Coal Combustion Residuals – Proposed Rule
Coal Combustion Residuals, often referred to as coal ash, are currently considered exempt wastes under an amendment to RCRA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. They are residues from the combustion of coal in power plants and captured by pollution control technologies, like scrubbers. Potential environmental concerns from coal ash pertain to pollution from impoundment and landfills leaching into ground water and structural failures of impoundments, like that which occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plant in Kingston, Tennessee. The need for national management criteria was emphasized by the December 2008 spill of CCRs from a surface impoundment near Kingston, TN. The tragic spill flooded more than 300 acres of land with CCRs and flowed into the Emory and Clinch rivers. EPA is proposing to regulate for the first time coal ash to address the risks from the disposal of the wastes generated by electric utilities and independent power producers. EPA is considering two possible options for the management of coal ash for public comment. See proposed rule.

All of the dates, locations and pre-registration information can be found  here.

To pre-register to speak at the hearings, you can also call 703.308.8429 or sign up online   here.

Unsolved Coal Ash Problem
September 5 2010- New York Times editorial
In December 2008, a gigantic storage pond belonging to the Tennessee Valley Authority near Kingston, Tenn., effectively burst at the seams, spilling a billion gallons of mainly toxic coal ash from a T.V.A. power plant into surrounding lands and rivers.
It was the perfect moment to right a long-festering environmental wrong. The Environmental Protection Agency promised tough new regulations governing the disposal of coal ash. Industry complained. The White House hesitated. Nothing happened.
The administration can redeem itself in the weeks ahead. Last Monday, the E.P.A. held the first in a series of regional hearings on two quite different proposals governing how coal-fired power plants dispose of waste.
One proposal, favored by public-interest groups and by agency scientists, would replace a patchwork of uneven — and in many cases weak — state regulations with new national standards. It would formally designate coal ash as a hazardous waste under federal law, require industry to phase out porous sludge ponds, replace them with sturdy, leak-proof facilities, and take other protective steps.
The competing proposal would establish federal guidelines for disposal but leave enforcement to the states. It would also preserve coal ash’s status as a nonhazardous substance. Though the proposal barely improves on the status quo, the Office of Management and Budget — after heavy lobbying by the coal industry — agreed to give it equal billing in the public hearings. Read entire article.

EPA plan would close S. Carolina dump sites
By Sammy Fretwell- Monday, September 6, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – About 20 power company dump sites, some of which have leaked poisonous coal residue into groundwater, face closure in South Carolina under a federal plan to protect the environment from electric utility waste.
South Carolina’s coal ash ponds include a pair in lower Richland County that are the source of increasing community complaints. Arsenic has seeped from the SCE&G ponds into groundwater and trickled into the nearby Wateree River just upstream from Congaree National Park.
The Environmental Protection Agency plan, to be discussed at a hearing Sept. 14 in Charlotte, faces vigorous opposition from power companies worried about the cost of closing coal waste ponds and its impact on their recycling efforts. The ponds collect coal waste left over from the generation of electricity.
But plan supporters say stronger federal rules would protect well water and rivers threatened by arsenic and other toxic materials contained in coal ash. Short-term exposure to arsenic can cause nausea, vomiting and skin disorders, while long-term exposure to some forms of arsenic has been tied to cancer.
The EPA proposal, which does not need congressional approval, was discussed at hearings this past week in Virginia and Colorado.
Environmentalists have voiced concerns about the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s commitment to protect the area’s groundwater, Catawba riverkeeper David Merryman said.
“The main comments were that time after time, DHEC has proven they are not willing to do anything about it,” he said. Read entire article.

Tainted wells anger residents
Utility denies plant is contamination source
By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel- Sept. 6, 2010
Caledonia — Dozens of private wells near the Oak Creek coal-fired power plant have elevated levels of a metal called molybdenum, and We Energies is providing some homeowners in the area with bottled water for drinking and cooking.
An investigation by the state Department of Natural Resources has not determined the source of the metal, which is considered a health risk when consumed at high levels.
The We Energies plant in Oak Creek is a potential source of molybdenum, but environmental regulators are also investigating a longtime landfill in Caledonia, west of the tainted wells, that is now a Superfund site.
The Milwaukee utility said its environmental consultant has concluded that its power plant is not the source of the contamination, but environmental groups dispute that. The DNR has not pinpointed a source.
Caught in the mess are homeowners, some of whom have lived in the area for decades. Unable to drink their water, and concerned about the impact of the problem on their property values, they wait for an answer.
“I just wish I could sell my house and get out of here,” said Josey Dorval, who has been living on her nearly 3-acre property since 1989. “It’s too big for me, and it’s too much for me since my husband died. Now who’s going to buy it with bad water?”
Frank Williams agreed. The retiree is one of dozens of homeowners who have been supplied with bottled water by We Energies for the past year after groundwater tests of well water found the elevated levels of molybdenum.
“We can’t say we want to sell our home, but if you’ve got bad well water and that’s the only drinking water you’ve got, who’s going to buy it?” he said.
At issue is a metal that’s found in the Earth’s crust and is used in industrial processes. It’s also found in coal ash – and three coal ash landfills on the Oak Creek power plant property are near the tainted wells. Read entire article.

