Manchin says EPA is 'anti-, anti-, anti-coal'

Dec 21 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Mannix Porterfield The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.

There is no mystery in Sen. Joe Manchin's mind as to why the Environmental Protection Agency is dragging its feet on stalled coal mining permits in West Virginia.

"They are anti-, anti-, anti-coal," the freshman Democrat said, three times for emphasis, as he and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, also D-W.Va., dispatched a letter to the EPA, urging swift approval of the Spruce No. 1 permit in Mingo County, where 200 jobs with benefits and an average $65,000 annual salary hang in the balance.

Industrial leaders have attacked the EPA in recent months for delaying action on 20-plus permits in West Virginia, arguing that some are at extreme risk because investors cannot put up money without a measure of certainty.

"Everything is in jeopardy," Manchin told The Register-Herald Monday.

"And that's what we're fighting them so hard on. No one will invest. They won't commit those types of money toward these projects if they don't know if there's going to be an ability to get a return for them, or if they're in jeopardy."

Manchin complained that the EPA has a fixed mindset about coal, despite efforts by him and other West Virginia leaders, including his successor, acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, to convince the agency otherwise.

"They think coal is dirty and there's no upside to it," the senator said.

"They don't understand coal made the country, that coal is the only dependable, reliable, domestic energy that we have. That it kept the country free and fought the wars and built the industrial might we have. This is what we're dealing with."

Contrasted with environmental standards half a century ago, Manchin said major strides have been taken to make coal cleaner in the modern era.

"We've cleaned up the atmosphere in two decades more than ever before in history," he said.

"We can do even more as long as they're working with us and not against us. Right now, they're putting up more obstacles through regulations and legislation that could increase the price for no other reason except it's not their agenda."

Only on a dozen occasions has the EPA used the Clean Water Act as a reason to veto a mining permit since 1972, and faces a Feb. 22 court-imposed deadline for acting on the one pending for Spruce No. 1.

"The Spruce No. 1 has made good faith efforts to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and this permit was issued by the Army Corps of Engineers almost four years ago," Rockefeller said in a letter he and Manchin sent to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

"This has been going on for too long. It is wrong and unfair for the EPA to change the rules for a permit that is already active."

Manchin said a balance is needed between environmental concerns and economic considerations.

"This country has been growing and will continue to grow," he said.

"We can do it in a much more balanced environmental and economic way."

-- E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com