EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the first-ever Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) from Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. yesterday.  The long-awaited air pollution rule promises to prevent 34,000 deaths otherwise caused from toxic pollutants released from power plants including mercury, arsenic, cyanide, nickel, chromium, lead and more.

In making the announcement, Administrator Jackson focused on children’s health issues, including cases of asthma (which her own son is battling), birth defects and impaired brain development caused by mercury in the air.

The U.S. has been waiting a long time for this. It took more than two decades of negotiating and 900,000 public comments (20,000 from RAN activists), but the final MATS rule marks a great step forward for clean air in this country.

The Obama administration has yielded mixed news on the environmental front all year, so it was cheering to hear a strong, bold announcement like this one be issued forth by the EPA despite Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski’s attempts to instill fear in the heart of the public over the new standard’s effect on energy reliability.

Even after two decades of undulating process, Senator Murkowski called the pace of the EPA rulemaking “reckless” when in fact continuing to allow outdated coal plants to operate is much more so. EPA estimates show the new safeguards “will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. “ If the rule had been finalized ten years ago, would 111,000 people still be living, and 47,000 heart attacks prevented?

The finalized rule will likely affect the future of about 40 percent of coal-fired power plants in the U.S., which operate substandard to the rule’s particulate pollution requirements. The utility companies operating these plants are weighing up the economics of retiring plants versus investing hundreds of millions of dollars in life-extending retrofits for the aging plants.

We have a clear understanding of the negative impacts that burning coal has on our health, economy, and climate. With the solar and wind industries booming, we know how to produce electricity without endangering ourselves. As we head into 2012, it is well past time to phase out of coal entirely and transition to cleaner and renewable energy sources. If you’d like to be a part of that transition, joining RAN’s campaign to shift the biggest U.S. banks away from coal financing and towards clean energy is a great place to start.

Lisa Jackson concluded her press conference at the children’s hospital with some hurdles the EPA encounters,  “If we started hiring engineers instead of lobbyists and scientists instead of lawyers, we [the EPA] would be able to do our job much faster for the American people.” I absolutely agree.

In the words of the EPA, this rule “will protect communities that are home to 240 million Americans from smog and soot pollution, preventing up to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and 1.8 million sick days a year beginning in 2014 — achieving up to $280 billion in annual health benefits.”

Utility companies like AEP have been protesting loudly about the impacts that rules like this will have on their business — and that’s because they are going to be required to invest significant dollars if they want to keep their aging coal-powered fleet operating. But these figures pale into insignificance (by a factor of 350!) when compared to the money that is directly spent on the human health problems caused by dirty air.

However, installing smog and soot pollution controls onto coal plants still does not address many of the risks of relying on coal power, such as climate emissions or the health and environmental impacts associated with strip mining and coal transportation.

The economics of coal power simply do not add up: demand is eroding, construction and retrofit costs are too high and coal prices are risky. There are questions being raised about the true extent of U.S. coal reserves, leading one U.S.G.S. official to acknowledge “we really can’t say we’re the Saudi Arabia of coal anymore”.

Rather than invest in keeping these coal plants open, now is the perfect moment to switch to cheaper, cleaner sources of energy instead.

“Mercury’s a neuro-toxin, it destroys our children’s brains, oftentimes before they’re born. These standards are estimated to prevent 17,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart attacks each year.”

Serious stuff, but TDS host John Stewart still managed to crack a joke about the intense political pressure Ms Jackson faces from corporate-funded Republicans who are fighting “an epic battle… preventing these type of rules going into effect.” Jackson has been called to answer to Congress more times than any other public servant, prompting Stewart to ask if she’s ever been threatened with a tuna head in her bed.

Lisa responded that she sometimes calls Washington the “Fact-Free Zone,” that 95% of the American people see one of the roles of Government as protecting their air and water, and she’s committed to doing that.

It’s good to hear that health is the priority, and the obvious way to deliver on this priority in the U.S. is to retire those dirty coal plant and transition to clean, renewable energy sources instead.

The letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson read:

Dear Administrator Lisa Jackson,

We have come here today to deliver nearly 6,000 comments in support of ending mountaintop removal once and for all. As today is the last day for public comment collection in support of the April 1st guidelines, we wanted to deliver our own version of the public comment which calls for an abolition of mountaintop removal mining. We need you to go even further than the April 1st guidance in order to save the Appalachian people.

We hoped that the MTR guidelines would provide protection for headwater streams by curbing the practice of dumping waste in neighboring valleys to create what is known as valley fills. Then we see permits that have gone through like Pine Creek where valley fills are allowed, thus allowing the continued destruction of Appalachia and its people. Further action is crucial.

We urge you to do the right thing and end mountaintop removal mining once and for all. The survival of the Appalachian people depend on you.

Sincerely,

Rainforest Action Network

The comment cards and letters were received by a secretary from the water division, who seemed surprised by the security guards’ surly demeanor towards us. “We’ve been here before,” we said to the woman. Then we left as we came. It was our most pleasant trip to the EPA yet.

RAN also collected and sent 5791 comments via our online actions to the EPA. Together with the 500 comments delivered in person, over 6,000 of your comments were delivered to the EPA. Thanks for all your hard work!

For West Virginia coal miner’s widow Lorelei Scarbro and leader with the Alliance for Appalachia, who has met numerous times with the EPA, the decision is nothing less than an act of betrayal to the Appalachian people. In a personal letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson yesterday, Scarbro wrote:

Dear Ms. Jackson:

I just finished reading what amounts to a green light by Region 3 EPA on the Pine Creek permit in Logan County, WV.  I have to say that this disturbs me.

I have been involved in the battle to stop, not regulate, mountaintop removal coal mining since the coal mine moved in next door to my home at the base of Coal River Mountain in Rock Creek, WV.

I watched my husband die of black lung after 35 years as an underground union coal miner.

I watch as people I love get sicker each day from contaminated water after raising their family in Prenter Hollow, WV.

On April 5 of this year I made phone calls to family and friends to make sure they made it home from work after the explosion at Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, WV.  And, I pray everyday that my 26 year old son-in-law (the father of my 2 grandchildren) gets to see the sun again after a long hard day underground in a Massey mine.

I have left my very peaceful home 3 miles up in Rock Creek and traveled to DC many times in the past 2 years to help the powers that be to really see the face of coal.  I hope that by telling the people on Capitol Hill how the decisions they make affect the lives of the people in the mountain communities they might begin to see us as valuable.  Too often we are treated like collateral damage or just the price of doing business.

I have been in many meetings with David Evans, Brian Fraizer and many others at EPA in DC and Region 3.  I have met with CEQ, OSMRE and many other regulatory agencies and countless numbers of Senators and Congressmen trying to make a difference.

I was on the call on April 1 when you released the guidance for conductivity levels and I was very excited when I heard you say “ You’re talking about no or very few valley fills that are going to be able to meet standards like this.” The release of this guidance and your words brought hope to many people that long ago lost it.

I have been very thankful for all of the steps this EPA has taken to improve life in the mountain communities of Appalachia, but I was heartbroken when I saw the decision on Pine Creek.  Although I live about 1 ½ hours from this area I stand with the citizens there and I fear that this is just the beginning of many more permit releases.  We believed you when you spoke about “zeroing out valley fills”.  Where I am from, sometimes all you have is your word.  People here have historically made life altering decisions on nothing more than a handshake and their  word.

I am a 54 year old widow of a coal miner and the most important thing to me is clean drinking water for my grandchildren.  I don’t believe that is possible if we continue to destroy and cover head water streams in Appalachia.  Once again, I have lost hope.  Please don’t let this be the final word on Pine Creek Surface Mine.

Thank you.

I hoped that the MTR guidelines would provide protection for headwater streams by curbing the practice of dumping waste in neighboring valleys to create what is known as valley fills. The Pine Creek permit is the first test of these guidelines, and green lights three new valley fills (each over 40 acres large).

It was anticipated that these guidelines, by requiring mining operators to control levels of toxins in nearby streams, would significantly reduce the dumping of mining waste in valleys, which the EPA said was scientifically proven to contaminate drinking water and wreck ecosystems.

