Last month, state environmental protection Director Michael Castle approved a strip mining permit for the company. Under federal law, the Corps considers two types of fill permits. General, or nationwide, permits may be used only for activities that have minimal cumulative environmental impacts. General permits require less scrutiny by regulators and less consideration of potential environmental effects. Activities that would cause more than minimal environmental impacts must be reviewed under individual permits.
Individual permits require more study and scrutiny by regulators.
Over the years, the Corps has improperly approved huge mountaintop removal coal mining operations through general permits. In a federal court settlement, the Corps promised it would stop doing so. Under the settlement, the agency said it would require individual permits for all mining proposals with fills that bury streams which drain more than 250 acres of land, or which would have greater than minimal impact. Smaller fills that would have greater than minimal impacts are being ignored, Fish and Wildlife officials say. In recent letters to other federal agencies, Towner has complained that coal companies are breaking larger permits into smaller pieces to avoid individual permit reviews.