• Knoxville News Sentinel

Alexander asks EPA for coal-ash hearing in Roane County
By Michael Collins- Knoxnews
September 1, 2010 WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold a hearing in Roane County on proposed federal regulations for the disposal of toxic coal ash.
The Maryville Republican sent a letter Tuesday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson arguing that a hearing should be held in East Tennessee in light of the catastrophic coal-ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in December 2008.
“That spill displaced residents, caused significant environmental damage, and may require up to $1.2 billion in clean-up costs,” the letter said. “Given this tragic event, the people of Tennessee have a unique perspective on this issue that would be beneficial to EPA while you are writing a final rule.” Read entire article.

4-State power company keeping an eye on coal ash hearings in Virginia
Aug 30, 2010- KOAM TV Monday is the first of a series of public hearings regarding federally regulating coal ash.  The hearings are taking place in Virginia but is getting attention from all across the U.S. A Riverton, Kansas coal fired energy plant took the time to explain how it stores its ash, and what a federal mandate would mean.
Coal is used to produce the energy we use at the Riverton plant, but after the coal is used, there are some leftovers. Julie Maus of Empire District Electric says some is sold and the the rest “is stored on site in an earthen containment structure.” That coal ash that is stored is currently not regulated by the EPA. What could be leaking out if it is not stored properly is what concerns environmentalists. “That’s what we want, is for what isn’t sold to be deemed a hazardous waste and stored as such,” says Grand River keeper Earl Hatley.  “Mercury is a neurotoxin, just like lead in young children, it takes away IQ.  In adults it causes heart problems, heart attacks.” Hatley says mercury is just one of the toxins in coal ash, another arsenic. It was one of the main problems seen in the 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee. That is why Hatley says it is important regulations are mandated by the EPA and not left up to each state. Empire says it is watching the rulings and will be prepared to comply. Read entire article.

Va. activists urge federal oversight of fly ash dust
By Scott Harper- The Virginian-Pilot- August 31, 2010
The proposal: The EPA announced its intention earlier this summer to impose first-ever federal regulations of coal ash, which also includes fly ash and slag.
The danger: Coal ash can contain arsenic, mercury, chromium and other dangerous chemicals. It is a known health and environmental risk.
The local issue: Some Chesapeake residents who live near a golf course sculpted from fly ash, right, blame illnesses and subsequent financial problems on the toxins.
ARLINGTON, VA
Residents who live near a Chesapeake golf course sculpted from fly ash joined a chorus of scientists, environmentalists and activists Monday in urging a federal program to regulate the black, toxic dust as a hazardous waste.
Stephen Fox, who blames the ash for causing his cancer, testified that the government needs to tightly control coal ash so others will not suffer the same fate as he and his neighbors.
When the Foxes bought their home near the Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville, “nothing was ever said to us about living next door to a toxic waste dump disguised as a golf course,” he told a panel from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Foxes have since gotten sick, their dogs have died, they have had to declare bankruptcy and have been forced to move away after selling their home at a huge loss, he told the panel. Read entire article.

Environmental groups say ND, SD coal ash causing water pollution, want EPA regulation
Associated Press- 08/26/10
BISMARCK, N.D. — Environmental groups say coal ash from power plants in North Dakota and South Dakota is polluting nearby groundwater supplies.
The groups want the federal Environmental Protection Agency to regulate coal ash disposal. The agency is holding a series of hearings on the issue.
The report was released Thursday by the Environmental Integrity Project, and Sierra Club and Earthjustice. It mentions North Dakota’s Antelope Valley and Leland Olds power stations and the Big Stone power plant in South Dakota as pollution sites. Read entire article.

