By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Momentum is building for federal legislation aimed at strengthening abandoned coal mine reclamation provisions that advocates say would go a long way toward cleaning up Appalachia
Mine cleanup advocates have welcomed new support from U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., for a bill aimed at curbing mining-caused water pollution.
The senators’ backing comes ahead of a House subcommittee hearing planned for Thursday at which five bills will be considered that are designed to limit environmental and health burdens from mining that West Virginians have carried for generations.
Manchin and Capito on Tuesday cosponsored a bill that was introduced in bipartisan fashion that would allow states to set aside a portion of abandoned mine land funding from a sweeping infrastructure law signed into law by President Joe Biden in November to treat acid mine drainage…
