>From Earth Justice-- 'Because the earth needs a good lawyer.' -------- Original Message --------
Oppose Effort By the Bush Administration to Blow Up Mountains and Destroy Streams in Appalachia! On January 7, 2004, the Bush administration proposed to repeal another longstanding environmental protection law in order to let the coal mining industry accelerate "Mountaintop Removal" mining. In this form of mining, coal companies actually blow up entire mountaintops and dump millions of tons of waste into nearby streams, burying them forever. In May 2002, the Bush administration already repealed an important Clean Water Act safeguard that protected mountain streams from Mountaintop Removal waste. Now, the administration is targeting a Reagan-era rule known as the "buffer zone rule" that prohibits coal-mining activities from disturbing areas within 100 feet of streams. If the new Bush rule goes forward, coal companies will be allowed to dump massive amounts of waste directly into streams, destroying them completely. Already, over 1200 miles of streams in Appalachia have been buried by mountaintop removal waste, wiping out these streams and causing flooding and destruction in the surrounding communities. Send your comments today, as the public comment period ends April 7th! You can take action on this alert via the web at: http://ga0.org/campaign/buffer_zone/keg7u594jx3e3m Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. http://ga0.org/campaign/buffer_zone/forward/keg7u594jx3e3m We encourage you to take action by April 7, 2004 Oppose Mountaintop Removal Mining! INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB: If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this alert by going to the following URL: http://ga0.org/campaign/buffer_zone/keg7u594jx3e3m Your letter will be addressed and sent to: Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation ----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME---- Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here], I strongly oppose the proposal to weaken and virtually eliminate the stream buffer zone rule that was adopted over 20 years ago to protect streams from coal mining activities, including Mountaintop Removal mining. The changes to this rule proposed by the Bush administration would repeal important protections for streams and allow Mountaintop Removal coal mining companies to further destroy and degrade waters in the Appalachian region with their waste. Lapses in the enforcement of the stream "Buffer Zone" rule, which prohibits coal-mining activities from disrupting areas within 100 feet of streams unless those activities in no way impact water quality or quantity, have allowed more than 1,200 miles of streams to be buried or degraded by Mountaintop removal mining waste. Rather than weaken stream protections, the Bush administration should withdraw this rulemaking attempt and enforce the existing stream Buffer Zone rule in place. If it does not, Congress should overturn this rulemaking. I am sending a copy of this comment to my Members of Congress so they will be aware of my opposition to repealing the stream Buffer Zone rule. According to the administration's own recently released studies on mountaintop removal coal mining, the immediate and long-term environmental impacts of this form of coal mining are severe and irreversible. The 2003 draft Environmental Impact Statement found that absent additional environmental protections, another 1,000 miles of streams and a total of 2,200 square miles of mountain-filled, forested terrain in Appalachia will be destroyed. The Bush administration must not respond to this information by trying to weaken existing environmental standards governing Mountaintop Removal. The proposed rule changes would weaken stream protections that have been in effect for over two decades. I submit this comment to urge the administration not to move forward with this or any other any rulemaking that would weaken these existing protections. Instead, it should enforce the Buffer Zone rule as it is currently written, as this is the only way to truly protect streams from the destructive effects of Mountaintop Removal mining. ----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT---- Sincerely, cc: Your Congressperson Your Senators -------------------------------------------------- If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Earthjustice at: http://ga0.org/earthjusticeaction/join.html?r=E1qZPlK1yjj6E
