The state Department of
Environmental Protection’s Surface Mine Board will hold a hearing Monday on the
permit for a controversial surface mine project near Kanawha
State Forest —a
hiking and biking destination in Kanawha
County
Keystone Coal’s KD #2 surface mine
is located just east of Kanawha
State Forest
Work on the 414-acre mine site,
which could produce seven million tons of coal over a 10-year period, started
in early June. During July, DEP inspectors found problems with two sediment
ditches.
The opposition to the mine project
started long before those issues were identified.
Last week, members of those groups
and others rallied at the State Capitol and delivered a petition with 4,000
signatures to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin that called for the permit for the project
to be rescinded.
The status of the Keystone permit
is up to the DEP.
The surface mine project has been
in the works for years.
The original permit request for
Keystone Coal’s KD #2 mine was filed with the DEP in 2009. That proposal was
altered before the permit was approved last May to shrink the size of the mine
site, address reclamation and limit blasting on weekends and holidays.
Monday’s hearing will begin a 8:30
a.m. at the DEP’s headquarters in Charleston