Watch Video

Exams find no health effects caused by ash spill
The Associated Press August 17, 2010
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.
Medical screenings of more than 200 residents living near a large coal ash spill in East Tennessee found no adverse health effects related to the components of the ash.
The results of the screenings were released Tuesday by Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and were funded by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The results of the exams were to be presented to residents in Roane County at a public meeting on Tuesday evening.
A breach in an earthen dam in December 2008 sent 5.4 million cubic yards of ash into the Emory River and onto surrounding landscape at TVA’s Kingston Plant in Roane County.
According to a news release about the exams, a total of 214 people living in Roane County underwent medical evaluations including health history, physical examination, a breathing test, chest x-ray, routine urinalysis, complete blood count, blood chemistry and biological monitoring tests.
Dr. Donna Cagle, a Ph.D. epidemiologist and vice president of Occupational Exposure and Worker Health for ORAU, said they began signing people up for the screenings in May 2009 and finished the exams in April of this year.
“This is not what you would call a research study because we did not have a specific sampling plan,” Cagle said. “What we did was more of a service to the community to allow them to have access to the appropriate kind of medical testing they would need to determine whether they had any effects on the spill or not.”
About half of the participants lived within two miles of the spill and the most common symptoms reported were runny nose, cough and congestion. Read entire article.

Additional Coverage

Wells Fargo cuts off mountaintop removal mining companies
Cameron Scott- August 12 2010-SFGate
Local bank Wells Fargo recently joined five other major banks in restricting the money it loans to mining companies that practice mountaintop removal, a controversial practice that blows the tops off of mountains and dumps them in nearby streams to make coal easier to get to.
iLoveMountains.org
Local activist group Rainforest Action Network has played a significant role. Its scrappy activism (Watch Video) was largely responsible for Bank of America and Citigroup’s policies, which led the way in late-2008 and mid-2009, respectively. Credit Suisse followed in September 2009.

Since May of this year, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and, finally, Wells Fargo have enacted policies, but their motives apparently have more to do several other factors: EPA’s increasing restrictions on mountaintop removal — making it a less appealing investment, financially speaking; the April Upper Big Branch mining catastrophe at a mine owned by Massey Energy, a big player in MTR; and, finally, the need to get better, rather than worse, PR since the financial industry ran the global economy into dust. Read more

Lighting a Fire Under Clean Coal

Administration Tries to Boost Carbon Capture and Storage Technology

Sonja Elmquist- National Geographic News- August 13, 2010

In a multipronged effort to boost “clean coal,” the Obama administration has announced a $1 billion project to demonstrate a new combustion technique, launched studies of where carbon dioxide could be stored underground, and unveiled recommendations meant to chisel away at regulatory barriers.

But many supporters of the drive for carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a way to address the U.S. greenhouse gas pollution from coal-burning power plants say the flurry of moves in the past week fall short of what is needed—a clear legal commitment by the United States to make cuts in fossil fuel emissions.

“You can build a small number of demos, but seriously deploying? It doesn’t have a future without legislation,” says George Peridas, a scientist in the Natural Resources Defense Council climate center. “Unless the finance community has a certainty about what will happen in the policy domain, they won’t go there.”

NRDC parts ways, to some extent, with environmental groups that reject carbon storage outright, arguing that the mining of coal is too damaging or that the huge investments required would be better spent on energy sources that don’t emit carbon in the first place. NRDC has advocated more research on CCS, although the group has been critical of coal industry efforts to block the very climate legislation it sees as essential to spurring the huge investment that is needed.

