Limit the Destruction Caused By Mountaintop Removal Mining
- by: Save Our Environment
- recipient: Mr. John Forren, U.S. EPA (3EA30)
DON'T DESTROY OUR MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEM!
The immediate and long-term environmental effects of mountaintop removal coal mining are severe and irreversible, according to recently released studies accompanying a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Hundreds of miles of streams have been buried, hundreds of square miles of forested mountains flattened, and generations-old communities of coalfield residents have been forced from their homes by this extremely destructive mining practice.
The EIS is supposed to suggest ways to limit the environmental harm caused by mountaintop removal. Yet, the Bush administration is suggesting just the opposite: it wants to allow mountaintop removal to continue and even make it easier for coal mining companies to get permits for this form of mining.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Bush administration it must consider alternatives that would limit the harmful effects of mountaintop removal coal mining, not weaken existing environmental protections. THE DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED! The current deadline for submitting comments is January 21st, 2004. We encourage you to take action right away.
The immediate and long-term environmental effects of mountaintop removal coal mining are severe and irreversible, according to recently released studies accompanying a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Hundreds of miles of streams have been buried, hundreds of square miles of forested mountains flattened, and generations-old communities of coalfield residents have been forced from their homes by this extremely destructive mining practice.
The EIS is supposed to suggest ways to limit the environmental harm caused by mountaintop removal. Yet, the Bush administration is suggesting just the opposite: it wants to allow mountaintop removal to continue and even make it easier for coal mining companies to get permits for this form of mining.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the Bush administration it must consider alternatives that would limit the harmful effects of mountaintop removal coal mining, not weaken existing environmental protections. THE DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED! The current deadline for submitting comments is January 21st, 2004. We encourage you to take action right away.
Dear Mr. Forren,
I am upset to learn that the Bush administration plans to continue to let coal companies destroy Appalachia with mining practices that level mountaintops, wipe out forests, bury streams, and destroy communities.
According to the administration's draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on mountaintop removal coal mining, the environmental effects of mountaintop removal are widespread, devastating, and permanent. Yet the draft EIS proposes no restrictions on the size of valley fills that bury streams, no limits on the number of acres of forest that can be destroyed, no protections for imperiled wildlife, and no safeguards for the communities of people that depend on the region's natural resources for themselves and future generations.
The Bush administration's "preferred alternative" for addressing the problems caused by mountaintop removal coal mining is to weaken existing environmental protections. This "preferred alternative" ignores the administration's own studies detailing the devastation caused by mountaintop removal coal mining, including:
- over 1200 miles of streams have been damaged or destroyed by mountaintop removal;
- direct impacts to streams would be greatly lessened by reducing the size of the valley fills where mining wastes are dumped on top of streams;
- the total of past, present and estimated future forest losses is 1.4 million acres;
- forest losses in West Virginia have the potential of directly impacting as many as 244 vertebrate wildlife species;
- without new limits on mountaintop removal, an additional 350 square miles of mountains, streams, and forests will be flattened and destroyed by mountaintop removal mining.
In light of these facts, I urge you to consider alternatives that reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
Sign PetitionSign PetitionI am upset to learn that the Bush administration plans to continue to let coal companies destroy Appalachia with mining practices that level mountaintops, wipe out forests, bury streams, and destroy communities.
According to the administration's draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on mountaintop removal coal mining, the environmental effects of mountaintop removal are widespread, devastating, and permanent. Yet the draft EIS proposes no restrictions on the size of valley fills that bury streams, no limits on the number of acres of forest that can be destroyed, no protections for imperiled wildlife, and no safeguards for the communities of people that depend on the region's natural resources for themselves and future generations.
The Bush administration's "preferred alternative" for addressing the problems caused by mountaintop removal coal mining is to weaken existing environmental protections. This "preferred alternative" ignores the administration's own studies detailing the devastation caused by mountaintop removal coal mining, including:
- over 1200 miles of streams have been damaged or destroyed by mountaintop removal;
- direct impacts to streams would be greatly lessened by reducing the size of the valley fills where mining wastes are dumped on top of streams;
- the total of past, present and estimated future forest losses is 1.4 million acres;
- forest losses in West Virginia have the potential of directly impacting as many as 244 vertebrate wildlife species;
- without new limits on mountaintop removal, an additional 350 square miles of mountains, streams, and forests will be flattened and destroyed by mountaintop removal mining.
In light of these facts, I urge you to consider alternatives that reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
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