The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to delay a decision on its proposed veto of Arch Coal’s Spruce No. 1 mine until September 24, 2010. The decision to delay came after the agency received over 4,000 public comments.

The Spruce mine permit, if granted, would allow over seven miles of Appalachian headwater streams to be buried and more than 2,000 acres of West Virginian forests to be destroyed. It would also constitute the largest mountaintop removal permit ever granted.

CLARIFICATION: The September decision will be EPA’s Regional Administrators Recommended Decision. The Recommended Decision is next referred to EPA’s office in DC, and at that point the Corps of Engineers has an opportunity to fix the permit. A final decision on the veto may not happen until early 2011.