which uses a valley fill permit as a springboard to challenge the entire regulatory system, follows by a few weeks a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking the Corps to revoke the permit and take a closer look at the project’s potential environmental impact.
“We believe that mountaintop removal mining should end,” said Aaron Isherwood, an attorney for the Sierra Club, which joined with the Big Stone Gap, Va., -based Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards in filing the lawsuit.
“The United States Environmental Protection Agency has asked the Army Corps to revoke the authorization and use of Nationwide Permit 21 for surface coal mining activities,” Isherwood said. “So in our lawsuit we’re essentially asking for the same relief as the Environmental Protection Agency.”
The Corps of Engineers Norfolk District Commander is “still deliberating” on what to do about the letter, said Gerald Rogers, a spokesman for the Corps. Rogers also said he could not comment on the lawsuit filed Thursday until the Corps had a chance to review it – but a lot of things could change in the near future that affect surface mining.
“Everything that we’re doing locally may be put on hold,” Rogers said. “Just look at what’s being done nationally. The President and his team are thinking about halting everything so they can do a review … so it’s just kind of wait and see.”
Locally, Kathy Selvage, vice president of the Mountain Stewards, said the Corps should revoke the Ison Rock Ridge permit as requested by the EPA – especially with a May 8 deadline approaching for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to grant a surface mining permit for the site.
“I think basically it would destroy all the communities that are affected,” Selvage said. “It would destroy them.”
The controversial proposed mine site just outside the Wise County town of Appalachia, Va., was also the subject of a federal lawsuit last year to have logging stopped after watermelon-sized rocks rolled down the slope into a resident’s yard.
Thursday’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, also calls for the U.S. Office of Surface Mining to investigate what he says is a persistent problem of state regulatory agencies not enforcing the law.
“We think that there’s a real problem with the way that states are enforcing the surface mine laws and our particular claim relates to the failure of the office of surface mining to consult regarding impacts of mining on historic resources that are protected under the natural and historic preservation act,” Isherwood said. “But beyond that, we think that states are not adequately enforcing the surface mining law … and we think that the Office of Surface Mining, the federal government, needs to look into that problem.”
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Reader Reactions
Where exactly did the coal cleaned in these impoundment dams come from?
Sherry,
Need to get your facts straight. Buffalo Creek and the Martin County incident had nothing what so ever to do with mountaintop mining. They were both refuse impoundments.
I’m for other sources of energy as well. What are they? Are you working on the solution?
Just got back from SW, loved hearing how protestors were bused in from out of state. Lets stop mining all together, that will kill the power grid. I would love to see liberals fend for themselves for once in their lives.
It’s great that some people live near surface mines and have no ill effects. Why not ask people living in or near Buffalo Creek, West Virginia or those living near Martin County, Kentucky what their feelings are about mountaintop removal? Also ask parents whose children attend Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia about this form of mining. Search any of these places to find information about them. I am sure their responses and experiences would be very different from Bill’s. I would also like to state that the Army Corps of Engineers cares nothing about the environment or the people living near their many work projects. Remember New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina? All I am trying to say is that our country needs to invest in newer energy sources and quit relying on a finite amount of fossil fuels for our energy needs.
Well, what a surprise. Another one-sided article against coal. I have lived next to surface mines (including one operated by the same company asking for this permit) and I’m still healthy and the commuities still intact. And the locals sure enjoyed the business and taxes generated by the mines. No one wants to live beside a surface mine (or an industrial park or a nuclear plant), including me, but coal powers America and still funds Southwest Virginia. Coal companies need to be responsible and held to the law, and most really try to do so. The Corps has always used a objective and consistent set of criteria in granting permits. Very tough, but equitable. If America wants to further restrict or ban surface mining, change the criteria and the Corps will abide by it. But until there is a viable alternative to coal, we need to appreciate its vital importance to our nation and the contribution of the outstanding people who mine it.
To see what we are talking about and how it will affect the Appalachia community go to www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138
We can’t stand anymore of the prosperity from mountaintop removal. There’s a better way to mine coal without so much destruction to the environment that will last ten thousand years.
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