"Environmental Regulations To Curtail Mountaintop Mining"

"The Obama administration on Thursday imposed strict new environmental guidelines that are expected to sharply curtail 'mountaintop' coal mining, a controversial practice that has enriched Appalachia's economy while rearranging its topography.

The announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency ended months of bureaucratic limbo on the issue. It was hailed by environmentalists but condemned by coal industry officials, who said it would render a technique that generates about 10 percent of U.S. coal largely impractical.

At 'mountaintop removal' mines, which are unique to Appalachian states, miners blast the peaks off mountains to reach coal seams inside and then pile vast quantities of rubble in surrounding valleys. Under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, hundreds of such sites received federal permits."

David A. Fahrenthold reports for the Washington Post Friday, April 2, 2010.

See Also:

"Mountaintop Removal ‘Clarity’: OK, So Now What?" (Coal Tattoo)

"EPA Plan Would Allow 'No or Very Few Valley Fills'" (Charleston Gazette)

"New EPA Rules To Limit Mountaintop Removal" (Beckley Register-Herald)

"EPA Blasts Mountaintop Removal" (Mother Jones)

"EPA Toughens Mining Permits" (Wall Street Journal)

"US Toughens Process on Mountain Coal Mine Permits" (Reuters)