Opposition to climate legislation indeed proved effective, as repeated efforts to refashion a bill narrowly passed last year by the House failed to garner the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. Read entire article.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2010
Federal Task Force Sends Recommendations to President on Fostering Clean Coal Technology Interagency report marks an important step forward on administration priority
WASHINGTON –  President Obama’s Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), co-chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), delivered a series of recommendations to the president today on overcoming the barriers to the widespread, cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years. CCS is a group of technologies for capturing, compressing, transporting and permanently storing power plant and industrial source emissions of carbon dioxide. Rapid development and deployment of clean coal technologies, particularly carbon capture and storage (CCS), will help position the United States as a leader in the global clean energy race. The report concludes that CCS can play an important role in domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions while preserving the option of using coal and other abundant domestic fossil energy resources.
In February 2010, the president charged the task force with proposing a plan to overcome the barriers to the widespread, cost-effective deployment of carbon capture and storage within 10 years, with a goal of bringing five to 10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016.
Charting the path toward clean coal is essential to achieving the administration’s clean energy goals, supporting American jobs and reducing emissions of carbon pollution.  Already, the United States has made the largest government investment in carbon capture and storage of any nation in history, and these investments are being matched by private capital.  DOE is currently pursuing multiple demonstration projects using close to $4 billion in federal funds, matched by more than $7 billion in private investments, which will begin to pave the way for widespread deployment of advanced CCS technologies within a decade. Ongoing EPA efforts will clarify the existing regulatory framework by developing requirements tailored for CCS, which will reduce uncertainty for early projects and help to ensure safe and effective deployment.
“If we can develop the technology to capture the carbon pollution released by coal, it can create jobs and provide energy well into the future,” President Obama told the nation’s governors when establishing the task force, co-chaired by Energy Secretary Steven Chu and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
|”These recommendations mark an important step forward in combating climate change and strengthening our economy through green jobs – top priorities for this administration,” said EPA Administrator Jackson.  “Consistent with these recommendations, EPA is proactively developing regulations tailored to carbon storage technology that will reduce uncertainty for early projects and help to ensure safe and effective use of the technology. By encouraging efforts to develop clean coal technology we will obtain new tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and make our nation more competitive in the global race for clean energy technology.”
“Around the world countries are moving aggressively on investing in clean energy,” said Energy Secretary Chu. “The U.S. has the ability to develop clean energy innovation here at home. Rather than sending billions overseas to pay for clean technologies, we should invest these dollars here – in America’s workers, industries, and innovations.”
“A diversified energy portfolio, which includes coal, is important for a strong 21^st century American economy,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “These recommendations move us toward bringing safe and deployable CCS technologies to the marketplace to help us meet the goal of reducing harmful carbon emissions while continuing to use this energy source.”
The report reflects input from 14 federal agencies and departments as well as hundreds of stakeholders and CCS experts.  It addresses the incentives for CCS adoption and any financial, economic, technological, legal, institutional, or other barriers to deployment.  The task force also considered how best to coordinate existing federal authorities and programs, as well as identify areas where additional federal authority may be necessary.
The report’s main findings and recommendations include:
·         CCS is Viable: There are no insurmountable technical, legal, institutional, or other barriers to the deployment of this technology.
·         A Carbon Price is Critical: Widespread cost-effective deployment of CCS is best achieved with a carbon price, but there are market drivers and actions that can and are taking place now, which are essential to support near-term CCS demonstration projects that will pave the way for broader deployment after a carbon price is in place.
·         Federal Coordination should be Strengthened: With additional federal actions and coordination, the task force believes our nation can meet the president’s near-term goal and get 5-10 commercial demonstration CCS demonstration projects online by 2016. The report recommends the creation of a standing federal agency roundtable and expert committee to facilitate that goal.
·         Recommendations on Liability: The task force conducted an in-depth analysis of options to address concerns that long-term liability could be a barrier to CCS deployment. It concluded that open-ended federal indemnification is not a viable alternative but that four approaches merit further consideration: relying on existing frameworks, limits on claims, a trust fund, and transfer of liability to the federal government (with contingencies). Efforts to improve long-term liability and stewardship frameworks led by EPA, DOE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will continue in order to provide evaluation and recommendations in these areas by late 2011.
Additional recommendations include setting up an effort by DOE and EPA – in consultation with other agencies – to track regulatory implementation for early commercial CCS demonstration projects and consider whether additional statutory revisions are needed. The report also encourages leveraging existing efforts among federal agencies, states, industry, and NGOs to gather information and evaluate potential key concerns about CCS in different areas of the United States and develop a comprehensive outreach strategy that would include: (1) a broad plan for public outreach targeted at the general public and decision makers; and (2) a “more focused engagement with communities that are candidates for CCS projects, to address such issues as environmental justice.”
Many experts consider CCS an important option as part of a portfolio of strategies – including increased efficiency and greater use of low-carbon energy resources — to help mitigate growing atmospheric CO₂ emissions from human sources.   It can play a major role in reducing GHG emissions globally. However, widespread cost-effective deployment of CCS will occur only if the technology is commercially available at economically competitive prices and supportive national policy frameworks, such as a cap on carbon pollution, are in place. The administration’s policy and technology initiatives are intended to address these needs.
The full report and the presidential memorandum establishing the task force: here and here