This is a devastating first decision under guidelines that had offered so much hope for Appalachian residents who thought the EPA was standing up for their health and water quality in the face of a horrific mining practice. The grand words being spoken by Administrator Jackson in DC are simply not being reflected in the EPA’s actions on-the-ground. This continues the inconsistent and contradictory decisions that have plagued the EPA’s process on mountaintop removal coal mining all along.

In announcing the new guidelines in April, Administrator Jackson told reporters: “We expect this guidance to change behaviors, to change actions, because if we keep doing what we have been doing, we’re going to see continued degradation of water quality… Minimizing the number of valley fills is a very, very key factor. You’re talking about no or very few valley fills that are going to be able to meet standards like this.”

The Pine Creek Surface Mine permit will allow Coal-Mac, a subsidiary of coal giant Arch coal, to mine through more than 2 miles of streams that are already suffering dangerous levels of pollution from surface mining. Extensive mountaintop removal mining and the subsequent environmental and water quality damage have already ravaged Logan County W.Va., which is the location of the infamous Spruce mine.

Moving forward, it is clear that the EPA cannot end mountaintop removal coal mining pollution without abolishing mountaintop removal all together.

The Pine Creek permit is currently awaiting approval from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Spruce Mine: Photo Courtesy of OVEC

We must thank the 9,263 RAN activists who submitted a public comment to Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, urging that she hold firm and veto the Spruce Mine permit, protect over 2,000 acres of forest and save more than seven miles of streams.

We need to prevent further situations like this – by ensuring that new mine permits do not get approved.

Back in April the EPA announced strong new guidance on mountaintop removal permits. While we hope that these guidelines should prohibit most new MTR operations and their valley fills, this summer we will find out what it really means in practice for the communities on the ground in Appalachia.

We need the EPA to stand firm to their commitments and reject all new permits to mine mountaintop removal coal from the beautiful Appalachian Mountain range.

The coal industry is still trying to blow up some of the most pristine mountains and applying for permits from the EPA to do this. This is not acceptable.

Over the coming weeks and months we will highlight some of the places that King Coal is trying to plunder and call on the EPA to stand firm and live up to their title – to protect our environment.

Please take action today and ask EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to reject all new MTR permits.

We are watching closely and we hold the administration accountable for their actions, to ensure MTR really ends in 2010.

MTR Activists Lock Down At EPA

Photos by Chris Eichler

Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA: “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They’ll Bring the Mountains to Her”

At 7:00 am this morning, a dozen brave activists released a 25-foot banner on the lawn of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. The message on the banner calls on the EPA to pledge to end mountaintop removal coal mining in 2010. But there’s a catch—the banner and two of its holders are suspended from two freestanding tripods 20-feet above the air, and after seven hours they are still hanging there with no sign of coming down.

Today’s protest is an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains and contaminates drinking water all for a tiny amount of coal. Activists in today’s protest saythey won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which, shockingly, she has never done before.

After seven hours, Administrator Jackson has made no such commitment. However, a few hours ago she tweeted her response to the protest gathering attention outside her window. As Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”

It is very clear that the EPA is listening to the message being brought to their doorstep. However, at this point in the battle to end mountaintop removal coal mining, the question isn’t about whether Administrator Jackson is concerned about the issue. The question is what is her agency going to really do about it?

Despite the Obama administration’s big announcement last year that it was going to take “unprecedented steps” to reduce the environmental damage from mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia, the EPA has been slow moving. Two weeks ago, the EPA delayed action on a set of broad-ranging and specific measures to reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal, after details of the plan were leaked to coal-state mining regulators. The EPA has for months been close to finalizing these permit guidelines, which many hope will mandate tougher protections to limit damage to water quality and be a step in the right direction toward abolishing the practice.

Based on EPA Administrator Jackson’s statements on March 8th at the National Press Club, it appears that the EPA is seeking ways to “minimize” the ecological damage of mountaintop mining rather than halt the most extreme strip mining practice. A paper released in January by a dozen leading scientists in the journal Science, however, concluded that mountaintop coal mining is so destructive that the government should stop giving out new permits all together. “The science is so overwhelming that the only conclusion that one can reach is that mountaintop mining needs to be stopped,” said Margaret Palmer, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences and the study’s lead author.

The science has become clear that mountaintop removal is harming water resources in real and measurable ways. The EPA definitely can and must do much more on mountaintop mining and that includes exercising its full regulatory authority to block every single mining permit application that seeks to remove America’s oldest mountaintops and dump the waste into waterways.

As Kate Finneran, one of the two main climbers in today’s protest, said from her 20-foot high perch: “Mountaintop removal cannot be regulated. It must be abolished. Otherwise, we will continue to jeopardize our historic mountains, precious drinking water and especially the lives of the people who call Appalachia home. All of this for a tiny percent of dirty coal, the trade off doesn’t add up”

Want to support today’s protesters as they continue to defend Appalachia’s historic mountains?

TAKE ACTION

1. Facebook Action: Comment on the Lisa Jackson’s Facebook page, and ask her to “Please go to Appalachia and see for yourself, it’s time to end MTR!” Facebook.com/lisapjackson

2. Twitter Action: Follow and Retweet @RAN’s tweets about MTR, including:

Dear @LisaPJackson, Over 470 American mountains are gone forever. How many more will it take for @EPAgov to ban #MTR #coal? #GoToAppalachia!

The Appalachian Mountains are being being blown to bits. To protest, tweet @LisaPJackson #GoToAppalachia!

They were taken between 1984 and 2009 at the Hobet mine site in Boone County, West Virginia.

You can see through the time lapse the scale of the deforestation that has taken place, followed by the leveling of the mountain tops and filling of the valleys.

This is the same Hobet mine that was recently awarded a permit to expand by the EPA.

We urge EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to examine this practice firsthand, and take a citizen-led flyover of Appalachia before she considers issuing any further MTR mining permits.

If you live in the Southeast and want to do something for the struggle against mountaintop removal coal mining come on over to Atlanta March 1st to tell the EPA to ban MTR.

End Mountain Top Removal!
* Rally for the Mountains in Atlanta *
1:00 pm Monday, March 1st
EPA Region 4 Headquarters
Meet outside the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center
61 Forsyth Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30303

To date, the practice of mountain top removal coal mining has leveled more than 800 square miles of mountains across Appalachia, destroyed over 2,000 miles of freshwater streams, and poisoned and displaced countless communities that call the mountains home. Each working day, 3,000,000 pounds of explosives are used against the mountains of West Virginia alone.

It is time to end this tragedy. On March 1st, join Asheville Rising Tide, Rainforest Action Network and other allies as we demand that the EPA do their job to protect the land, water, and livelihoods of Appalachian coalfields residents. EPA’s Region 4 office in Atlanta has the power to stop granting new mountain top removal mining permits, and the EPA nationally has the power to ban this devastating practice forever. They need to hear from us!

Help shine a spotlight on the central role that our regional decision-makers play in perpetuating the practice of mountain top removal. Come out on March 1st and show your support for the mountains and communities of Appalachia!

For more information, check out www.ran.org, dirtymoney@ran.org or call 828-280-3462.

The activists were demanding that Ms.Jackson end blasting on Coal River Mountain in Coal River, WV. The mountain is the site of a campaign by local residents for a commercial-scale wind farm. A wind resources assessment and economic study commissioned by the group Coal River Mountain Watch in 2008 revealed that Coal River Mountain has enough wind potential to provide electricity for over 85,000 homes.

Instead, the EPA has allowed Massey Energy, one of the largest coal producers in the country, to begin blasting at Coal River Mountain as part of mountaintop removal mining excavation. The blasting is occurring near the Brushy Fork impoundment, the largest slurry dam in Appalachia. Critics of mountaintop removal argue that an estimated 1,000 lives are at risk if the dam at Brushy Fork were to fail. Last December, a containment pond in Kingston, Tennessee burst, flooding the area with over one billion gallons of coal ash sludge, producing the largest environmental disaster in United States history.

Attendees to the APHA’s annual meeting were given flyers on their way into the opening session urging them to “Tell Lisa Jackson: Save Coal River Mountain.” Ms. Jackson and the EPA have been the targets of a campaign by a coalition of environmental groups working to end mountaintop removal for several months.