Appalachia:
“The Obama administration is proposing a record fine for
thousands of water pollution violations by coal mine operators in five
Appalachian states. Alpha Natural Resources Inc., the nation's third-largest
coal supplier, will pay a $27.5 million fine and spend $200 million to reduce
illegal toxic discharges from 79 mines and 25 coal processing facilities in
West Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky.
The deal, which marks the largest fine ever for violations
of water pollution limits, was filed in federal court Wednesday. It comes after
a series of coal-related spills in West Virginia and North Carolina have raised
questions about whether state and federal environmental officials are doing
enough to curb water pollution from companies mining, processing, transporting
and burning coal. Advocacy groups said that environmental officials should do
more to prevent pollution from entering waterways.
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and
Justice Department characterized the deal as historic and said the fine was
large enough to deter others in the coal industry from flouting the law. But
advocacy groups said state and federal authorities needed to do more to prevent
the pollution from occurring in the first place. Environmental groups have
filed lawsuits in several states to enforce the law in situations where they
have felt the state and federal government have fallen short. In West Virginia,
lawmakers and the governor have tried to thwart those efforts with legislation.”
~Writes Dina Cappiello of the Richmond Times Dispatch
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