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Yes we need more of this, it's always about money.
Quote:
One of the nation's largest coal producers will pay a $27.5 million fine and
spend $200 million to reduce illegal toxic discharges into hundreds of waterways
across five Appalachian states, according to a proposed settlement
Wednesday.
The agreement includes the largest fine ever for
violations of water pollution permits, with many of the violations reported by
the company to state environmental officials. The Associated Press obtained
details about the settlement before it was filed Wednesday in federal court in
West Virginia.
The discharges occurred at mines and coal processing
plants in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
"This is the largest one, period," Cynthia Giles, head
of the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement office, told the AP. "It's
the biggest case for permit violations for numbers of violations and size of the
penalty, which reflects the seriousness of violations."
I read the link, and boy has Heritage gone downhill since DeMint took the helm. They were always staunchly conservative, but they've gone full corporatist pseudo-libertarian nut-bag.
It is 2014, not 1914. We still need coal for manufacturing, such a making steal, but burning it to make electricity is incredibly outdated. There's not a power generating system out there with as many negative externalities as coal:
Dead streams all over appalachia from coal mine discharge.
Biggest creator of air pollution vs. other systems of power generation
Mountaintop removal
Particulate matter in the air.
Coal ash dumps in rivers a and streams
sludge pools in mining area
Releases more radiation than nuclear...
But yes, let's not phase it out for cleaner, more efficient means of power generation. Frankly, resource extraction economies probably need the kick in the pants that comes from having to innovate and create entrepreneurs. If you spend any time in West Virginia it's clear that that the parts of the state that are doing well aren't the coal mining area. And even then, outside of Morgantown it's the largess of the federal government sustaining things.
Those nasty regulations put tens of thousands of dollars in my pocket when I worked for a steel producer who`s a major supplier of the steel used in catalytic converters. For the record, this steel producer does not use coal at all. Clean and cheap natural gas and electricity fuel the furnaces in steel mills for the most part.
Yes, it's moral decay to make sure people (and their children) have clean air to breathe and water to drink.
Instead of letting industry pollute in order to have more money in their greed.
Yes, it does cost more...just like it cost more to be seen by a doctor instead of a homeless person, or have indoor plumbing to move waste from your home, or dispose of radioactive materials correctly. However, for most people would consider that the responsible thing to do. I know that sticks in the craw of delusional nuts and corporate whores but that's too bad.
According to the article the violations were reported by the company itself and they claim to be in compliance 99.8% of the time. Violations in the coal industry are a dime a dozen, go over the allowed limit just a little bit and you're screwed even if you were under the allowed limit 99.8% of the time.
Regulations are so pervasive and dealing with such minutiae there isn't a business in this country that couldn't be fined for something 100% of the time. I know a hardware store that got fined by the bureau of Weights and Measures because their scale was wrong...to the benefit of the consumer.
Now show us a photo of reclaimed mine 20 or 30 years afterward.
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