20080868 Ver 2_Charlotte Observer_20090330

EPA has second thoughts on coal, phosphate mines
Subject: EPA has second thoughts on coal, phosphate mines
From: Susan Massengale <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:09:19 -0400
To: DWQ Clips <[e-mail]>
From the Charlotte Observer
EPA has second thoughts on coal, phosphate mines
Agency rightly questions impact on streams, rivers and wetlands.
By Mary Newsom
Associate Editor
Posted: Saturday, Mar. 28, 2009
After eight years when it seemed that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
valued politics over science, the Obama administration's EPA shows signs of renewed
vigor. Two recent cases are not conclusive evidence, but they are promising
indicators that the federal agency takes seriously its responsibility to protect
the environment.
This week, the EPA took reassuring steps on mining practices in different regions of
the Southeast. The EPA's Atlanta office challenged a proposal to expand phosphate
mining in 11,000 acres near the Pamlico River near valuable wetlands areas. Good.
Someone needs to be asking harder questions, and there's no sign of the state doing
so on this project.
PCS Phosphate has operated a large open-pit phosphate mine in Beaufort County for 35
years. It wants to expand phosphate mining in a process that the EPA now says might
damage area wetlands and streams. Wetlands perform a valuable filtering function
for stormwater runoff and retention. While PCS would have to recreate wetlands it
destroys, even a temporary loss can have adverse consequences for nearby waterways.
In the Appalachian Mountain area, the EPA is also questioning Army Corps of
Engineers permits granted for two mountaintop mining projects because of possible
damage from the dumping of debris in streams and riverbeds in Kentucky and West
Virginia.
That's of special interest in North Carolina, where much of the coal-fired energy
plants use fuel mined in mountaintop removal projects. State Rep. Pricey Harrison
calls the process "a horrific and destructive practice" that involves "blowing up
mountains."
That comes with excessive human and ecological costs, she argues. Explosions have
ruined homes and communities and destroyed habitat for wildlife. She has filed
legislation that would wean N.C. power plants off coal mined this way.
These welcome steps by the EPA should begin to reassure the public that the Obama
administration will give more scrutiny to processes that adversely affect the
environment - and halt those where the price is simply too high.
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EPA has second thoughts on coal, phosphate mines
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