WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A federal regulator says the U.S. government should revoke the permit for one of the nation's largest proposed mountaintop removal mining projects.
Shawn M. Garvin, the Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator for the mid-Atlantic, said Arch Coal's proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, W.Va., would impact miles of the state's streams and the plant and animal life they support, The New York Times reported Friday.
The mine should be stopped because it "would likely have unacceptable adverse effects on wildlife," Garvin said in a report.
The project, approved by the Bush administration in 2007, would dynamite the tops off mountains over 2,278 acres to mine the coal beneath while dumping the resultant rubble in adjacent valleys and streams.
The EPA review said the project would bury more than 7 miles of local streams under 110 million cubic yards of dirt and rubble, killing all life in them and sending a flood of contaminants and toxic substances downstream.
A spokeswoman for Arch Coal said in a statement the company would "vigorously" challenge the EPA's finding.
"If the EPA proceeds with its unlawful veto of the Spruce permit -- as it appears determined to do -- West Virginia's economy and future tax base will suffer a serious blow," spokeswoman Kim Link said.
