Study urges halt to mountaintop mining

Days after the Obama administration announced it would give a permit to a new mountaintop coal mine, a dozen environmental scientists said the mining practice is so destructive to the environment that it should be stopped altogether.

Science published the study, the details of which were released Thursday. In addition to the environmental threat mountaintop mine removal poses, it also exposes local residents to a higher risk of serious illnesses.

“Its impacts are pervasive and long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices successfully reverse the damage it causes,” said lead author Margaret Palmer of the University of Maryland at College Park, according to Reuters.

In the same report, Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, criticized the study as an “advocacy piece.”

The Environmental Protection Agency approved this week a permit for Patriot Coal Corp.’s mountaintop Hobet 45 mine in West Virginia, over the objections of several environmental groups.