What did you expect?
Posted on October 14, 2009 | By Denny Tyler | 7 Comments
I have to wonder what the Army Corp of Engineers could have possibly been thinking holding sensitive hearings concerning mountaintop removal in the coalfields. From all of the articles I have read last night and this morning and after talking with my friend Chuck Nelson the hearings turned out exactly as I expected they would.
Received in an e-mail a few days ago…
FRIENDS OF COAL” ALERT!PROTECT YOUR JOBS, YOUR FAMILIES
AND YOUR FUTURES!
WE NEED YOU!
Friends of Coal,
We have an emergency and your participation is CRITICAL.
THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS WILL HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING OCTOBER 13 IN CHARLESTON AT 7 PM.
IT WILL BE HELD IN THE LITTLE THEATER OF THE CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER
PLEASE PLAN TO BE THERE EARLY TO SECURE YOUR SEATING AND MAKE YOUR PRESENCE KNOWN
The purpose of the hearing is a Corps of Engineers’ proposal to suspend the use of Nationwide Permit 21 in West Virginia and the other Appalachian states. It is simply another example of EPA “forcing” another agency to accept their “anti-mining” viewpoint! NWP 21 is an important part of the mine permitting process that EPA doesn’t like, but gives no “real reason” why. Suspension of this NWP 21 will make permitting much more difficult.
It is another example of EPA using the Corps of Engineers as a front to bring “death to Appalachian coal mining through a thousand cuts” and take the jobs of our people and interrupt their families and their livelihoods.
THE FUTURE OF OUR JOBS, OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR FAMILIES IS AT STAKE!
AS A “TRUE” FRIEND OF COAL, WE NEED YOU TO BE THERE TO LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! WE MUST STOP THE ATTACK!
There will actually be six hearings on the same subject held in five other locations over two days, as shown below. If it is more convenient for you to attend in one of the other cities, please take time to be there and help to outnumber the anti-coal forces.
OCTOBER 13 OCTOBER 15
Charleston, WV Pittsburgh, PA
Pikeville, KY Cambridge, OH
Knoxville, TN Big Stone Gap, VA
We must join together to let the folks in Washington know the devastating impact this will have on our people living in West Virginia and across the Appalachian coalfields.
Please send this message to your family and friends and ask them to support our efforts. Help us get the message out. If you have questions or need more information please call the West Virginia Coal Association at 304-342-4153.
PLEASE PLAN TO BE THERE!
WE NEED YOU TODAY MORE THAN EVER!
TALKING POINTS ARE SHOWN BELOW
SEE YOU ON TUESDAY AT THE CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER
U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Hearings on Proposal to Suspend
Nationwide Permit 21
TALKING POINTS
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is holding a series of public hearings on Oct. 13 and Oct. 15 regarding the Corps’ proposal to eliminate the use of the nationwide permit for coal mining (NWP 21) in the Appalachian region.
We should use the hearings as an opportunity to comment on the importance of NWP 21 to the mining industry, and on the importance of coal mining to the region and to the United States as a source of reliable, affordable and secure energy.
Coal mining operations rely on the ability to obtain NWP 21 permits in order to produce affordable coal-based electricity and to maintain and create thousands of high paying jobs throughout the eastern United States. The Corps relies on the ability to issue nationwide permits as a means for managing its workload. The Corps now proposes to eliminate use of these important permits having provided no scientific reason for why such a drastic step is necessary and without giving the public any information about how the Corps will absorb the increased burden on a regulatory program that is already backlogged by more than 250 coal related permits. The economic consequences will be significant on the industry and those communities that rely on the jobs and economic activity that flow from these projects.
Talking Points:
More than 80,000 jobs depend on surface coal mining in Appalachia.
Coal mining is the economic engine of communities throughout Appalachia.
Jobs and communities that depend on coal mining rely on a permitting system that works—without unnecessary delay or complications.
