FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday January 13, 2015
CONTACT: Jon Conradi
PHONE: 202-225-2711
Email: jon.conradi@mail.house.gov
Congressman Alex Mooney (WV-2) Introduces Legislation to Protect Coal Jobs
WASHINGTON, DC – On the four-year anniversary of the EPA’s job-killing decision to retroactively veto a permit issued to Spruce No. 1 Mine by the Army Corps of Engineers, Republican Congressman Alex Mooney (WV-2) has introduced legislation with the entire West Virginia delegation to close the loophole which allowed it.
“President Obama’s EPA has proven time and again it is totally out of control and willing to shutter thousands of jobs for the sake of pleasing radical environmentalists. Coal remains a critical piece of the American energy portfolio and the economy of West Virginia. The President’s so called “war on coal” is nothing short of a war on West Virginian jobs and his EPA must be reined in.”
In January of 2011 the EPA retroactively revoked an Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Act 404 permit granted to the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County four years before. This action was unprecedented, and represents the first time in the EPA’s history that the Agency has retroactively withdrawn a water permit for a mining project. This legislation would deny the EPA the authority to override an existing Army Corps of Engineers permit.
The EPA’s action in 2011 halted a plan for $250 million in additional investment in the Spruce Mine which was expected to create approximately 200 new, quality jobs.
“Everyone supports clean water and air but the EPA has taken its mandate far into the realm of extreme environmentalist activism. The passage of this legislation would signal potential investors in West Virginian energy jobs that the process is more predictable.”
Congressman Alex Mooney introduced the legislation alongside Congressmen David McKinley (WV-1) and Evan Jenkins (WV-3). Corresponding legislation is expected to be filed in the Senate by Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin.