Jimmy Weekley, 70, has been fighting the Spruce 1 coal project for a dozen years. The proposed mine would blast off the tops of peaks and fill in several stream beds above his home in Pigeonroost Hollow. (Todd Heisler/New York Times)
BLAIR, WV — “Federal officials are considering whether to veto mountaintop mining above a little Appalachian valley called Pigeonroost Hollow, a step that could be a turning point for one of the country’s most contentious environmental disputes.
The Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit in 2007 to blast 400 feet off the hilltops here to expose the rich coal seams, disposing of the debris in the upper reaches of six valleys, including Pigeonroost Hollow.
But the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration, in a break with President George W. Bush’s more coal-friendly approach, has threatened to halt or sharply scale back the project known as Spruce 1. The agency asserts that the project would irrevocably damage streams and wildlife and violate the Clean Water Act.”
— Erik Eckholm, New York Times
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