Coal ash ban would be loss for TVA
BY BILL THEOBALD – The Tennessean – August 8, 2010
WASHINGTON — There’s even more fallout ahead from the massive coal ash spill at an East Tennessee power plant two years ago.
Cleaning up the more than 1 billion gallons of gray coal ash sludge that spilled at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant is estimated to cost more than $1 billion. The spill has led to proposed new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency that would designate coal waste as hazardous and require greater care in its storage.
Now, an environmental group is pushing to ban the use of ash and other coal combustion waste in cement, dry wall and other commercial products. Many other groups don’t think such waste should be used as fill for embankments or abandoned mines unless it’s encapsulated to prevent it from leeching into groundwater.
Officials from companies that reuse combustion waste told members of a House committee recently that even if using recycled coal waste remains legal, designating it as hazardous would stigmatize its use and cripple their businesses.
If coal waste is banned altogether, TVA and other utilities would lose revenue from selling it.
In addition, utilities would have to pay to store the unused coal waste. Nationally, that would mean finding a home for about 60 million tons of coal combustion waste each year, about 44 percent of the total generated in 2008, according to a study by the American Coal Ash Association.
TVA would have to store 2.8 million to 3.3 million tons of the waste each year. Currently, 1.7 million to 2 million tons is used in commercial products. The rest is used as fill at sites in Memphis and Camden, Tenn. Read entire article.

Mountain mining damages streams
Study shows that stripping mountains for coal has a much greater impact than urban growth.
Natasha Gilbert – August 9, 2010- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The controversial practice of stripping off the tops of mountains to mine coal, long suspected of polluting streams, is guilty as charged, scientists say.
On 3 August, researchers at the Ecological Society of America conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presented what they say is the first conclusive evidence of a direct link between this type of mining and environmental damage. Their research has teased apart the effects of mountain-top mining and urbanization on local water quality in West Virginia, and found that even relatively small mining operations can cause serious harm to ecosystems.
“Even at very low levels of mining we found a dramatic impact on water quality and stream composition,” Emily Bernhardt, a biologist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and one of the study’s lead researchers, told Nature. The scientists have called on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to tighten the water pollution limits faced by mining companies.
Mountain-top mining is widespread in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. To expose seams of coal, mining companies strip away forests and break up rock with explosives. The rubble is dumped in the valleys, often burying streams. The loss of vegetation and topsoil can cause flooding, and the water emerging from the debris contains toxic solutes including selenium, metals and sulphates, says Bernhardt. Read entire article.

NEWS RELEASE:
August 3, 2010- Washington, Pennsylvania
WHITE HOUSE, INTERIOR SECRETARY SALAZAR NOT SERIOUS ABOUT PROTECTING PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT IN AMERICA’S COALFIELDS
Coalfield Citizen Leaders Say White House, Interior Secretary Salazar Refuse to Enforce the Federal Strip Mining Law
Today is the 33rd anniversary of the 1977 passage of the landmark federal mining reclamation law, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). A coalition of community groups, from states where the coal industry continues to damage lands and waters and put lives at risk, said today that the Obama administration is deliberately refusing to fully enforce environmental laws being broken by the coal mining industry.
Citizens Coal Council includes 21 grassroots organizations from 15 states where coal mining companies are destroying mountains, streams, prime farmlands and western grasslands, as well as polluting water, failing to restore mined lands, and leaving communities vulnerable to blasting, floods, landslides and subsidence.
Aimee Erickson, Executive Director of Citizens Coal Council, said “Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is working to undercut the federal law by promoting weaker regulations and has ignored citizens’ pleas to fully enforce SMCRA.”
“The White House and Secretary Salazar refused to even think about improving environmental enforcement at the Minerals Management Service until an oil company’s terrible performance killed people and damaged our wetlands, Gulf Coast fisheries and beaches,” said Erickson.
“Irresponsible coal mining companies have already killed people, poisoned rivers, destroyed families’ homes, left communities without drinking water, and caused devastating floods. But the White House and Secretary Salazar have created a regulatory environment that lets the most irresponsible companies violate federal and state laws with impunity,” Erickson continued.
Citizens Coal Council Acting Chairman John Wathen said “When citizens met last year with Interior officials to encourage consideration of other nominees to run the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), because President Obama’s choice, Joseph Pizarchik, had let the coal industry get away with destructive practices in Pennsylvania, we
were told not to worry. We were told that the Administration and Secretary Salazar would set the policy. A year later, Secretary Salazar’s policy continues to keep OSMRE’s record of subservience to the worst lawbreakers in the coal industry. Interior also continues to green light strip mine permits where full reclamation under SMCRA is highly unlikely to be achieved. While the OSMRE has increased meetings with citizens, the agency reduces enforcement resources and allows states to fail to even meet the minimum required number of inspections under SMCRA.”
Attorney Tom FitzGerald, Director of the Kentucky Resources Council submitted the following comments regarding the Stream “Protection” Rule EIS scoping, which provides a good example of the many problems not yet addressed by Secretary Salazar.
The change in leadership offers a potential opportunity for a rededication to the principles of the 1977 mining law “to protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal mining operations” and to give effect to the mission of the Clean Water Act to “end water pollution”. The state and federal regulatory agencies have the necessary tools to demand much more accountability in all forms of surface mine planning and performance with respect to mine planning, reducing the size and number of valley fills, reforming blasting regulations to better protect the public, restricting the appropriation of public streams for sediment control, eliminating new high and moderate hazard coal waste impoundments and requiring closure and dewatering of old ones; and broadening monitoring and pollution control obligations of coal companies. Unfortunately, the principles established by Congress have been lost in the hands of a federal agency that has, for the better part of its existence, been largely captive to the wishes of the industry it regulates.
Aimee Erickson also called upon Congress, through the Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee, to fulfill their oversight responsibilities under SMCRA.
Contacts:
Aimee Erickson, Executive Director, Citizens Coal Council 724-222-5602
aimee@citizenscoalcouncil.org
John Wathen, Acting Chair, Citizens Coal Council, Cell: 205-233-1680
hccreekkeeper@hughes.net

