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State officials say the number of requests for mountain top removal mining permits is on the rise, while the manpower it takes
to produce coal declines.
Matt Crum, the director of mining for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, says the increase is a
reaction to the overturning of a ruling, made last year that put constraints on the industry.
The DEP issued eight permits during December and January that allowed strip mining on more than 2,400 acres.
Since April the agency has issued four other major mining permits totaling almost 4,400 acres.
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