United States Region lit
Environmental Protection 6th and Walnut Streets
Agency Philadelphia, PA. 19106 January 1980
Coal Mining
And A Clean Environment
Can't West Virginia Have Both
In the future, more and more people will be switching to coal for heating their homes and running
their industries. The supply of coal available from existing mines will not be able to meet this
increasing demand. Therefore, New Sources of coal must be developed. The State of West Virginia
possesses a wealth of untouched coal resources, and it is anticipated that over 200 New coal mines
will begin operations in your State this year.
The Environmental Protection Agency —Region III has the responsibility to safeguard the State of
West Virginia against any environmental damage which might result from these New mining
operations. On the other hand, the Agency realizes that unnecessary delays in opening these New
mines may upset the economic structure of the State and decrease the supply of energy available
for homes and industries. Based on these considerations. Region III completed areawide
environmental studies of the Geuley River Basin and the Monongahela River Basin.
During the next several months, the Environmental Protection Agency will be. collecting environ-
mental information in five additional river basin areas: Coal/Kanawha, Elk, Ohio/Little Kanawha,
North Branch Potomac, and the Ouyandotte/Big Sandy/Tug Fork/Twelve Pole. Decisions have to be
made on which areas can be mined and which areas cannot be mined- The Environmental
Protection Agency needs your help in maklnQ the right decisions. Each of You has Individual concerns
and interests which should be considered in this decision-making process. Once coal mining is per-
mitted or denied in a certain area, You will have to live with the results. The decisions made today
win affect Your future and the future of the State of West Virginia.
8o, Listen, Bead, Learn, Attend the Public Meeting and Let your Opinions be heard.
The Region III Office of the Environmental Protection Agency invites You — citizens of West
Virginia, other federal agencies, state and local officials, and the coal industry — to join hands and
work together towards the conservation of the environmental attributes of the State of West
Virginia and the utilization of valuable New energy resources.
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West Virginia
Coal Mining
and EPA
In order to understand the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) responsibility
concerning the effects New mining will
have on West Virginia's environment, we
must first take a look at the 1972 law,
enacted by Congress, to cleanup our Na-
tion's waterways. This law is the Clean
Water Act, Under this taw, the Environ-
mental Protection Agency was given the
prime responsibility to see that nobody —
city or town, industry, government agen-
cy, or individual — pollutes our waters.
This law was designed to take care of
pollution from both existing and future
sources.
The first part of this law required the
Environmental Protection Agency to es-
tablish "effluent limitations" for all exist-
ing industries — including the coal mining
industry. An "effluent limitation" is simply
the maximum amount of a pollutant that
anyone may discharge into a body of
water. In order to apply the effluent limits
to industries, the 1972 law also created
the National Pollution Discharge Elimina-
tion System (NPDES). Under this pro-
gram, it is illegal for any industry to
discharge any pollutant into our Nation's
waters without a "permit-to-discharge" or
"NPDES permit" from the Environmental
Protection Agency. When issued, the per-
mit specifies what pollutants and how
much of each pollutant may be dis-
charged by the mining operation into a
certain body of water.
The second phase of the 1972 law gave
the Environmental Protection Agency the
responsibility to develop "effluent limita-
tions" for all New industries. The law also
says that an environmental review will be
conducted by the Agency before issuing a
"permit-to-discharge" to certain industrial
processes that may significantly contrib-
ute to the pollution of the environment.
When conducting an environmental re-
view, the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy looks at the industry's effects on all
aspects of the environment not just its
effects on water quality. An Environmen-
tal Impact Statement (EIS), which consists
of a detailed environmental analysis with
enhanced public participation require-
ments, may be required.
As this law pertains to the coal industry,
the Environmental Protection Agency pro-
mulgated "effluent limitations" for coal
mines which fall into the New Source
category. These limitations were pub-
lished on January 12, 1979. Below is an
excerpt from the January 12,1979 regula-
tions explaining the factors which deter-
mine whether or not a coal mine is
considered a New Source.
"The term new source coal mine shall mean a coal
mine which: (1) was not assigned the applicable
Mining Enforcement Safety Administration
(MESA) identification number . . . prior to
(1/12/79), or (2) is determined by the Regional
Administrator to constitute a substantially new
operation... [even if the applicable MESA identifi-
cation number is assigned prior to (1/12/79)]. In
making this determination, the Regional Adminis-
trator shall take into account the occurrence of one
or more of the following events, in connection
with the mine for which the NPDES permit is
being considered:
(a) A mine operation initiates extraction of a
coal seam not previously extracted by that
mine.
(b) A mine operation discharges into a drain-
age area not previously affected by waste
water discharges from the mine.
(c) A mine operation causes extensive new
surface disruption.
Id) A mine operation initiates construction of
a new shaft, slope, or drift.
(e) A mine operation makes significant capital
investment in additional equipment or ad-
ditional facilities.
(f) Such other factors as the Regional Admin-
istrator deems relevant."
