The Office of Surface Mining has indicated that they will be issuing a permit to allow coal exploration in the highly acidic Sewanee coal seam within the Rock Creek watershed.  Over twenty years ago OSM designated this watershed part of the Rock Creek Lands Unsuitable for Mining because no technology had been demonstrated to safely handle the highly toxic acid mine drainage. 
 

The applicant, Highlands Land Company, a group with no mining background, feels that the exploration will provide the necessary evidence to allow mining in this watershed.  However, this proposed mining has potential to set a contentious dialog between the TN Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) and the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM).
 

As recently as January 2006, TDEC reiterated in a letter to SOCM that they were not aware of any effective handling plan for acidic mine drainage.  Paul Sloan, Deputy Commissioner of TDEC, wrote, “We do not see how we could approve such applications.” 
 

Despite TDEC’s current stance and the current OSM Lands Unsuitable for Mining designation, Highlands will soon be drilling for core samples in an attempt to overturn a twenty year precedent in the Rock Creek Watershed.  Wanda Hodge, a SOCM member living adjacent to the site, stated, “We need to monitor every step of this process.  This company needs to be held accountable.”
 

What you can do:
•  For further information or to get involved, contact: Lauren@socm.org
or call (865) 426-9455.
 

Only a few short months after the Bledsoe County Chapter was re-activated in March 2006, it succeeded in influencing the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to determine Highlands Coal Company's application for coal exploration in the Sewanee Coal Seam administratively incomplete.

The chapter began by seeking to find the answer to one simple question: who is Highlands Land Company?  The SOCM members in Bledsoe, who live on top of some of the most acidic/toxic coal in the United States, wanted to know who was applying for coal exploration near their homes.

On January 20th, 2006 Highlands Land Company submitted an application for coal exploration in the area known as the Rock Creek Watershed, part of the Rock Creek Lands Unsuitable for Mining designation, one of the most acidic seams of coal in the United States.   Property owners who live adjacent to the proposed site began to research the company that had expressed an interest mining this highly acidic area.  Citizens found that the address listed for the company on their permit application was actually an address for a law-firm, not a coal company.

Roger Downs, Chair of the SOCM Bledsoe Chapter, said in a face-to-face meeting with OSM representatives, “Try and contact this company. You call the phone number on their permit application and it is disconnected.  Then call the number from their AVS report and you reach a law firm.”  In email correspondence with SOCM, Earl Bandy of OSM, stated, “The company has no previous experience listed.  They do not have any permits and they are not listed as operators on any permits.  The four individuals listed for the company are not found as owners or controllers of any previous companies.”