On Obama's Day 1, EPA focused on mountaintop removal, objecting to King Coal Highway permit

The Environmental Protection Agency began stricter scrutiny of mountaintop-removal strip mining on the Obama administration's first day in office, objecting to a permit for a major coal company's mine that would help create a path for the proposed King Coal Highway in southern West Virginia.

"On Jan. 20, EPA Region 3 officials in Philadelphia sent a letter ... objecting to issuance of a valley fill permit for Consol of Kentucky’s Buffalo Mountain Surface Mine," reports Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette. "I’ve posted the letter here and a copy of the Corps’ public notice on that permit here."

The King Coal Highway, from Huntington to Bluefield, would be build in part through mountaintop-removal mining. "The project is a favorite of most local and state politicians, and a move to further delay it would be unpopular with some powerful folks," Ward writes. "EPA says it does not believe that the Corps can issue this permit unless and until it conducts a detailed Environmental Impact Statement to weight the potential environmental damage." (Read more)