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People working together for social, economic and environmental justice in Tennessee
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For release July 7, 2003
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Contact:
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SOCM office
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Charles Blankenship
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Cathie Bird
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(865) 426-9455
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(423) 784-9723
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(423) 784-7812
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OSM Issues Elk Valley Mining Permit;
SOCM Members Rally in Knoxville
Members of Save Our Cumberland Mountains from Campbell County and surrounding areas staged a rally Monday at 10 am at the Knoxville office of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation urging the State to deny a water quality permit for what could be the Tennessee’s largest mountain top removal site.
Last week the Federal Office of Surface Mining issued a 2100 acre permit that will allow Robert Clear Coal Company to remove three peaks of Zeb Mountain in the Elk Valley Community of Campbell County.
Before the company can begin mining coal, the State of Tennessee must also issue a permit for the mine. Residents of Elk Valley who are concerned about how the mining will effect their community want Governor Bredesen to deny the mining permit
"We are calling on Governor Bredesen to stand up for our community," said Cathie Bird a member of the grassroots group Save Our Cumberland Mountains. "It is the Governor’s responsibility to protect the waters of Tennessee from pollution from mining. The current mining plan will impact the streams in our area."
Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), a state-wide organization which has worked on coal issues for the past 30 years, points to the plan to mine through headwaters of three streams and an unreliable sediment control plan as reasons the State should deny the permit.
"Robert Clear Coal company has flip-flopped several times on its plan for controlling sediment generated by the mining operation" explained Elk Valley resident Paul Kelly. "First the company proposed building silt collection ponds up on the mine site. When the agencies expressed concerns about the safety of basins located on the mine site the company cooked up a plan to put sediment collection structures in streams. When the public questioned the legality of using streams as sediment basins, the company moved most of the basins back onto the mine site. They seem to be playing a shell game with their sediment control plan."
In the current mining plan Robert Clear has located all but one basin up on the mine site. In March and May sediment pond failures at Bennits Fork, a 750 acre Cross Ridge mine in Claiborne county, demonstrated the risk of building sediment structures on mining sites. In March, a basin slid into Burrell Creek impacting 150 feet of the stream. In May, another basin slid approximately 500 feet down slope.
SOCM members in Elk Valley are worried about more than the sediment control plan and how it could effect local streams. They cite the number of homes close to the mine site – around 100 within a half mile of the mine area, and the fact that the local elementary school is less than a mile away, as one of their most serious concerns.
"We've lived around strip mining all our lives and we know that it will crack your foundations, sink your wells and that coal trucks can turn over on public roads," said Boddy Ellard a SOCM member from Elk Valley. "There are too many homes near Zeb Mountain to mine without affecting the people living nearby."
SOCM questions the stability of a mining operation where entire mountain peaks will be removed . After blasting a part the mountain top and removing the coal, Robert Clear will attempt to pile the ruble back up to the height of the original mountain. SOCM members worry that some of this ruble will come sliding down on the people living below.
"What we are looking at hear is a delayed valley fill," said Charles Blankenship of Elk Valley. "They are going to pile 33 million cubic yards of mine spoil up where there used to be a mountain. It is only a matter of time before that mine spoil slides down in to the valley, and the problem is we live in the valley."
There are four federal agencies, including the Office of Surface Mining, currently working on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for surface coal mining, including Cross Ridge Mining, in Central Appalachia. This study is investigating the impact of these mining operations on the waters of the US, fish, and wildlife. At the same time, Tennessee Valley Authority is working on an EIS which will examine the impact Cross Ridge Mining could have in the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area, a 53,000 acre tract of land which is just 4 miles from Zeb Mountain. SOCM members do not see the sense in proceeding with this permit until these Environmental Impact Studies have been completed.
"Why are State and Federal agencies so antsy to get this permit approved instead of waiting to see what these studies say?" asked SOCM member Paul Kelly. "It seems like they are just wasting tax payer money doing these studies and then not even looking at them."
Cross Ridge Mining is a new type of mining that is similar to mountain top removal, it involves removing the mountain top and then restoring it to approximate original contour. The word approximate is key, given that the peaks will not necessarily be restored to their original elevation and OSM's guide lines call for 20' wide terraces every 50'
Knowing the devastation that mountain top removal has caused to West Virginia and Kentucky, these Tennesseans are skeptical about its introduction to their state. "If the state allows this coal company to take the top off this mountain, we will begin to see the tops come off mountains throughout Tennessee’s coal fields," commented Blankenship. "Is that what Governor Bredesen wants to be remembered for?"
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