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500 CLAY MINERS FACING LAY-OFF - Environmental Groups Say Rules Ignored |
| (12/09/2009) |
| About 500 Clay County miners are getting lay-off slips come February. Consol Energy says they will idle a mountaintop removal mine near Bickmore, blaming the layoffs on legal challenges by environmental activists. The lay-offs will be a major blow to the Clay County and regional economy. Consol is specifically blaming the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition because the permit was originally approved, until OVEC challenged it in court. U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers suspended the ruling because the Army Corps of Engineers didn't give the public say before issuing permits for Consol's mine. Chambers said the public wasn't given a chance to comment on the company's maps and plans to mitigate environmental damage, which is required under the Clean Water Act. Environmental groups say if the Army Corps and Consol had followed the law, the permit would have stood its ground. Janet Keating, co-director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, said "All of us, when we want to apply for any kind of a permit, if I want to drive a car, there's a procedure to go through." "And there's reasons there are procedures because it protects the public. And it's the same thing with mountaintop removal. If they want a permit, and if at the same time we want people and the public and the environment to be protected, they have to follow a process," Keating said. It's likely the mine will be idled for at least six months. Consol says when the permits are corrected and the market improves, the mine will be reopened.
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