Weakening of Environmental Regulations Undermine Appalachian Communities' Fight to Stop Coal Mining Industry Mountaintop Removal

Interview with Joan Mulhern, senior legislative counsel with Earthjustice, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Over the past decade, in the hills of Kentucky and West Virginia, coal companies have been literally blowing the tops off selected Appalachian mountains to get to the coal seams underneath. Mining firms then dump the debris into mountain streams. The disruption from blasting, air pollution, and especially the flooding that accompanies mountaintop removal strip mining has driven many residents of the mountain hollow communities out of their homes and buried their history.

Citizens in the affected areas and their environmental supporters have won two victories at the state level to stop the practice. They based their efforts on two federal laws: the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Act. But they suffered setbacks in federal appeals court, and when the Bush administration rewrote the Clean Water Act rules removing stream protections that citizens claim coal companies were violating. In addition, last week, the White House proposed the weakening of surface mining rules that also protect streams.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Joan Mulhern, senior legislative counsel at Earthjustice, a legal and environmental advocacy group, about the politics of coal and what opponents of mountaintop removal strip mining are hoping to achieve with their campaign.

For more information, call Earthjustice at (202) 667-4500 or visit their Web site at www.earthjustice.org Related links

"Bush Administration Proposes Rewriting of Stream Protection Rule in Favor of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining," Earthjustice, Jan. 7, 2004 Environmental Media Services Mountaintop Removal Strip Mining

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