Knoxville, Tenn. (June 23) – A new report issued by Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (formerly Save Our Cumberland Mountains) – highlights needed solutions for water quality issues connected with surface coal mining. Because stronger protective legislation failed to pass during the 2010 Tennessee legislative session, this report indicates that enforcement of existing law is needed to protect Tennessee water systems.

Heads Up On Headwaters, released today by SOCM, calls for very clear progressive steps. The priority solutions include:

• Advocate a clear and consistent approach to the protection of streams, creeks, springs and seeps as "waters of the state” that includes
   - Onsite observation during all four seasons;
   - Consultation with local residents regarding stream conditions;
   - Opportunities for citizens to challenge the determination and careful record keeping regarding how the determination was made.
• No permits for any surface mine operation that does not provide for 100' buffer zone around streams.
• Permit fees should reflect the true cost of permit processing, and should be raised to fund more comprehensive research, inspection, and enforcement.
• No permit of any kind for mining operations should be issued that proposes use of water pollution control and toxic materials handling plans that are unproven in situations similar to the site being permitted.

The report by SOCM cites numerous studies to underscore the critical importance of headwater streams that form the watersheds for all of the state’s rivers and lakes. Headwater streams represent 95% of all stream channels and about 73% of the total stream length in the U.S.

The Environmental Impact Statement on Mountaintop Mining and Valley Fills prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006 found that more than 700 miles of streams in Central Appalachia had been buried by mountaintop removal mining operations since 1985 and an additional 1,200 miles of streams had been negatively impacted at the time of the study. In addition the EIS predicted that at the current rate of destruction, 2,200 square miles of Appalachian hardwood forest would be lost to mountaintop removal by 2014.

The SOCM Strip-mine Issues Committee argues that, when adequately enforced, the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act of 1977 (and its amendments) offers protection for headwater streams in surface mining operations. However, the Committee advocates that both state and federal law be further strengthened and enforced. While the federal government through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has primary regulatory responsibility for coal mining in the state of Tennessee, the state, under the Tennessee water quality law, has responsibility for regulating the impacts of mining on state waters.

Currently, two permits are needed to operate a coal mine in Tennessee: a SMCRA permit that is issued by OSMRE, and a NPDES permit, which is issued by the state through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).

Human health is directly tied to healthy watersheds. On the frontlines of mountaintop removal at the Zeb Mountain mine in Campbell County, Tenn., area residents, including SOCM member Cathie Bird, raised concerns for watershed health when the toxic element selenium was found at nine times the allowed limit. In 2008, National Coal Corporation was awarded a five-year renewal of its permit to mine through three peaks of Zeb Mountain.

Over 100 families live along the hollows within one-half mile of the mine and the local elementary school is only one-half mile away. While many life forms, including humans, need small amounts of selenium, high levels are known to cause kidney and liver damage and damage to the nervous and circulatory systems.

Despite numerous complaints, notices of violations issued by state and federal agencies, mountaintop removal mining continues on Zeb Mountain and in numerous locations throughout Appalachia. Today’s release follows the introduction of another report outlining the impact of coal mining to the Tennessee economy. Coal and renewables in Central Appalachia: The impact of coal on the Tennessee state budget (2010) - can be found by visiting http://www.downstreamstrategies.com/exp_pubs_reports.htm.
Heads Up On Headwaters can be found at socm.org.