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EPA questions W.Va. mountaintop removal mine plan

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Federal regulators are objecting to a proposed state permit for a mountaintop removal mine that Consol Energy wants to open in southern West Virginia.

The Charleston Gazette reports that the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection objecting to the agency's proposed water quality permit.

In the letter, EPA regional water quality director Jon Capacasa told the DEP that the proposed permit doesn't have adequate pollution monitoring or discharge limits.

The EPA says the proposed 2,300-acre Buffalo Mountain Surface Mine in Mingo County would have 13 valley fills that would bury nearly 10 miles of stream with waste dirt and rock.

State mining and reclamation director Tom Clarke says his office is reviewing the EPA's letter. Consol didn't immediately comment to the newspaper.