Lake City, Tenn. (June 18) - Members of Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) are applauding an announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to suspend the use of Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21), effective immediately, in the Appalachian states of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. All surface coal mining projects in these states will now be required to have Individual Permit authorization, involving public input.

"These disruptive mining practices can wreck the natural infrastructure and social integrity of entire communities, yet citizens had very little say in how NWP 21 permits were classified, assessed or mitigated," said Cathie Bird, chair of SOCM's Strip-mine Issues Committee.

"The fight to protect mountain streams from fast-tracked decisions under the NWP 21 is not over, but the Corps' decision is very encouraging," said Bird.

Prior to its suspension, the streamlined NWP 21 was used to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material from surface coal mining activities that were judged by the Corps to be "minimal." All other dredge or fill projects experienced a more lengthy and detailed Individual Permit authorization required under section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

The permit's suspension in six Appalachian states will remain in effect until the Corps takes further action on NWP 21 or until NWP 21 expires on March 18, 2012. Until then, any surface coal mining projects that propose to discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. will have to receive authorization from the Corps through the Individual Permit process.

In the past, SOCM members had compiled a long list of complaints about the NWP 21. In their comments to the Corps' July 2009 proposal to modify NWP 21, the SOCM Strip-mine Issues Committee supported temporary suspension of the permit.

*Tennessee Counties included in the suspension of NWP 21: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Carter, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Coffee, Cumberland, De Kalb, Fentress, Franklin, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Lewis, Loudon, McMinn, Macon, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Smith, Sullivan, Unicoi, Union, Van Buren, Warren, Washington, and White