For over twenty years, Bledsoe County SOCM members have organized to prevent mining of the Sewanee Coal Seam, by far the most dangerous coal seam in Tennessee and one of the most toxic in the country. 

On March 4, 1987, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) designated the Rock Creek Gorge, where the Sewanee coal seam is located, “Lands Unsuitable for Mining” (LUMP). For three years Bledsoe Chapter members held meetings and submitted reports and testimony to OSM regarding the coal seam. In March 1986, OSM representatives tested a soil sample from an exposed area of the seam that showed a thick zone of acidic material present in the shale overburden of the Sewanee Coal Seam and a zone of shale below the seam also had high potential for acidity. OSM reported that the site contained one of the highest levels of acid material they had ever seen. Once Rock Creek received the “Lands Unsuitable for Mining” designation, SOCM members hoped no exploration or mining would EVER be allowed in the area.

In spite of this, OSM granted a permit to Highlands Land Company for coal exploration in the same area on December 20, 2006.  SOCM members and area residents were concerned about the permitting process, viewing the Highlands permit as the first phase of a larger process to overturn the LUMP designation. To receive a full permit for surface mining in the Rock Creek area, Highlands needed to prove that its toxic materials handling plan was able to accommodate the acidity of the overburden (waste). Their permit application failed to provide detailed standard requirements to address potential impacts from coal exploration. Bledsoe Chapter members, along with SOCM’s Strip Mine Committee (SMC), submitted reports to OSM detailing the many problems associated with Highlands’ drilling permits. Chapter members won numerous concessions from OSM during the permitting process, including a requirement that mining couldn’t take place unless Highlands could demonstrate that it had an effective toxic material handling plan for acid mine drainage (AMD). In addition, OSM agreed to be on site if drill holes were sampled in order to ensure that the samples came from the designated drill sites.

Highlands did not begin the exploration process during the permit period, but requested a renewal in August, 2008.  OSM routinely granted the exploration permit renewal.  Bledsoe chapter members will continue to organize against any exploration or permitting of mining in the toxic Sewanee coal seam.