{"id":34860,"date":"2023-11-10t17:13:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-10t17:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=34860"},"modified":"2023-11-10t17:13:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10t17:13:52","slug":"abandoned-mine-cleanup-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/abandoned-mine-cleanup-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"litigation, red tape prevent abandoned coal mine cleanup efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
by esther frances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n abandoned coal mines threaten community safety and the environment, but despite bipartisan support, remediation efforts are often stalled by litigation and red tape, senators said at a hearing on nov. 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n states must undergo prolonged vetting processes before they can turn previously mined lands into wildlife habitats, commercial areas or other reclamation projects, chairman sen. joe manchin, d-w. va. said at the energy and natural resources committee hearing in washington, d.c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cthese coal communities sacrifice everything to power our nation to greatness and should be able to implement projects that will have positive impacts on the community in a timely manner,\u201d manchin said. \u201cthey sure as hell don\u2019t deserve to be strung along by the federal government, tied up in bureaucratic red tape, and forced to wait to put transformative projects into action. it\u2019s absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n acid water saturated with metals and long standing fires beneath the earth threaten entire communities located near abandoned coal mine sites. communities that complain the most about damage from former coal mines are prioritized for restoration projects, according to rob rice, director of the division of land restoration at the west virginia department of environmental protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n states get new instructions every year on how congressional funding should be used in a restoration project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cand each year, that guidance document becomes thicker, so there\u2019s more hoops to jump through,\u201d rice said. \u201cthe vetting period has increased over subsequent years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n glenda owens, deputy director of the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement at the u.s. department of the interior, blamed the lengthy processes on court disputes over approval of coal mine restoration projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cwe want to make sure that the decisions we make during these environmental reviews will sustain judicial scrutiny,\u201d owens said. \u201cif we don\u2019t adhere to the controlling court decisions, we\u2019re going to risk getting those decisions vacated or having to start all over, which is just going to require additional time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n