Spruce 1

Spruce 1 is a proposed coal strip-mining operation approximately two miles northeast of Blair in Logan County, West Virginia, in the Appalachian Mountains.[1] First proposed in 1997 by Arch Coal Inc. of St. Louis, the operation was first to cover 3,113 acres (12.60 km2), then reduced to 2,278. The permitting process was closely monitored by environmental groups and the mining industry alike with regard to the Obama administration's future mining policy.[2]

In 2005, the United States Army Corps of Engineers began reviewing the permit application by Hobet Mining, Inc. to construct the mine.[3] The Corps of Engineers issued a permit for it on January 31, 2007,[4] but legal action delayed construction of the mine, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered revoking the permit. United States House of Representatives member Nick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia's 3rd congressional district, claimed in a speech preceding a May 2010 public EPA hearing that the EPA's actions would cost West Virginia jobs.[5] At that hearing, testimony came mostly from people supporting the local coal industry.[6]

Shawn M. Garvin, Mid-Atlantic regional administration of the EPA, issued a recommendation in October 2010 against constructing Spruce 1 because the mine "would likely have unacceptable adverse effects on wildlife."[7] The EPA revoked the permit on January 13, 2011.[8]

On March 23, 2012, federal judge Amy Berman Jackson overturned the decision by the EPA that revoked a permit for the Spruce 1 mine project. In her ruling, Jackson stated that the EPA did not have power under the Clean Water Act to rescind the permit.[9][10] That ruling was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in April 2013,[11] and on September 30, 2014, Berman Jackson ruled in the EPA's favor, allowing its veto of the permit to stand.[12]


References
  1. "Final Determination of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pursuant to § 404(c) of the Clean Water Act Concerning the Spruce No. 1 Mine, Logan County, West Virginia" (PDF). Environmental Protection Agency. January 13, 2011.
  2. Eckholm, Eric (July 15, 2010). "Project's Fate May Predict the Future of Mining". The New York Times.
  3. "Public notice in re 199800436-3" (PDF). US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District. December 14, 2005.
  4. Mullins, Ginger (January 31, 2007). "Letter to Mingo Logan" (PDF).
  5. Rivard, Ry (May 19, 2010). "Crowd rallies for Spruce mine". Charleston Daily Mail. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  6. Huber, Tim (May 19, 2010). "EPA plan to revoke mine permit debated". Associated Press. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  7. Broder, John M. (October 16, 2010). "E.P.A. Official Seeks to Block West Virginia Mine". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  8. "Agency Revokes Permit for Major Coal Mining Project". The New York Times. January 13, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  9. Broder, John M. (March 24, 2012). "Court Reverses E.P.A. on Big Mining Project". The New York Times.
  10. Mingo Logan Coal Company, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 10-0541
  11. Broder, John M. (April 24, 2013). "Court Backs E.P.A. Veto of Mining Permit". The New York Times.
  12. "EPA wins another round on Spruce Mine veto". The Charleston Gazette. September 30, 2014.

38°52′39″N 81°47′52″W

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