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Friday, March 11, 2011

Future of strip mining in Appalachia could depend on something called conductivity; what is it?

The future of surface coal mining in Appalachia could depend on a scientific standard that the Obama administration has adopted as a sort of litmus test for water pollution but one that the coal industry says hasn’t been proven in the field.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says research has proven that high conductivity, which indicates a high level of salts, damages aquatic life in streams. The coal industry says that research is far from conclusive. But EPA’s independent Science Advisory Board found in September that the agency was correct in concluding that valley fills increase conductivity in downstream waters, threatening stream life.

If EPA’s standards remain in place, coal companies will find it difficult or impossible to win approval for mountaintop-removal permits like those issued in the past, industry and agency officials agree.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says her agency isn’t trying to end surface mining in Appalachia. “This is not about ending coal mining,” she said in a conference call after the agency announced its conductivity guidance in April. “This is about ending coal mining pollution.”

For the full story by Jon Hale of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, click here.

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