EPA recently released a final Report outlining its key conclusions after reviewing state water pollution permits for Appalachian surface coal mining projects. The report, Review of Clean Water Act §402 Permitting for Surface Coal Mines by Appalachian States: Findings and Recommendations, summarizes the findings of EPA’s Permit Quality Review (PQR) performed to assess the adequacy of State National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting under Section 402 of the Clean Water Act. EPA recommends that states more consistently evaluate the potential for mining discharges to cause or contribute to a violation of state water quality standards, and the need to more fully implement narrative water quality standards. EPA’s review helps its Regional offices, Appalachian States, and the public to identify areas for improvement and to ensure that States are developing permits that protect water quality consistent with the law. The Report can be viewed   here.

Coal execs hope to spend big to defeat Conway and Chandler
Companies seek to pool funds to defeat chandler, Conway, and delay disclosure
By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com- Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010
Several major coal companies hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider “anti-coal,” including U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in Kentucky.
The companies hope to create a politically active nonprofit under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so they won’t have to publicly disclose their activities, such as advertising, until they file a tax return next year, long after the Nov. 2 election.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last winter that corporations and labor unions may pour unlimited funds into such efforts to influence elections.
“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.
Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.
“A number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats,” Nicholson wrote. “We’re requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort.”
Nicholson listed three races “of interest”: Conway against Republican Rand Paul for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland “Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th House District; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in West Virginia’s 3rd House District. Read entire article

Massey Says Increased Federal Mining Inspections Reduce Coal Productivity

By Mario Parker – Jul 28, 2010- Bloomberg
Massey Energy Co., the owner of the West Virginia mine where 29 people died in April, said increased scrutiny from government inspectors reduced productivity at its operations during the second quarter.

Massey’s coal production was about 500,000 tons lower than expected in its deep mine operations due to reduced productivity amid “distractions” from the Upper Big Branch accident, temporary shutdowns and increased inspections, Baxter Phillips, the company’s president, said today on a conference call with analysts.

Massey said in a statement yesterday that shipments during the quarter dropped below its projections by about 1 million tons, of which 700,000 tons were lost due to lower productivity and temporary shutdowns. Three export shipments were delayed to July from June, accounting for about 220,000 tons of the shortfall, the company said.

“Certainly investor focus is on Massey’s ability to focus on this year’s tragic events and achieve their targets in what could be a very robust coal market,” said Michael Dudas, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. Inc. in New York. “They’re set up to do so, but with anything in Central Appalachia it’s going to be a challenge.”

Massey rose 65 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $30.30 at 11:38 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 45 percent since the fatal blast on April 5.

Earnings Report:

The coal producer yesterday reported a net loss of $88.7 million on costs associated with the disaster and lowered its sales estimate for the year. Massey lost 88 cents a share, compared with a profit of $20.2 million, or 24 cents, a year earlier, the company said.

Massey, based in Richmond, Virginia, took a pretax charge of $128.9 million in its second-quarter and first-half results for the accident. Read entire article.