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How the New
"egulations Work
Region Ill's Areawide
Approach
Environment Prmecti® n Ie9Uiations'
J°rm a general envhSn AgencV will per-
0r® issuing a "n*. ^men'a' review be-
any New coal m;n?mit"to"discharge'' to
£• ^ss^ssr^- Ba^d °°
following three actions ^o'ccT °f the
cha^ge',,becaUuesehe "permit-to-dis-
*ronmenta?he"'
mine is opened Th^ - ?ccur if the
'Finding of No Sinn%'S OWn as a
(FONSI) Significant Impact"
di8cteW'°becauLth* ".permit'to-
v,ronmental hafm significant en-
mine is opened °ccur if the
the. Permif'unlf* a'^T06 of
environmental rli? ro detai'ed
fonmental Impact s^ °r an Envi"
's completed.^ anS^ernen» entaJ Protection Aaen-
wi%nTPleted areaS &
River Ba«in "T"9 Studies on the Gauley
and Portions of the Monoga
data on [he3 olhe?^'8 cuKrrent|V collecting
boundaries for ^hl ¦ n ««»« (the
s,n "Ms "e ou'-
studied are characterized as follows:
1' DmZn!ltiVe areas which can be
*ed Wlth the "se of existing
pollution standards
2' ednhi!'\tareaS that can be P^tect-
ed by the use of more strinaent
permit conditions. 0 t
3' ronm«n^S|enSitiVe that furtherenvi-
tataTSS reV'ew must be under"
needed.8 ^ 8PSCifiC E,S
mental study. Region III is also consider-
ing preparing a general permit which can
be issued to any New Source in a nonsen*
sitive area. This general permit will re-
quire specific discharge standards on a
basin by basin, stream by stream, or
stream segment by stream segment basis.
Standards will be based on new source
standards of performance previously
adopted by EPA.
Many proposed mines to be located in
sensitive areas will only be required to
meet certain additional permit conditions.
As an example, additional controls for
iron discharges may be required because
the stream has either very high water
quality that should be protected, because
trout in the stream must be protected, or
because stream quality is such that further
degradation could easily take place. Re-
gion III is proposing that, in such in-
stances, an iron discharge standard of 1.0
mg/1 be maintained rather than the nor-
mal 3.0 mg/1 New Source standard. If the
applicant refuses to accept the 1.0 mg/1
standard, a permit will not be issued, and
further study will be undertaken to deter*
mine the possible impacts of the source.
Sources proposed to be located in vary
sensitive areas will be subject to a de-
tailed environmental review with the pos-
sibility of an Environmental Impact
Statement.
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EPA NEW SOURCE NPDES PERMIT
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Public
Involvement
comments and inquiries throughout this
Inventory/Assessment. Please feel free
to contact the following Basin Coordinators
for more information:
Guyandotte/Big Sandy/Tug Fork/Twelve Pole
River Basin
Joseph Andrea
WAPORA, Inc.
511 Old Lancaster Road
Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312
215/647-9000
Coal/Kanawha River Basin
Dr. Phillip Phillips
YOU can help the Environmental Protec- WAPORA, Inc.
tion Agency in these Studies and through- 35 e. Wacker Drive
out the "Environmental Assessment" Suite 490
Process. The Environmental Protection Chicago, Illinois 60601
Agency would like to know your opinions 312/236-6023
of this areawide approach and what as-
pects of the environment YOU feel should River Basin
be most protected from the effects of coal
mining activity. Elizabeth Righter
WAPORA, Inc.
To aid EPA and WAPORA, Inc. (EPA's 511 Old Lancaster Road
assisting contractor) in gathering all infor- Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312
mation and to provide periodic progress 215/647-9000
reports to the public, EPA is forming
Citizen Information Groups (CIG's) in each Ohio/Little Kanawha
of the five new basin areas. These CIG's
will meet periodically with the appropriate Wesley Horner
WAPORA Basin Coordinator (listed on this WAPORA, Inc.
page) to exchange information and dis- 511 Old Lancaster Road
cuss the progress of the environmental Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312
inventory in that basin. CIG members will
have frequent telephone contact with the North Branch Potomac River Basin
basin coordinator in addition to receiving
monthly progress letters. Active, informed Richard Lowery
citizens who feel that they can contribute WAPORA, Inc.
to a better understanding of the localized 6900 Wisconsin Avenue
environmental effects of coal mining are Chevy Chase, Maryland 20015
urged to contact the specific basin coordi- 301/652-9520
nator to arrange participation in a CIG.
In addition to the Citizen Information
Group meetings, EPA will also hold gener-
al public meetings in West Virginia to
explain the areawide approach and kickoff
the public participation process. The
meeting schedule is also listed on this
page. Look for announcements of these
public meetings in your newspaper's Local
News Section or contact the Environmental
Protection Agency if you wish to be put on
their mailing list. Region III welcomes all
Public Meeting
Schedule
West Virginia Department of
Natural Resources
Water Resources Division
1201 Greenbrier Street
Charleston, West Virginia 25301
January 30, 1980
7:00 p.m.
National Mine Health Safety
Administration Training Academy
Auditorium
Airport Road (off Route 3 East)
Beckley, West Virginia 25601
January 31, 1980
7:00 p.m.
Allegheny County Community College
Theater
Willow Brook Road
Cumberland, Maryland 21502
February 4, 1980
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia Northern Community
College
Auditorium
College Square
17th and Market Streets
Wheeling, West Virginia 26003
February 5,1980
7:00 p.m.
General inquiries may be directed to Mr. Joseph
Piotrowski, Areawide NEPA Coordinator, Environ-
mental Protection agency — Region III (3IR61). 6th
and Walnut Streets. Philadelphia. Pennsylvania
19106. 215/597-8331.
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