Cumberland County Chapter
The Cumberland Chapter emerged from a local group that worked for ten years to get their county commissioners to establish a Recycling Center. In 1998 the group applied to SOCM to become a chapter.
The chapter worked to stop expansion of the Cumberland Coal Company’s mine on Smith Mountain, packing the Cumberland County Court House for three public hearings. Chapter members led Office of Surface Mining officials on a tour of the mine site and convinced them to make several significant changes in the mining permit. These included Cumberland Coal changing the way it would handle toxic materials on the site and inventorying wells in the area around the mine. Subsequently the mine was sold, and chapter members convinced the new company’s management to work with local residents and to operate in an environmentally responsive manner. The chapter continues to monitor Smith Mountain now that the new company has gone out of business and reclamation is proceeding.
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