"The Obama administration on Wednesday moved to curtail the practice of mountaintop mining to extract coal, angering mining companies that said the move threatens thousands of jobs.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced it had held up 79 permit applications for projects related to so-called mountaintop removal -- a practice of blasting hilltops and dumping unused rock and dirt into valleys and streams -- in Central Appalachian states West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, its broadest move to date against this type of mining. The agency said the work for which mining companies sought permission could violate the Clean Water Act, which the EPA enforces."

Kris Maher reports for the Wall Street Journal October 1, 2009 [2]