Rob Perks's Blog
Facing Coal Hard Facts at Interior Department
Rob Perks
Director, Center for Advocacy Campaigns,
Posted November 3, 2009
in Curbing Pollution , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
, Solving Global Warming
What is up with the U.S. Department
of Interior these days? Unlike the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
which appears to be walking the walk on mountaintop
removal coal mining thanks to EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson's leadership, it's quite another story over at DOI. How else to
explain the latter agency's rather ham-handed approach on coal-related issues
of late?
First, there's DOI's
apparent slow-walk on fixing the infamous Bush administration regulatory
change from last December, which relaxed environmental protections to
allow the dumping of coal mining waste into waterways. Back in
April, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
boldly blasted President Bush's 'midnight regulation'
and moved to revoke it in favor of the original, more stringent rule
protecting "stream buffer zones"
from mining waste enacted back in 1983.
Reversing that bad Bush buffer
zone rule is a cornerstone of the Obama
administration expressed commitment to right the
wrongs of mountaintop removal. Granted, over the summer a federal judge
blocked Salazar's effort to vacate the regulation without public
comment. But that doesn't excuse the Interior Department for
announcing a brand new rulemaking process that won't result in any changes
to the rule until at least 2011. The agency
could -- and should --
have published proposed changes right away and proceeded straight
to public input.
Interior's inexplicable and
inexcusable decision to delay appropriate regulatory action is a setback
for the protection of Appalachian streams and rivers, as well as for
the people who depend on clean drinking water in the areas affected
by mountaintop removal. Clearly, the last-minute rulemaking under the
Bush administration was a giveaway to coal mining companies,
leaving
This disappointing
decision by the Interior Department is compounded by
the concerns among many that the agency is somehow less committed to
righting the coal industry's environmental
wrongs. Anxiety about the agency's direction in this area is
reflected in the Obama administration's nominee to
head a key DOI sub-agency, the Office
of Surface Mining. Joseph Pizarchik, the
administration's pick, has been roundly criticized by grassroots environmental
activists and coalfield residents who charge that Pizarchik has
proved to be a friend of coal during his service as the director of
Under Pizarchik's
watch, critics cite problems with his leadership on many issues, most
notably the contoversial practice of longwall mining, which has
expanded in the state in recent years, wreaking havoc on
both waterways and property in the state. According to media reports, residents say Pizarchik did not enforce existing regulations as the head
of the office, and that since 2006, the department has
made it considerably more difficult for residents to comment on mining permit
applications. Public meetings are less frequent and often held during work
hours, they say.
The U.S. Senate
has yet to confirm Pizarchik for the OSM post, and a
number of local citizens groups and environmental organizations are actively
opposing his nomination. "He's unacceptable," said Aimee
Erickson, coordinator of the Citizens Coal Council.
Pizarchik
certainly didn't help himself during his testimony back in
August before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee,
when he essentially whiffed on a question about mountaintop removal.
Although not a common mining practice in
There you have it: perhaps the
world's worst answer to a question about the world's worst coal mining.
Certainly, it's not to much for Appalachian residents living with the dire
environmental consequences of this reckless mining practice to expect
that the head of OSM would already understand the pertinent facts
surrounding what is, in effect, the world's worst coal mining.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), one
of two senators on the committee who voted against Pizarchik's
nomination, explained his rationale in a
statement: "Transitioning to a new, clean-energy economy requires
people who are willing to break free from the inertia of doing things the way
they have always been done...I do not believe Mr. Pizarchik
is willing to look at these issues with a fresh eye."
Since then, Pizarchik's
appointment has been held up from a floor vote due to an
"anonymous hold" placed by a senator. Yet, Interior
Secretary Salazar continues to stand by his pick to lead OSM, saying
in statement that Pizarchik is
the "right man at the right time" for the job who will "help
move the department forward with coal production in an environmentally
responsible way."
Say it ain't
so, Secretary Salazar. At a time when more and more people across the
nation are clamoring for clean energy and questioning the dirty energy status
quo, it's time for clarity, not confused signals from federal agencies --
especially in so far as mountaintop removal is concerned