CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A planned 600-acre mountaintop removal mine that would come within 100 yards of Kanawha State Forest's eastern boundary is causing alarm among a group of forest users who say the 9,000-acre preserve is already nearly surrounded by noisy, unsightly surface mines
Keystone Development has applied for a permit with the state Department of Environmental Protection to open KD Surface Mine No. 2 next to its existing Rush Creek surface mine, a short distance to the east. The new mine would involve a 2.2 million-cubic yard valley fill in Middle Lick Branch and Kanawha Fork, both tributaries of Davis Creek.
"In places, it would come just over 300 feet away from the forest boundary," said Julian Martin of the Kanawha State Forest Coalition, which has fought for increased oil and gas drilling regulation in the forest.
The northern end of the planned mine would start near the gate to Middle Ridge Road and extend past the forest's shooting range.
Martin said Keystone Development's Rush Creek mountaintop removal mine can easily be seen from Ballard Trail near the shooting range and heard throughout much of the forest.
"You can regularly hear explosives going off, and you can hear rocks hitting the dump trucks," he said. "And it's only about three miles from the Charleston city limits."
"In places, the clanging and truck noise from the mine is so loud you can't hear the birds," said Jim Waggy of Charleston, a member of the Kanawha State Forest Foundation and an avid birder.
The new KD Surface Mine No. 2 would be even closer to the park, and bring in more noise and an increased risk of pollution to the forest's streams, according to Martin. "The Rush Creek mine has already had one black water spill that made it into Davis Creek," he said.
In addition to the proposed KD Surface Mine and the Rush Creek mine, two large surface mines lie just south of the state forest's southern boundary.
"Strip mines go from the south end of the forest all the way to Emmons and the Coal River," said Martin.
According to Martin, at least 200 people have sent comments to the DEP opposing the permit for the new mine.
Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said an informal public conference on the permit for the proposed mountaintop removal mine would be held, but so far, has not been scheduled.
Earlier this month, DEP Secretary Randy Huffman announced that his agency was placing all mining permits involving valley fills on hold until new valley fill water quality guidelines are developed. In the meantime, permit reviews of mines not using valley fills are being given higher priority.
"This permit falls into the category of a low-priority review," said Cosco.
The Kanawha State Forest Foundation has prepared a video presentation on the forest, its mining heritage, and forest users' concerns about nearby surface mining. Mike Youngren, former production director for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, produced the video, available at
http://www.vimeo.com/8869927.
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