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September 14, 2009

EPA to Review 79 Permits for Mountaintop Removal
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The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will scrutinize
seventy-nine applications for mountaintop coal-mine permits in
Appalachia to guard against damage to water supplies. The move was
praised by environmental groups and critics of mountaintop removal.
Michael Brune of Rainforest Action Network said, “By recognizing the
irreversible destruction caused by mountaintop removal coal mining, the
EPA has taken an important stand in support of the people and ecosystems
of Appalachia. The agency seems to recognize that there is no
environmentally safe way to demolish mountains.”



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