Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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Discussion

May 7, 2010

Legislators question EPA ruling

By Bill Archer Bluefield Daily Telegraph

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BLUEFIELD —  A trio of congressmen from the coalfields of West Virginia and Virginia — U.S. Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va., and Frederick C. “Rick” Boucher, D-Va. — jointly signed a May 5, letter to Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling on the EPA to reexamine its April 1, “Guidance” as it relates to the far-reaching implications of “conductivity.”

Rahall, Mollohan and Boucher stated in their letter that the guidance is, “patently a wrong approach to implementing the Clean Water Act,” because it is only aimed at surface coal mining operations in the Appalachian region.

“Never before this administration has the Appalachian coal mining industry been required to address questions of conductivity and much remains to be learned before we can possibly understand how conductivity limits will impact coal mining — both surface and underground — as well as any number of essential economic activities, such as road construction that is also critical to allowing the Appalachian region to achieve economic equity,” the congressmen wrote to Jackson.

“We must question why a hardrock mining operation in California or a shopping mall construction project in New Jersey, which may impact an intermittent or ephemeral stream, should not be held to the same standard,” according to the letter.

Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association said the state’s coal industry, “is in terrible shape in regards to the administration in Washington, D.C., and the policies of the EPA. The policy on April 1, that addressed conductivity was made effective immediately,” Raney said. “It was so far out of step with the way the coal industry in this region had been working with EPA that it was almost like an April Fool’s Day joke.

“The policy establishes conductivity as the basis of the policy, and the basis is not well formulated,” Raney said. “Conductivity is a surrogate measurement. It’s based on the number of ions in the water, but doesn’t differentiate between the positive or negative-charged ions. The concept of using conductivity needs further examination.”

Raney said that federal legislators are missing the point by urging nationwide application of the April 1, policy. “They point to the unfairness of the law as it is applied to coal mining in the Appalachian region,” Raney said. “EPA shouldn’t apply the policy nationwide. The EPA should fix the policy itself. I don’t know that the solution to the policy is to address the unfair aspects of its application.”

Raney said the coal industry “is concerned about water quality and protecting the environment,” but said the EPA has targeted “five states and only five states,” in its April 1, guidance.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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