You have probably seen from other sources EPA's decision to review 79 mountaintop mining permits. The action taken was a letter from Peter Silva of the EPA to Jo-Ellen Darcy of the US Army Corps of Engineers stating EPA's concern that all 79 permits it was reviewing pose environmental risks. EPA wants further review by the Corps of water quality impacts, the adequacy of mitigation for stream losses, cumulative impacts, and other concerns.
The permits haven't been denied, but they are now headed into administrative limbo where they will be studied to death. One could conclude that one of the goals of this action is to drag out the permitting process so that new mines aren't started because they're economically nonviable, and existing mines can't expand.
You can see the letter from EPA here (from Ken Ward's Coal Tattoo blog) and Ken Ward's report on what is happening, which contains a good summary of the next steps in the permitting process. The Associated Press report is here . WV Public Radio has done several stories, including this one
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