WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Thursday announced steps to reduce the environmental destruction caused by mountaintop coal mining in six states.
The government will seek to eliminate the expedited reviews that have made it easier for mining companies to blast off Appalachian mountaintops and discard the rubble into valleys where streams flow.
The agreement among three federal agencies also includes changes to tighten federal oversight and environmental screening of the mountaintop coal mining in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
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"The Obama administration has serious concerns about the impacts of mountaintop coal mining on our natural resources and on the health and welfare of Appalachian communities," Sutley said. "Within this plan the Obama administration is doing at all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb most environmentally destructive impacts of mountaintop coal mining."
A spokeswoman for the National Mining Association said the industry was not consulted on the deal and had not seen it. "We are disappointed this was not a fully transparent process and that the concerns of those closest to surface mining operations were not fully aired," Carol Raulston said.
