The Washington Post reports the Bush administration has finalized rules that will make it easier for mountaintop mining companies to dump their waste near rivers and streams. The new rules overhaul a twenty-five-year-old prohibition that has sparked legal and regulatory battles for years. Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch said the new rules are a “slap in the face of Appalachian communities.” He said, “My home and thousands of others are now in greater jeopardy.”