The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has objected to 11 Eastern Kentucky water discharge permits associated with surface mining, saying they fail to protect waterways from further degradation. "The letters from the EPA office in Atlanta to the Kentucky Division of Water detailed the state’s own assessment of poor water quality and said state regulators did not conduct analyses to determine whether the proposed discharges from new surface mining would likely violate state water quality standards," James Bruggers of the Courier-Journal reports.
R. Bruce Scott, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, told Bruggers EPA's action marked the first time in 20 years the agency made such a move in Kentucky. Scott added that EPA's objection "sets up the potential for the federal government to take over the issuing of those permits and any future permits," Bruggers writes. An EPA spokeswoman did not immediately respond for comment. (Read more)
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