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The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia

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The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia S. HRG. 111–1197 THE IMPACTS OF MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING ON WATER QUALITY IN APPALACHIA HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND WILDLIFE OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 25, 2009 Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys THE IMPACTS OF MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING ON WATER QUALITY IN APPALACHIA S. HRG. 111–1197 THE IMPACTS OF MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING ON WATER QUALITY IN APPALACHIA HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND WILDLIFE OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 25, 2009 Printed for the use of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 94–591 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION BARBARA BOXER, California, Chairman MAX BAUCUS, Montana JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey DAVID VITTER, Louisiana BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont MIKE CRAPO, Idaho AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee TOM UDALL, New Mexico JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania BETTINA POIRIER, Staff Director RUTH VAN MARK, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND WILDLIFE BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland, Chairman FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey MIKE CRAPO, Idaho SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming TOM UDALL, New Mexico LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma (ex officio) BARBARA BOXER, California (ex officio) (II) CONTENTS Page JUNE 25, 2009 OPENING STATEMENTS Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L., U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland ................ 1 Alexander, Hon. Lamar, U.S. Senator from the State of Tennessee ................... 4 Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California, prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 9 Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma .................... 9 WITNESSES Pomponio, John ‘‘Randy,’’ Director, Environmental Assessment and Innova- tion Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mid-Atlantic Region ... 12 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 Sloan, Paul L., Deputy Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation ................................................................................................. 53 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 55 Response to an additional question from Senator Boxer .............................. 86 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Cardin .......................................................................................... 86 Senator Inhofe ........................................................................................... 87 Huffman, Randy, Cabinet Secretary, West Virginia Department of Environ- mental Protection ................................................................................................. 89 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 92 Response to an additional question from Senator Boxer .............................. 99 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Cardin .......................................................................................... 101 Senator Inhofe ........................................................................................... 108 Gunnoe, Maria, Organizer, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition ...................... 114 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 116 Palmer, Margaret A., Ph.D., Laboratory Director, Chesapeake Biological Lab- oratory, University of Maryland ......................................................................... 139 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 141 Response to an additional question from Senator Boxer .............................. 184 Responses to additional questions from Senator Cardin ............................... 186 ADDITIONAL MATERIALS Research papers: Human health impacts: Health Disparities and Environmental Competence: A Case Study of Appalachian Coal Mining ................................................................. 201 Mortality Rates in Appalachian Coal Mining Counties: 24 Years Be- hind the Nation ...................................................................................... 207 Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statis- tical Life Lost ......................................................................................... 215 Hospitalization Patterns Associated with Appalachian Coal Mining ... 225 Environmental impacts: Water Quality From Underground Coal Mines in Northern West Virginia (1968–2000) ............................................................................. 250 Aquatic Hazard of Selenium Pollution From Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining ............................................................................................ 263 (III) IV Page —Continued —Continued Flow Origin, Drainage Area, and Hydrologic Characteristics for Headwater Streams in the Mountaintop Coal-Mining Region of Southern West Virginia, 2000–01 ........................................................ 280 Acid Mine Drainage Control and Treatment .......................................... 304 The effect of Appalachian mountaintop mining on interior forest ........ 346 How to Restore Forests on Surface-Mined Land .................................... 355 Rules and legislation: Rules of Tennessee Department of Conservation Division of Surface Min- ing—Chapter 0400–3–7—Coal ..................................................................... 387 House Bill 455 .................................................................................................. 403 Senate Bill No. 1011 ......................................................................................... 406 Senate Resolution No. 50 ................................................................................. 414 Resolution regarding Permit SMA#S–3002–07 and NPDES#WV1022202 .. 416 Statistics: Census of Population: 1960 .............................................................................. 417 1970 Census of Population ............................................................................... 419 1980 Census of Population ............................................................................... 421 1990–2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics information on: Boone County, West Virginia ................................................................... 427 Fayette County, West Virginia ................................................................. 429 Lincoln County, West Virginia ................................................................. 431 Logan County, West Virginia ................................................................... 433 McDowell County, West Virginia ............................................................. 435 Mingo County, West Virginia ................................................................... 437 Wyoming County, West Virginia .............................................................. 439 Correspondence: January 22, 2009, letter from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Na- tional Park Service, to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection ....................................................................................................... 441 June 29, 2009, letter from Caterpillar Inc., Cat Global Mining, to Senator Cardin and Senator Crapo ........................................................................... 443 July 2, 2009, letter from Acculab Inc., to Senator Cardin ............................ 445 Additional testimony: Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., U.S. Representative from the State of New Jersey ............................................................................................................. 447 U.S. Department of Energy ............................................................................. 449 West Virginians for Affordable Health Care .................................................. 452 National Mining Association: Written Statement .................................................................................... 464 GEI Consultants, Inc. ............................................................................... 469 Mining Community Grassroots Commercial Summary ......................... 474 Mountaintop Mining Fact Book ............................................................... 477 Tennessee Mining Association ........................................................................
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