Chief U.S. District Judge Charles H. Haden II ruled on Oct. 20 that the practice of filling stream valleys with mine waste was not allowed in streams that flow year-round or part of the year.
"When valley fills are permitted in intermittent and perennial streams, they destroy those stream segments," Haden's 49-page ruling said.
"The normal flow and gradient of the stream is now buried under millions of cubic yards of excess spoil waste material, an extremely adverse effect," the judge said.
"If there are fish, they cannot migrate. If there is any life form that cannot acclimate to life deep in a rubble pile, it is eliminated," he said. "No effect on related environmental values is more adverse than obliteration."
"Under a valley fill, the water quality of the stream becomes zero," he wrote. "Because there is no stream, there is no water quality."
Haden ordered the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) not to issue any more permits that allowed valley fills in perennial and intermittent streams.
"October 20, 1999, will go down as the bleakest day in the recent history of our state of West Virginia," WV Governor Cecil Underwood told reporters concerning the court ruling.
Two days after the ruling Underwood ordered a halt, not only to new permits, but to continued filling of perennial and intermittent streams under previously approved permits. Ben Greene, president of the West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association, said order could shut down the majority of the state's mines. Mining in WV employs about 16,000 people currently, according to the Bureau of Employment Programs.
United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts issued a short statement saying that he was "deeply disappointed by Judge Haden's ruling."
"The negative economic implications of this ruling to every West Virginian working in the state's coal industry today are really troublesome to say the least," Roberts said.
Roberts said that UMW lawyers will join DEP's efforts to appeal the ruling.
Economically, the ruling could hit WV hard - nearly $32 million in lost taxes, primarily from a $21 million decline in coal severance taxes are expected. The decrease in mining and mining-related employment could also reduce personal income tax revenue by around $5 million and sales taxes by around $4.5 million. Another $1.5 million could be lost by the state in business tax.
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