This article originally provided by The Ledger-Enquirer

September 18, 2006

Increased coal mining renews environmental concerns

Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Increased demand for coal, spurred by high fuel prices, has resurrected an old conflict in mining regions of Tennessee and Alabama: paychecks vs. environment.

Investors looking to reactivate mines are getting the attention of environmentalists, who have planned a Sept. 27 "Mountains Should be Forever" rally in Nashville.

In Bledsoe County, neighbors of a proposed surface mine complain that digging for coal may pollute streams with acid mine runoff. On Zeb Mountain north of Knoxville, the group Save Our Cumberland Mountains is fighting plans for coal mining using mountaintop removal techniques critics say scar the landscape.

Highland Land Co., of Abingdon, Va., is looking to mine more coal in East Tennessee, attorney Johnny Greer said.

Officials said the company has applied to the U.S. Office of Surface Mining for a prospecting permit to explore an area that was permitted for a surface mine nearly 20 years ago.

"We're optimistic about this site because it was permitted before and there is a definite demand today for more coal," Greer said.

He said preliminary studies show that more than 4.8 million tons of coal are in the Bledsoe County area the company has leased.

Some neighbors of the site contend it is unsuitable for mining because acid runoff could pollute the watershed.

"Many of us in this area rely upon wells for our water, and the danger from acid mine runoff into our streams and water supplies is just too great to allow this project," said Wanda Hodges, a homeowner opposing the Highland proposal.

National Coal Co. is pursuing a mining permit on a 2,100-acre site on Zeb Mountain north of Knoxville using cross-ridge mining techniques opposed by environmentalists.

Company officials say the land will be reclaimed and replanted after the coal is extracted. But opponents say the blasting, dirt removal and reshaping the landscape threaten the natural environment in the area.

Atop Sand Mountain in northeast Alabama, where coal has been mined for decades, three surface mining companies extracted 100,000 tons of coal in Jackson County in 2005 on sites permitted years ago, according to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission and the Energy Information Administration.

Much of the coal was sold to power producers the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Southern Co.

Environmental activist Lauren McGrath said mountaintop removal mining methods create toxic coal slurry that threatens the land and water supplies for decades. But Greer said stricter standards ensure that mining companies must protect the environment and reclaim land after a mine is shut down.

At Henagar, Ala., a 28-inch seam of coal in a pit beneath sandstone, clay and topsoil has GTM Mining at work.

"Thats why were here," GTM Mining owner Melvin Tinker said. "But it takes a lot of time and effort to get to it."

The coal isn't as thick or clean as deposits mined in Wyoming, West Virginia or Kentucky, America's top three coal-producing states.

GTM crews are working two 10-hour shifts nearly every day blasting and bulldozing rock and dirt to get to coal deposits in the Henagar mine. GTM "washes" and trucks just over 8,000 tons of coal a month to TVA's Widows Creek plant, 25 miles away.

At current prices, it is enough to keep the company's 18-person crew busy working virtually around the clock.

"We usually work seven days a week," said Ron Maples, a GTM partner.

Maples has been a coal miner on Sand Mountain off and on since he first worked for a TVA contractor in the utilitys former Fabius mines in the 1970s. At current prices, the GTM partners expect to be mining on Sand Mountain for many years to come.