With more than 250 coal permits backlogged at the Corps, some for two years, the Corps proposes to eliminate one regulatory tool explicitly designed to avoid regulatory duplication and unnecessary delays. The Corps has failed to provide a plan for how the agency will handle the increased regulatory burden. The Corps is simply not equipped to handle the increased workload that will result should NWP 21 be abandoned.
The Corps has provided no scientific or environmental justification for eliminating the use of NWP 21. The Corps has provided us with no evidence of environmental damage or other public interest reason for expiring the permit within these six states, therefore, it appears the decision is driven by politics and not based on any tangible concern with environmental protection.
The proposal to end NWP 21 is just one more roadblock or barrier the federal government is putting in the path of coal mining in Appalachia. It’s one more contributor to the regulatory black hole coal mining is in today.
This new assault on Appalachian coal mining makes the region less attractive to investment—further threatening the long-term economic future of the region.
NWP 21 is the only nationwide permit, designed with another fully developed federal regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), to ensure mining impacts are minimized.
Federal courts have upheld NWP 21 as legally sound and consistent with Congress’ directive that the regulatory agencies should work together to avoid duplication in regulation.
The Corps has long recognized that “the purpose of the NWP program is to reduce regulatory delays and burdens on the public, to place greater reliance on state and local controls, and to free our limited resources for more effective regulation of other activities with greater potential to adversely impact the aquatic environment.” 56 Fed. Reg. 14, 598—14, 605 (Apr. 10, 1991).
———
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To say that I am severely disappointed in the Corp sponsored coal rally would be an understatement. It is just another example of citizens against mountaintop removal coal mining not getting heard. I have to wonder how many of those coal miners were paid to be at the hearings.
You can read about the NWP21 hearings on many websites. This is a good story and actually has Chuck’s version of what happened which is pretty much the same thing he relayed to me.
I have said many times that justice will not come from the coalfields. Mountaintop removal will have to be dealt with away from here. Eventually there is going to be bloodshed in the coalfields… again. I know it’s coming just as surely as I know the sun will rise tomorrow. Hearings such as the fiasco provided by the Army Corp of Engineers is only serving to the coal industry and will make things much worse before they get better.
The battle against mountaintop removal is a frustrating one to say the least. But incidents such as these hearings with their blissfully ignorant miners backed by a purposely ignorant government only serve to strengthen my resolve. I hope that it has the same effect on all of those fighting mountaintop removal coal mining.
The time to get mad is right now. The time to fight back is right now. Not as little individual groups fighting for their minute in the spotlight trying to score victories that will ultimately have no effect on the battle but as one loud and clear voice screaming… STOP MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING!!!
———
A little about the friends of coal alert, from the talking points -
This new assault on Appalachian coal mining makes the region less attractive to investment—further threatening the long-term economic future of the region.
I have to first wonder what investment they are talking about and I also have to wonder – do they think mountaintop removal makes the state more attractive?? I mean, really do they think that?? Threatening the long-term economic future of the region?? What are we talking about here, coal… a non-renewable resource?? You hear me use the word ignorance a lot, or variations of it, and the reason I do that is for people to believe a statement such as the one quoted, they have to be pretty far away from being the brightest light on the tree.
———
On a positive note – another hearing last night turned out good for residents or so I’m told. The decision to move Marsh Fork Elementary has been made and a request for funding is in process. Hopefully we will soon not have to worry about the children of Marsh Fork Elementary. I’ll link stories about the hearing for the school here when they start showing up.
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Update to this blog – I have finally added a full fledged photo gallery to the site and my plan right now is to have a minimum of 1,000 coal related photos. My goal is to have one of the most extensive personal photo libraries on the web concerning coal related issues – mountaintop removal, acid mine drainage, clear-cutting, valley fills, slurry impoundments, activism and various other subjects.
I’m not only putting them out there but I encourage those in the battle against the coal industry to use them. No credit to me is needed/warranted/required. The only weapon I can bring to the table in this battle is a camera and it is a weapon I use at nearly every opportunity. But a useless weapon it is when the photos sit unseen. With that being said there will obviously be a multitude of photos in the gallery never seen before. When I take a photo there is always a reason for it. Hopefully, with a wider variety of my photos available, you can truly see what I see.
