Photo: Courtesy of the EPA
The Washington Post's Joby Warrick does some heavy lifting for those opposing the EPA's action on the Pebble Mine.
The EPA is doing its job.
Here is the language of section 404c for Mr. Warrick's reference.
The Clean Water Act authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) (Section 404(a)) or an approved state (Section 404(h)) to issue permits for discharges of dredged or fill material at specified sites in waters of the United States. Section 404(c), however, authorizes EPA to restrict, prohibit, deny, or withdraw the use of an area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material if the discharge will have unacceptable adverse effects on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas.
In his article Mr. Warrick falsley states that 404c is a "tactic" that has not been employed in 40 years.
According to the EPA in 2008 they initiated 404c actions on the Yazoo Pumps flood control project in Mississippi and then again in 2009 on the Spruce Mountain Coal Mine #1 in West Virginia. Now I'm no reporter but a simple Google search might have helped Mr. Warrick get his facts straight.
This fight is far from over folks.