TCWN Files Landmark Endangered Species Act Lawsuit
Regarding Coal Mines
“Strip mining in Tennessee has polluted our waters to the point that native fish like blackside dace and Cumberland darters are barely holding on,” said TCWN Attorney Stephanie Matheny. “If the water is too dirty for the fish, it can’t be good for people either.”
On May 16, 2013, TCWN and its partners, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, and Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, filed a first of its kind lawsuit in federal district court in Nashville against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Office of Surface Mining. The lawsuit alleges the agencies have failed to meet their obligations under the Endangered Species Act to protect the threatened blackside dace and the endangered Cumberland darter from the effects of high conductivity discharges from strip mines in Tennessee, including the Zeb Mountain coal mine and Davis Creek Mine 5.
The best available science indicates that dace cannot maintain healthy, sustaining populations at instream conductivities above 240 microsiemens/cm (µS/cm). Conductivity is a measure of ions in the water. A high level of conductivity means more “salty” water making it difficult for fish to survive. In some locations, dace no longer populate the stream.
Even the Service admits, “current regulatory mechanisms have been inadequate to prevent” the adverse impacts of conductivity and that the recovery potential for dace is “low.” Current dace guidelines do not require numeric conductivity limits, and instead arbitrarily rely on TDEC discharge permitting to protect water quality. Yet, these permits do not impose numeric conductivity limits and TDEC has taken the position it is can’t impose discharge limits to protect endangered species.
The lawsuit seeks to have the federal agencies revise the current blackside dace guidance, develop darter guidance, vacate a 1996 biological opinion and authorization to “take” endangered species as applied to surface mines in Tennessee, and implement other measures to prevent extinction of these species. If successful, the lawsuit could lead to better protection of native species from the impacts of coal mining nationwide.
*Blackside Dace (Photo Credit: US Fish & Wildlife Service)
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TWRA Considers Potentially Toxic Coal Mine at the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area
TCWN learned recently that the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency is considering a proposal from Crossville Coal /Hillsborough Resources Ltd. for a deep mine that would extend well into the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area. In addition the obvious inappropriateness of allowing coal mining on public land intended to benefit wildlife, this deeply flawed proposal should be rejected because it would involve mining of the Sewanee coal seam.
The Sewanee seam is highly toxic, and has resulted in extensive, long-term acid mine drainage at coal mines in Tennessee from Chattanooga to Crossville. In fact, the federal Office of Surface Mining once said it was “not aware of a specific toxic materials handling plan for the overburden associated with the Sewanee coal seam that has been demonstrated to be effective” and, as a result, granted a petition to designate areas of Rock Creek near Chattanooga as unsuitable for surface mining.
The Catoosa proposal is still in its early stages, although exploratory drilling is likely soon. However, key decisions about leasing and permitting remain to be made in the coming months and years. We will keep you posted.
*Acid Mine Drainage, Sewanee Seam (Walden Ridge)
TCWN Stock Photo
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Events
May 17-20, 2013 National River Rally
St. Louis, MO
June 15, 2013 32nd Annual Outdoors Inc. Canoe & Kayak Race
Memphis, TN
July 17, 2013 Tennessee Environmental Council Annual Meeting
Nashville, TN
October 3-4, 2013 Urban Forestry Conference
Jackson, TN
October 5, 2013 3rd Annual Duncan Williams Dragon Boat Race Benefits the Tennessee Clean Water Network
Memphis, TN
October 11-13, 2013 APIEL Conference
Knoxville, TN
October 19, 2013 SturgeonFest.
Knoxville, TN Benefits the Tennessee Clean Water Network
Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club has a number of outings listed in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis.
If you have an event you'd like us to promote to our membership, contact Kathy Hawes at kathy@tcwn.org.
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