Posts to this blog from now on will be automatically appended with category related photos from the gallery at the end of each post. The gallery is accessible directly by using the shortcut at the top right of this blog.
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A coal miner’s wife at the hearing last night defended her position by saying something to the effect of – “I’m a wife, mother, and daughter of coal miners.” Well, ma’am, I am a father, son, grandson, great-grandson of coal miners. I am also the father, son, grandson, great-grandson of proud West Virginia hillbillies… STOP MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation’s character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us. – Aldo Leopold
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October 16th, 2009 @ 9:35 am
Denny, I don’t see you, or anyone else, ever topping this post. It is by far, the best post I have ever read. I can’t describe it any better. Don’t know anything else to say. Great post!!! Keep up the excellent work that you do.
October 18th, 2009 @ 1:22 pm
Thanks, Denny, for shining the light on the disgraceful behavior that went on at the so call, “hearing” on the Nationwide 21 permit. Your website is is a terrific resource for folks! Keep up the great work to help preserve and protect the mountains of Appalachia.
October 18th, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
Denny, I am new to this site, thanks to Chuck Nelson I see that we have a wonderful site to comment on the terrible devastation of MTR.
I am a wife of a retired disabled coal miner, my father and his father were miners. My grandfather fought at the Battle of Blair Mountain. I know about coal mining, and the coal thugs are not miners, they are extractors. They bring shame on the name of all the coal miners who came before them. I refuse to call the coal miners for they are not. They are masters of destruction.
I did not go to the Corps hearing because I knew what the outcome would be. It is a shame and disgrace that coalfield folks could not be heard for the rantings of a mob of thugs. I believe that their behavior is the beginning of the end for them. The world is watching and thuggery does not go over very well with the American people. Just as the teabaggers ruined the town hall meetings for healthcare, they were really few in numbers, bussed around to disrupt. The same thing is happening here and the world will soon see them for what they are.
I have high hopes that this is truly the beginning of the end for these thugs. I am glad that you are doing the work that is so valuable in keeping us like minded folks in touch with one another. Thank you so much.
October 19th, 2009 @ 7:27 pm
I have been arrested protesting mountain top removal 4 times since the beginning of February. This is a reprehensible and destructive practice that has no reason for being used other than profit for Massey Energy and other coal whoring companies. I wasn’t at the hearing since I had been part of the Senior Walk and needed to get caught up with news, work and correspondence. But we are resolved to stop this nefarious process. And the people being arrested at the Capitol today show we are not backing down.
Stop mountain top removal now!
October 21st, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
Speaking of not being the brightest light on the tree, I suppose you believe the tobacco companies when they say cigaretts don’t cause lung cancer.
October 21st, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
Watcher just so you are aware I have you on the black list for all of my websites but I decided to go ahead and approve this comment because I have a couple of questions for you… after replying to your assumption. No, I don’t believe the tobacco companies when they say cigarettes don’t cause cancer.
This is actually the second time you have commented where your comment just makes no sense and has nothing to do with the post. Except for the brightest light on the tree part.
No offense to mentally handicapped folks but are you retarded?? Seriously are you? Are you incapable of thinking on your own?
My assumption was after reading your comment is that you were kind of reintroducing yourself to my blog and your statement “speaking of not being the brightest light on the tree” was similar to saying “well speak of the devil, its watcher.” At least that is how I interpreted it.
In case you haven’t figured it out, maybe because your bulb is nearly burnt out – this is not and never will be a friends of coal friendly website. Your comment is here simply because I allowed it to be. Don’t you just hate that… I certainly hope so.
As I have said before if you want to comment on this blog then be civil and come prepared to back up your argument. I’ll discuss MTR all day long with you under those circumstances but if you come here to just degrade and be stupid, you can go somewhere else.
Lacking any significant dialogue from you I have posted your last comment to this blog.
October 23rd, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
watcher is a dim bulb but you know the internet is made for making fun of these sorts of self proclaimed geniuses. Denny you are the man!