Help Stop Mountaintop Removal Valley Fills: When mountaintop removal mining occurs, the top of a mountain is blasted off and then the rock “waste” is dumped in the valley below, burying streams and killing aquatic life. Currently many mountaintop removal permits are allowed through Nationwide Permit 21, instead of having to file an individual permit. The Corps of Engineers is proposing to overturn Nationwide Permit 21, which would mean each proposed mountaintop removal mine would have to submit an individual permit and more information. Individual permits take into account the effect on streams in the watershed and provide opportunity for public comment, whereas the Nationwide Permit 21 process does not take local environmental considerations into account and provides no public notice.
Doing away with Nationwide Permit 21 would provide more protection for God’s creation. The Corps of Engineers is currently taking comments on this proposal until October 26th. Please send an email to the Corps of Engineers to tell them that you want to protect mountains and streams by ending the Nationwide Permit 21.
The picture above is from Black Mountain, Kentucky's highest mountain, which is being devastated by mountaintop removal mining.