For the first time in its history, the Environmental Protection Agency revoked an issued permit to discharge waste generated by mountain top removal from Arch Coal’s Spruce Mine Number 1. This was one of the largest mountaintop removal mines ever proposed in Appalachia from the industry’s leading coal producer. The Sierra Club prevailed having worked diligently to prevent this hazardous project over the past twelve years alongside multiple partner organizations. Sierra Club activists generated 30,000 public comments nationwide urging the EPA to veto permitting for the mine. If permitted, Spruce Mine Number 1 would have violated the Clean Water Act, endangering the regional water supply and public health of surrounding communities and it would have leveled more than 2,000 acres of mountains and destroyed more than seven miles of streams.
For more information please visit Sierra Club's Mountaintop Removal Mining website.
(Photo: Aeriel shot of Spruce Mine number 1 courtesy of Center for Environment, Commerce, & Energy.)
