White House to Ease Ban on Dumping of Mining Waste

The Bush administration said Friday that it was amending a rule that environmentalists say bans the dumping of mine waste into the nation’s waterways.

The administration contends that the dumping of debris from mining activity is allowable and denied that the change would encourage “mountaintop mining” of coal in which the tops of ridges in Appalachia are sheared off and dirt and rock are pushed into streams.

Environmentalists disagreed.

“Now that the administration has changed the rules, it sends a clear signal to the coal companies not only to continue but to accelerate their destruction of waters,” said Joan Mulhern, a lawyer at Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers share responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Clean Water Act by controlling permits for various types of dumping.

The two agencies said Friday that they were implementing the new rule to change Army Corps regulations dating to the 1970s that say rivers and streams may not be used as repositories for industrial waste. Instead, the Army Corps will adopt the EPA’s definition of “fill material,” which does not include such a ban.

The National Mining Assn. had argued for the change. It said putting rocks and dirt from mining operations in waterways is no different from filling stream beds to create land for construction, which is allowed under Army Corps rules.

Environmentalists say the Army Corps has violated its own regulations by issuing permits to allow mountaintop mining. They are suing the agency in federal court.