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Confluence: June 2002, Vol. 4, No. 4
In Focus

Mountaintop Mining
The White House could soon enact a rule change in the Clean Water Act. The new rule would allow mining companies and others to bury water bodies under piles of waste. Coal companies seeking relief from restrictive environmental regulations are hoping to continue the practice of dumping waste from mountaintop coal mining. Environmental organizations are lobbying against the rule change and have recently won a major court case before a federal district court blocking implementation of the change.

The specific rule at issue is the Army Corp of Engineers' definition of the "fill" material dumped into waters and wetlands. The current rules say that "fills" - which are activities the Corps can permit under the Clean Water Act - cannot consist of waste. The new definition, however, would say that "any material that has the effect of replacing portions of waters with dry land or changing the bottom elevation of a water body" is permissible for use as "fill". This expansion of the definition would allow the Corps to permit waste dumping into US waters.

The Clinton Administration proposed the change in the "fill" definition under the Clean Water Act two years ago in order to allow the waste from mountaintop removal coal mining to be dumped into streams. More than 17,000 public comments protested the rule changes during the public comment period in the spring of 2000. Due to the public outcry, the Clinton Administration decided against finalizing the proposal. Now, the Bush Administration is prepared to reverse that decision.

A reversal would mean that any industry could throw their waste into a stream, wetland, or river as long as they have a permit or approval from the Corps. It will be permissible to dump millions of tons of coal waste, hardrock mining waste, and other types of harmful wastes into US streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands if the rule change is allowed to occur.

Groups such as American Rivers (http://www.americanrivers.org) are opposing the rule change.

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