(CNN) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday revoked a permit for one of the nation's largest mountaintop removal mining projects, saying it would destroy water, wildlife and Appalachian communities in West Virginia. The controversial decision was condemned by the permit holder, Arch Coal Inc., and mining representatives, who said it would hurt industry investment and the economic recovery. But adversaries praised the ruling as "a major victory" for environmentalists opposed to surface -- or mountaintop-removal -- mining, which uses explosives on hilltops to expose underlying coal. The EPA invoked the Clean Water Act in killing a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Spruce No. 1 Mine project, proposed for a more than 2,200-acre area in Logan County, West Virginia.
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An angry industry leader calls the decision "unprecedented"
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Environmentalists call it a "historic step"
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The EPA says the project would have created 110 million cubic yards of waste
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A "shocked" coal mining company says the ruling will have a "chilling effect"
"We remain shocked and dismayed at @placeholder's continued onslaught with respect to this validly issued permit."