"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said Monday her agency is not seeking to halt mountaintop removal, but will 'try to minimize, if not end, any environmental degradation to the water' caused by the practice.

Jackson told a National Press Club audience the EPA does not specifically regulate mining practices, but is responsible for policing how those practices impact water quality.

'We fight for clean water under the Clean Water Act,' Jackson said. 'So our role is limited to ensuring that these projects, if they're approved, do not have a detrimental impact on clean water. We'll continue to do that.'"

Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette March 8, 2010. [2]