In what could be a major shift in federal policy, the Environmental Protection Agency declared today it would be taking a much closer look at the harm done to streams by mountaintop mining for coal.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that her agency had sent letters voicing "considerable concern" about the environmental impacts of two mining projects in West Virginia and Kentucky.  And she declared that EPA would be reviewing other mining permits as well. 

(The photo above is of a different mine in West Virginia that I visited last fall, and blogged about. It's included here to illustrate the magnitude of such mines) 

"EPA will use the best science and follow the letter of the law in ensuring we are protecting the environment," she said in the press release. 

Environmentalists and many scientists have argued that mountaintop mining buries stream valleys and harms fish miles downstream.   Coal companies have contended that it's the only economical way to extract the coal, and that flattening mountaintops in rugged Appalachia provides opportunities for development.  Until this action, the industry has enjoyed fairly consistent support from federal regulators. 

In the letters, EPA officials urged the Army Corps of Engineers not to issue permits for the mines until further steps could be considered to minimize damage to streams from surface coal extraction.  And in the letter regarding the West Virginia project, the EPA said it was concerned enough about its impact that it would consider exercising its legal authority to block the permit unless further steps are taken to protect the environment.  To read the letters and get background on EPA's concerns about such mining, go here.

The action comes, as the Associated Press reports, a month after a federal appeals court said the Army Corps could issue permits for mountaintop mines without requiring more extensive environmental reviews.  It was the latest legal setback for critics; EPA's stepping in may affect that.

Mountaintop removal isn't used in mining coal from Maryland, but advocates point out that at least some of the electricity used in this region comes from burning coal extracted that way.  You can read more about this in Coal Tattoo a blog by Ken Ward, who covers the environment for the Charleston, W.Va., Gazette.