The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to cost jobs and economic development in Appalachia with its virtual moratorium on coal mining permits—a moratorium that continues in defiance of court rulings. EPA’s latest decision withholds an essential Section 404 Clean Water Act permit for CONSOL Energy’s Miller Creek operations in West Virginia.
The 145 employees told yesterday their jobs will be lost by the end of the year are only the tip of the full impact on the region, as EPA’s decision will affect the completion of the King Coal Highway, a key part of the region’s economic development strategy, as well as other organizations and businesses that depend on coal jobs and purchases.
The courts have already told EPA to cease and desist with its interference with other agency and state actions and its job-crushing policies. Nonetheless, the agency continues to frustrate coal mining and coal use throughout the United States, needlessly costing jobs and causing undue economic harm for thousands of Americans.