Wednesday, June 06, 2012

EPA starts Ky. hearings on 36 surface-mine permits

As hundreds of supporters of mountaintop-removal coal mining held a rally, 75 people "opposed to surface mining held a news conference" late yesterday afternoon in the capital of Kentucky, reports Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader. (H-L photo: Line forms for public hearing)

"The 200 yards separating them might as well have been a thousand miles. The two camps put their deeply divided views on display as part of the latest chapter in the struggle over mountaintop mining in Kentucky," Estep writes. "The occasion was a hearing in Frankfort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on its objections to 36 permits for surface mines in Eastern Kentucky. The hearing started after the partisan events."

Two more hearings are scheduled tomorrow in Pikeville, Ky., in the heart of the Central Appalachian coalfield.

2 comments:

WahsUpDoc said...

KY has little or no laws protecting its citizens from corporate polluters... EPA is only firewall KYians have to protect their interests. For the coal companies to oppose having to install 'site specific controls' for their toxic discharge signals they are more concerned about their profits rather than safe drinking water for KYians... this is outrageous!! Since when should we support corporate profits over human health?? Why are some people in KY so bent on 'messing in their own nests'??!!?? Water and air are basic necessities which sustain life.

Appalachia and coal mining communities are among the sickest and poorest in the nation.

WahsUpDoc said...

KY has little or no laws protecting its citizens from corporate polluters... EPA is only firewall KYians have to protect their interests. For the coal companies to oppose having to install 'site specific controls' for their toxic discharge signals they are more concerned about their profits rather than safe drinking water for KYians... this is outrageous!! Since when should we support corporate profits over human health?? Why are some people in KY so bent on 'messing in their own nests'??!!?? Water and air are basic necessities which sustain life.

Appalachia and coal mining communities are among the sickest and poorest in the nation.