All surface mining accounts for about one-third of West Virginia's annual coal production. Most coal produced in the state comes from large underground mines. No one knows exactly how much of that one-third comes from mountaintop removal mines. Industry officials and regulators argue over exactly what constitutes a mountaintop removal mine under the law. A federal court lawsuit filed by the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is trying to rein in mountaintop removal.
Lawyers are close to settling most of the issues in that suit.
But a judge will still decide a crucial issue over whether valley fills must be limited to much smaller creeks under the federal 100-foot stream buffer zone rule. A ruling against the industry on that issue could hurt coal mining more than a ban on mountaintop removal. The buffer zone rule could seriously restrict all surface mining, as well as underground mines that dump preparation plant waste in stream beds. Last year, the National Council of Coal Lessors, a trade group of land-holding companies, and Western Pocahontas Properties, a large land company, intervened in the lawsuit. The findings of fact document was based in part on the Feddock study, which was provided to Chief U.S. District Judge Charles Haden II in mid-May.