The U.S. Government Accountability Office (the GAO) has released its second major report on mountaintop removal coal mining in the last three months. (See previous post here).
Today’s report, Financial Assurances for, and Long-Term Oversight of, Mines with Valley Fills in Four Appalachian States, is similar to the previous GAO study, in that it provides not a ton of brand new information for anyone familiar with the mountaintop removal issue.
But, the 68-page report, prepared for members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works committees, does again repeat and confirm what should already be well known, but is often ignored by the coal industry and its politician friends. For example, the GAO study found:
– Reforestation efforts at some reclaimed surface coal mine sites needed improvement;
– Surface coal mine sites have contaminated streams and harmed aquatic organisms;
– Valley fills may affect water flow; and
– Mine operators have not always returned mine sites to their approximate original contour when required to do so under SMCRA.
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Full Article HereGAO Report Here
