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Article: Existing Coal Mines, Chemical Plants Exempt from West Virginia Stream Rule.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- May 12, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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May 12--Existing coal mines, chemical plants and steel mills will be exempt from a rule to protect West Virginia streams from being made dirtier, a state board decided Thursday.
The rule - called an anti-degradation plan - will apply only to new and expanded facilities, under a proposal from the state Environmental Quality Board.
Joe Lovett, a lawyer for environmental groups, said the exemption for existing facilities makes the proposal far too weak.
"They, in effect, have a get-out-of-jail card that no one else has," Lovett told board members.
Starting in 1975, the federal Clean Water Act required states to have an anti-degradation ...