Corps escalates mountaintop removal mining fight

[Hubert Flottz]

Agency reinstates permit in Kentucky

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials on Wednesday escalated a fight with the Environmental Protection Agency over the regulation of mountaintop removal coal mining.

By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials on Wednesday escalated a fight with the Environmental Protection Agency over the regulation of mountaintop removal coal mining. Read more in Coal Tattoo

At the same time, coalfield politicians rushed to insist that new policies should not threaten strip-mining jobs, while environmental groups urged a broader discussion of transitioning to more underground mining and finding "green jobs" for the Appalachian region.

Just one day after EPA began to more closely review corps permit proposals, the corps office in Louisville, Ky., reinstated a permit that had previously been suspended after environmental groups sued in federal court to stop it.

"For the Corps of Engineers in Louisville and I'm sure for a lot of other districts as well, it's business as usual," said Carol Labashosky, a corps Louisville district spokeswoman.

But environmental groups were quick to blast the permit issuance. Read More...

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200903250810

[Hubert Flottz]

1. Thanks for the vote...