Coal River Wind

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Dear Lisa Jackson,<br /> I want to thank the EPA for your work thus far towards ending mountaintop removal. However, we would like to alert you to a situation of great urgency.<br /> There is real potential for developing green jobs in the Central Appalachian coal fields, but with each mountain lost to mountaintop removal coal mining, and each stream buried by a valley fill, that potential is diminished.<br /> For the past year, the Coal River Wind Campaign has studied and promoted the potential for a wind farm on Coal River Mountain, a mountain in southern West Virginia otherwise slated for a 6450 acre mountaintop removal mine by Massey Energy. The studies have shown that a 328 megawatt wind farm could be sited on the mountain, but only if the mountain is not surface mined. The proposed mining would lower the peak elevation of the ridges, thereby reducing the existing wind speeds, and it would turn the solid bedrock into rubble, making the placement of a large turbine economically prohibitive due to the higher cost of stabilizing each wind turbine.<br /> In other words, the proposed mountaintop removal operations would eliminate the existing potential for developing clean wind energy, creating good, stable jobs, and diversifying the economy of southern West Virginia.<br /> It is not too late for Coal River Mountain. Massey Energy does not have the Valley Fill (Clean Water Act 404) permits required for these mines. The EPA can still reject these permits when they’re applied for, opening the door for wind development on Coal River Mountain and the permanent green jobs and clean energy that the wind farm will provide. In addition to jobs and energy from wind, 18% of the coal is mineable through traditional underground room and pillar mining and can happen simultaneously with the development of the wind farm, to help provide a transition period for the people of southern West Virginia into the new green economy.<br /> We ask that the EPA please review and reject the 404 permit applications for Massey Energy’s Bee Tree, Eagle #2, Eagle #3 surface mines on Coal River Mountain when they are filed.<br /> These permits are not only bad for the people and economy of West Virginia, but they are also illegal as they are clearly in direct violation of the 1983 Stream Buffer Zone rule. In addition, Massey has shown an inability to comply with EPA regulations in one case resulting in the largest settlement ever over the Clean Water Act resulting from over 4,500 violations during a seven year period.<br /> The Coal River Wind Campaign is a major step toward reinventing and revitalizing the economy and energy production in Appalachia, and it is only one example of how green jobs and alternative economic development can be created in the region. We ask you to bring an end to mountaintop removal coal mining, and to support the creation of a new future for Coal River Mountain and all of Appalachia.</p> <p>For more information, please visit www.CoalRiverWind.org.</p> <p>Thank you,<br />

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