EPA loses battle against W. Va. coal mines

October 6, 2011 by Don Surber


U.S. District Judge Reggie Barnett Walton, a Bush 43 appointee to the D.C. bench, handed the Obama administration its hat today by ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority in pulling Corps of Engineers permits for coal mines in Appalachia, including West Virginia. The National Mining Association had sued the EPA. The judge said: “Congress established a permitting scheme in which the Corps is to be the principal player, and the EPA is to play a lesser, clearly defined supporting role.”


Ry Rivard of the Charleston Daily Mail has a report.

Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito said: “Today’s court ruling reaffirms what we’ve known all along in Appalachia, that the EPA has been overstepping its boundaries in the permit approval process in order to advance an anti-coal agenda. The EPA has tried everything, from abusing their regulatory authority to issuing ‘guidance’ reports in order to overstep the bounds of its traditional role in the permitting process. It’s about time the Courts ruled ‘enough is enough’ by re-establishing the Army Corps of Engineers’ role as the primary permitting authority. This is a significant step in our efforts to rein in the EPA which remains intent on rewarding a core constituency that doesn’t want any coal mining, no matter the cost to West Virginia or our nation. I will continue to monitor this important ruling and what it means for West Virginia.”

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said: “I’m excited to hear that the federal court has ruled in favor of West Virginia – and against the EPA for overstepping their boundaries – on this partial summary judgment. I’m very hopeful that this will put us on the path of receiving the permits that are needed to provide the energy and the jobs not just for West Virginia but for this entire country. This is a great day for West Virginia.”

Undoubtedly West Virginia’s other two congressman — Democrat Nick Joe Rahall and Republican David McKinley — are pleased.

Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette posted a PDF of the 19-page decision.

Judge Walton is an interesting man who grew up in Donora, Pennsylvania, the hometown of Stan Musial and Ken Griffey Jr. — and also the place where pollution from from the American Steel and Wire plant and Donora Zinc Works killed 50 people (including Stan Musial’s father) in an air inversion in 1948. Judge Walton is a 1971 graduate of West Virginia State, which is in the middle of the Chemical Valley, so I think we can assume he knows the dangers of industry.

As for his Bush appointment, Judge Walton threw the book at Scooter Libby.

The Associated Press report:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency went too far when it began reviewing individual Clean Water Act permits on mountaintop mining operations, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton in Washington issued a partial summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by a coal mining industry coalition against the EPA and its administrator, Lisa Jackson.

The National Mining Association had challenged a 2009 decision in which the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to coordinate reviews of backlogged permit applications for waste disposal at Appalachia mountaintop mining operations that raised serious environmental concerns.

Walton ruled the EPA’s 2009 process exceeded its statutory authority under the Clean Water Act. The process is limited to 29 permit applications in Kentucky and West Virginia.

“It’s about time the Courts ruled ‘enough is enough’ by re-establishing the Army Corps of Engineers’ role as the primary permitting authority,” said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. “This is a significant step in our efforts to rein in the EPA, which remains intent on rewarding a core constituency that doesn’t want any coal mining, no matter the cost to West Virginia or our nation.”

Last year, aides for then-Gov. Joe Manchin filed a similar lawsuit targeting EPA policies adopted since President Barack Obama took office that are designed to limit the practice of burying streams under excess rock removed while extracting coal at mines.

Critics say that practice destroys the environment. The mining industry defends it as an efficient way to produce cheap power and employ thousands in well-paying jobs.

Since Obama took office, the flow of water quality permits for Appalachian mines has slowed to a trickle.

“I’m very hopeful that this will put us on the path of receiving the permits that are needed to provide the energy and the jobs not just for West Virginia but for this entire country,” said Manchin, now a U.S. senator. “This is a great day for West Virginia.”

Environmental groups pledge their ongoing support Thursday for the EPA’s permitting process.

“If the Army Corps and EPA don’t do their job, we will only face more devastating loss of our mountains and streams,” said Dianne Bady, co-director of the Huntington-based Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.

Further arguments are scheduled later on the portion of the coal industry’s lawsuit challenging EPA’s water quality guidelines for Appalachian mining operations.