Beckley, WV - The Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) held an open house at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center today to collect public comments in order to develop a more thorough Stream Protection Rule. The OSM will hold a total of nine open houses throughout the country, the last one set for July 29th. Those who are unable to attend the open houses may submit their comments via email, postal mail, or hand delivery before July 30th (see below for details).

The open house featured court reporters collecting oral comments, 11 poster boards detailing various aspects of the proposed stream law, and a comment sheet to be filled out and turned in at the registration table. Besides the circle of OSM officials in the center of the room, the half a dozen police officers standing at the front, and the court reporters at their desks in the corners, the room was largely unpopulated.

Key elements of the rule that are being considered include: the definition of “material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area”; the inclusion of fills in the restrictions of mining activities near streams; the limitation of variances; the prohibition of mountain-top removal mining; monitoring requirements; the reforestation of abandoned mines; coordination between regulatory organizations; and the definition of a stream.
 

While the posters touted large friendly pictures, the explanations seemed to include an unnecessary amount of regulatory lingo for a comment session open to the general public.

Send your comments to the OSM by July 30th

Email: Send to sra-eis@osmre.gov with the Docket Number OSM-EIS-35 in the subject line of your message.

Postal mail, hand delivery, or courier: Include the Docket Number OSM-EIS-35 at the top of your message and send to:
 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Administrative Record
Room 252–SIB
1951 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20240

      Here, they announced Appalachia Rising, a mass mobilization set for September 27^th in Washington, DC and issued a rallying call for thousands to join in demanding the Obama Administration abolish surface mining and invest in sustainable economic diversification in Appalachia.

      While local officials and the legislature are kissing the sooty ring of King Coal, West Virginians are losing their homes, their health, and their jobs.

      Speaking an uncomfortable truth to power about the destruction wrought by surface mining, Boone County resident and Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition organizer Maria Gunnoe yesterday said, “Lindytown, Sharples, Mifflin, Jack's Branch...I've literally watched throughout Boone County as places have disappeared forever, erased.”

If allowed to move forward, the Spruce No. 1 mine would be the largest in West Virginia history and cover 7 miles of streams in Logan County, W.Va., near Blair. The Army Corps of Engineers approved a scaled-back version of the permit in 2007, which the EPA moved to veto last October. In March of 2010, the EPA announced a "proposed determination" to block the Clean Water Act Permit for the mine, saying it had "reason to believe that the Spruce No. 1 Mine, as currently authorized, could result in unacceptable adverse effects to fish and wildlife resources." 

Despite the deeply divided sentiments that pervaded the room, the hearing proceeded in a civil manner, with the crowd respectfully allowing each speaker their allotted two minutes.
 

“I’m glad that the EPA has finally decided to be the Environmental Protection Agency and not the Economic Protection Agency, “ said Junior Walk, 20, a Coal River Valley local and organizer with Coal River Mountain Watch. A former coal company employee, Walk told the crowd that he believes no one should have to grow up with poisoned water, as he did.