The Courier Journal reported that Kentucky’s coal industry clashed with environmentalists in a raucous public debate over state issued mining permits that federal regulators have blocked amid the Obama administration’s clampdown on coal pollution.

Hundreds of supporters and critics of coal mining gathered in competing rallies in areas around Capital Plaza in Frankfort to wave signs and exchange heated rhetoric ahead of a hearing by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The contentious debate continued throughout the evening as the EPA received comments on 36 water quality permits that state regulators issued to mining companies in 2010 and 2011 before federal regulators intervened.

Environmental groups led more than 100 people at the Capital Plaza Hotel to praise the EPA action and criticized state government and the coal industry for failing to protect Kentucky waterways or stem regulatory violations.

The EPA has effectively blocked the 36 permits with formal objection letters, and state regulators requested hearings in Frankfort and Pikeville to resolve disputes over enforcing water quality regulations at new or expanded surface mines.

Source - courier-journal.com/

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