Environmental groups across Appalachia spoke out at public hearings in four states on a Bush administration-backed proposal to relax restrictions preventing mining activity near waterways.
The groups oppose exempting valley fills , in which rubble from mountaintop removal mining is dumped in nearby valleys , from the 20-year-old rule restricting mining activity near streams.
“Enough is enough!” [...]
A hearing got heated Wednesday during discussion of proposed rule changes for surface coal mining.
Wednesday’s hearing inside the Holiday Inn was one of four hearings going on simultaneously across surrounding states.
According to the US Office of Surface Mining, the rule changes will reduce the environmental impacts of surface coal mining and give operators clear [...]
Hours of digging at a hot spot off Underwood Road on Friday showed no evidence of a mine fire.
Workers from the federal Office of Surface Mining rooted through steaming dirt, stumps and mine refuse, but the heated vapor and material appeared to be related to composting, not a fire, said OSM mining engineer David Philbin. [...]
President Bush signed legislation Wednesday that gives billions of dollars to coal-producing states to clean up hazardous abandoned coal mines and pay for health care for retired miners.
His signature ends a long fight that has pitted coal-producing states against each other over the best use of funds collected for the nation’s coal mine reclamation program.
Coal-producing [...]
Ohio’s troubles with coal mines could become a big headache for the state’s next governor, Ted Strickland.
When Strickland takes office next month, he might have to deal with a threatened federal takeover of Ohio’s coal programs.
But the governor-elect says that if Ohio needs to raise more money to clean up bankrupt mines, he will present [...]
The federal Bureau of Land Management is about to begin an environmental impact study on a proposed surface coal mine just south of the Kane County town of Alton but also fairly close to Bryce Canyon National Park.
That location is likely to spark a “jobs vs. environmental protection” debate as the [...]
Republicans are trying to boost their bid to cut estate taxes with a last-minute legislative add-on that would pay for abandoned coal mine cleanup projects and health care for retired miners.
A coalition of labor, environmentalists and mining companies is behind the drive to renew the mine reclamation program, which uses fees on mined coal to [...]
