Comprehending the Scale of Mountaintop Removal

Last month, I wrote of proposed federal regulations that would make it even easier for coal companies to destroy the Appalachian landscape using a technique called mountaintop removal.
It is hard to overstate the violence done to the earth by this practice. A recent story in Wired News may help to understand the scale of the damage inflicted on the landscape by mountaintop removal or MTR:

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, MTR destroyed more than 1,200 miles of Appalachia's streams and 7 percent of its forests between 1985 and 2001. Approximately 800 square miles of mountains were leveled. According to the EPA, waste from MTR will bury another 1,000 miles of streams in the next decade.

Isn't there a law against dumping mine waste in waterways?

Activists have fought a losing legal battle against MTR. First they claimed the practice violated Clean Water Act rules against dumping waste in waterways. But in 2002, the Bush administration rewrote or "clarified" the rule, so that MTR debris wouldn't be classified as waste.

In other words, filling in streams with rocks and dirt shouldn't be considered pollution. After all, how can you pollute a stream that has ceased to exist?
The Coal River Mountain Watch is posting updates and alerts about the proposed regulations. The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition has much more on this practice. The proposed rules can be found here.
Photo: Vivian Stockman, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition