Urban Ecoist

Ah, snap. I have mentioned this Lame Duck Bush Federal Fire Sale in the past, and how I fear it, and how we should all be scared about what kind of damage Dubya will do as a final “smell ya later” to the country he and his friends have looted.

And today, I get news that the Environmental Plunder Protection Agency has repealed the 1983 Stream Buffer Zone regulation that has tried to save rivers and streams and the valley floors they flow through. I worried about this happening.

You see, since 1983, there has been a little rule that prohibited mining operations from mining or dumping their waste anywhere within 100 feet of a stream. Now, personally, I think that is fairly lenient, I mean, one hundred feet? That is it. I can hit a golf ball that far with a lob wedge and about a quarter of a swing. No matter how little a buffer one hundred feet gives, it was all we had — until now.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is easing the way for coal companies to dump debris from mountaintop mining into nearby valleys and streams in a move deplored by environmental and Appalachian citizens’ groups.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved the repeal of a 1983 law that prohibited surface coal mining within 100 feet of flowing streams. Most U.S. surface coal mining is done in the steep mountains of Appalachia, across Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

EPA’s approval was the last hurdle for a proposal that originated at the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining. The rule goes into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, which has not yet occurred.

This will allow more mountaintop-removal mining, where coal is mined by blasting off the tops of mountains and the crumbled mountaintop debris is pushed into adjoining valleys, environmental groups said in a statement.

“The EPA’s own scientists have concluded that dumping mining waste into streams devastates downstream water quality,” said Ed Hopkins of the Sierra Club. “By signing off on a rule to eliminate a critical safeguard for streams, the EPA has abdicated its responsibility and left the local communities that depend on these waters at risk.”

Some 126 million tons of coal came from U.S. mountaintop mining in 2007, accounting for 10 percent of U.S. coal production, said Carol Raulston of the National Mining Association.

Raulston disputed the environmentalists’ charges, saying the new rule was “merely a clarification of what is required in order to conduct any type of mining activity.”

Mountaintop mining is safer for miners than underground mining, but its ecological impact has drawn fire from local communities and environmental activists.

More than 400 mountaintops have been stripped of trees and flattened, 1,200 miles of mountain streams have been buried under mining debris since mountaintop mining began in earnest, the groups said in a statement after EPA approved the rule.

“The EPA’s decision is a slap in the face of Appalachian communities, which have already endured enough injustice from mountaintop removal,” said Vernon Haltom of West Virginia-based Coal River Mountain Watch. “My home and thousands of others are now in greater jeopardy.”

The U.S. environment agency said in a statement that it worked closely with the Office of Surface Mining to “enhance environmental protections in the final rule, including requirements that no mining activities may occur in or near streams that would violate federal or state water quality standards.”–Reuters via Planet Ark

I love the Carol Raulston quote. “Merely a clarification” to allow more destructive mining on more mountains is what I think she left out.

Again, my urban ecoists, you may ask what exactly do mountains have to do with urban ecology? My first reaction to that question is to make fun of you for asking, as you must be clueless about how the wilderness and the city are intertwined and it is mining that supports our cities with coal-powered electricity, but then I would remember that I made a New Year’s resolution to be nicer. (I know it is only December 4th, but I like to practice my resolution so that once 2009 comes around, I am ready to rock). And hi, cities, both large and small, get water from rivers and streams, that are fed with other rivers and streams. Think interconnected.

But seriously, we city-slickers should be a little more concerned about where our electricity comes from. You can spout off all you want about wind and solar, but guess what, if you live in the US, you are getting the warming glow of your computer screen from coal — at least 57% of that glow.

George Bush, Dubya, fire sale, lame duck, Stream Buffer Zone, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, rivers, mountaintop, mountain top, mining, coal, electricity, urban, ecology, city, wilderness, waste