Take Action to Deny an Invalid Mountaintop Removal Permit


Oct 23, 2018

Deny renewal of an invalid permit. Please sign the petition and share at https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/dont-renew-an-invalid?source=c.em.cp&r_by=2449826
-This permit is not valid. It terminated as a matter of law years ago in accordance with the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977.

WVDEP has routinely purported to grant extensions to this permit, without any authority to do so and without any demonstration that the statutory conditions providing for an extension were met. In the words of the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, “the loss of investment in the permit alone cannot be the basis for an extension. To find otherwise would be to allow the exception to swallow the rule itself.”

Additionally:

-Even if this had been a valid permit, the applicant failed to complete the renewal process prior to the expiration date of June 6, 2018.

-The applicant currently has unabated permit violations and a track record of frequent violations at neighboring sites.

-The applicant is presently subject to a consent order at the contiguous permit S301712 for a pattern of violations for sediment control. The applicant has shown repeatedly that they cannot comply with something as basic as maintaining a ditch; they cannot be trusted to comply with this permit’s conditions.

-This type of mining blasts fine and ultrafine silica dust and other pollutants into the air, where it leaves the mine site and creates a public health threat for nearby residents. Rates of cancer, heart disease, birth defects, blood inflammation, and other conditions are remarkably higher near surface mine sites, even after accounting for other factors such as smoking and poverty. These effects are well-documented by rigorous scientific study, yet routinely ignored by WVDEP which has turned its back on its mission “to promote a healthy environment.” Appalachian children, women, and men are not immune to the effects of breathing known carcinogens.

-This type of mining increases runoff and increases the risk of deadly flooding to nearby residents.

-Mining at this site destroys the habitat of the endangered Indiana bat and threatened northern long-eared bat, both known to live on the site.