State legislation would forbid heavy EPA finesMar 13 - Mannix Porterfield The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
A House-passed bill viewed as critical by West Virginia coal operators, forbidding the federal Environmental Protection Agency from imposing heavy fines for excessive selenium in water, cleared its first hurdle Tuesday in the Senate. Absent any discussion or amendments, the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee passed HB2579 unanimously and sent it on to the judiciary panel. Chris Hamilton, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said the measure is "important to our survival here in central Appalachian, no question about it." The bill is meant to allow the state Department of Environmental Protection to work with the industry to produce science needed to justify any change in the standard, without actually altering the existing practice. In the interim, the federal government cannot fine mine owners for violating existing standards. Hamilton said selenium poses no threat to either human or aquatic life. "That's the interesting thing about this," he said. "Human health standards are 50 parts per billion. What's being enforced currently is 5 parts. From a human health standpoint, it's 10 times greater than what the standard is for one particular species of aquatic life." Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, a member of the panel, termed the selenium controversy as "one of the key issues that EPA is attacking the West Virginia coal industry." The House bill was crafted by Delegate Rupie Phillips Jr., D-Logan, and strongly backed. One southern lawmaker, Delegate Clif Moore, D-McDowell, quoted a physician as saying selenium is prescribed in extra does for prostrate cancer patients. "It's a naturally occurring element," Green said. "I think with us passing this legislation, it will solidify and let the coal industry know what the rules are, what the boundaries are, with this naturally occurring element and give them some predictability to what, where and how they need to move forward." Any element in an over-abundant supply can be considered detrimental, the senator said. "I think levels we're looking at are very well documented to be safe to not only the human population, but the aquatic population as well," Green added. --- In other developments, the Senate committee approved SB463 raising the annual fees collected in 3-inch pipelines per mile so that the Public Service Commission can increase its account from $315,500 to $400,000. And, the committee approved SB245 that contains a confidentiality clause for horizontal gas well operations in emergencies so that only the names of their chemicals for fracking are disclosed and not the formula itself. The idea is to maintain a safeguard for drilling firms so that their "recipes" cannot be seen by rival operations, the committee was told by a DEP official. Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, a physician, voiced concern that a doctor in an emergency room wouldn't have instant access to the type of chemicals a patient had been exposed to, but an industry spokesman assured him such information would be readily available. -- E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=27902274 |