Recently, EPA's office in Appalachia took a historic stand against mountaintop removal mining, the most devastating coal mining technique in existence.

Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin said that Arch Coal's planned Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia should be revoked. The mine is controversial because the Bush administration approved the permit, which okay'd dynamiting nearly 2,300 acres of mountain and dumping the toxic waste into nearby valleys and streams. If the mine goes forward, it would be one of the largest mountaintop projects in the region.

Except the project would unacceptably devastate West Virginia's environment, as Garvin's report makes clear, especially by burying 6.6 miles of high-quality streams and seriously polluting downstream waters beyond the mine. Arch Coal, meanwhile, says never mind all that—they'll build some nice, shiny new streams to replace the natural ones they ruin.

EPA has not yet decision made a decision about the permit, and now has a court-ordered deadline of February 2011.

In revoking this permit, EPA has the chance to stand up in favor of real science and to protect the health and environment of dozens of communities. It would also set a historic precedent in favor of clean water in the region. Tell Administrator Lisa Jackson to stop this mine from being built.